How to completely disable desktop animation on Xiaomi: from system transitions to app launch

The animations in MIUI make the interface of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones visually appealing, but not all users are willing to put up with their side effects. Slow transitions between screens, “springy” icons when pressed and smooth opening of applications not only distract, but also significantly slow down the device — especially on budget models with 4-6 GB of RAM. Moreover, the constant drawing of animations increases the load on the processor, which leads to a faster battery discharge.

In this article, you’ll find 5 proven ways to disable animations, from standard MIUI settings to hidden developer settings and even edit configuration files (no root rights!).

• 🔄 Transitions between screens (left/right swipes)
• 📱 Animation of start/close applications
• ⚡ Effects of clicking on icons (scaling, shadow)
• 🔄 System transitions (opening/closing menus, notifications)

All instructions are valid for MIUI 14/15 (including global and Chinese versions) and tested on Xiaomi 13/14 series, Redmi Note 12/13, POCO F5/X5. If your device runs on Android 13/14 with a shell from another manufacturer (for example, HyperOS), some methods may not work – we will warn you about this in advance.

1. disable animations via "System Settings" (without developer rights)

The easiest way to reduce the number of animations is to use the built-in MIUI options. Unfortunately, a complete shutdown is not available here, but you can reduce their duration to a minimum or remove the most annoying effects.

Follow the steps:

1. Open the Settings. → The phone.
2. Click 7-10 times on the MIUI version until the notification “You are a developer!” appears.
3. Return to the main settings menu and go to Additional settings → Developer settings.
4. Find the animation scale section and set the value of Disabled (or 0.5× if full shutdown is not available) for all three items.

These settings affect:

• 🔹 Switch between applications (for example, when clicking on “Recently»)
• 🔹 Opening/closing windows (including system dialogs)
• 🔹 Animation when turning the screen

Make sure the animation scale is set to 0.5× or “Disabled” |Reboot your phone for changes |Check the smoothness of the “Recent” apps |Open any application (e.g., “Settings”) and estimate the speed-->

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If the item "Developer Options" does not appear after clicking on "Version" MIUI", Try using a second Mi Account or resetting your phone to factory settings (without deleting data).

Note that on some firmware (e.g. MIUI Global for Redmi Note 10) the option “Disabled” may not be available. In this case, select 0.5×, which will reduce the duration of animations by half.

2. Completely disabling animations via ADB (no root)

If the standard settings don’t work, you can go further and force all animations to be disabled using Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a method that works on any Xiaomi device with Android 10 and later, but requires a connection to a computer.

You'll need:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux and installed drivers ADB
• 📱 USB-cable (preferably original)
• 🔧 Included Developer Options and Debugging by USB

Instructions:

1. Download Google’s Platform Tools and unpack the archive.
2. Connect the phone to your computer and select File Transfer mode.
3. Open the command line (cmd) in the folder with the platform-tools and execute the commands in turn: adb devices adb shell settings put global. window_animation_scale 0 adb shell settings put global transition_animation_scale 0 adb shell settings put global animator_duration_scale 0
4. Reboot the phone.

Important: After the MIUI update, the animation settings are reset via ADB. To return them, repeat the procedure or use an automatic script (see section 4).

3. Disable the animations of the launch of applications (Lawnchair, Nova Launcher)

The MIUI system launcher doesn’t completely remove animations when opening apps, but it can be done with third-party launchers. The two most popular options — Nova Launcher and Lawnchair — support fine-tuning transitions.

For Nova Launcher:

1. Install a launcher from Google Play.
2. Go to Settings Nova → Animations.
3. Set a value for all items No or Fast.
4. In the Home Screen → Scroll Speed section, select Instantly.

For Lawnchair:

• 📌 Open the Settings. → Behavior → Animation.
• 📌 Disable Application Launch Animation and Application Closing Animation.
• 📌 In the Home Screen section, set the scroll speed: Instantly.

Standard. MIUI Launcher|Nova Launcher|Lawnchair|Another (write in the comments)|I do not use third-party launchers.-->

The advantage of this method is that you have full control over animations without tampering with system files, but note that some MIUI features (such as Super Wallpapers or App Vault) may not work properly with third-party launchers.

4. editing the build.prop file (for power users)

If you’re willing to take more drastic measures, you can manually edit the build.prop system file, which is responsible for many Android settings, including animations, which requires root rights or Magisk (MagiskHide Props Config is suitable for devices without a root).

Instructions for root devices:

1. Install any file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Go to /system/build.prop and back up the file.
3. Open the file in the text editor and add the following lines at the end: debug.egl.hwc.cached=false debug.sf.hw=1 debug.performance.tuning=1 window_animation_scale=0 transition_animation_scale=0 animator_duration_scale=0
4. Save the changes, set the rights 644 (rw-r--r---) and restart the device.

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Editing build.prop without root rights can cause system boot failure. If you don’t have experience with system files, use the ADB method (section 2) or third-party launchers (section 3).

For devices without root rights, you can use the Magisk module:

• 🔧 Install Magisk and the BuildProp Editor module.
• 🔧 In the editor add the same lines as above.
• 🔧 Reboot the phone.

This method maximizes performance because it disables animations at the system level, but it is only suitable for advanced users — a bug in build.prop can lead to a bootloop.

5. Disable animations via MiXplorer (alternative to ADB)

If you don't have access to your computer but you have root rights, you can use the MiXplorer file manager to edit system settings, which is suitable for devices running MIUI 12-15.

Step-by-step:

1. Download and install MiXplorer (available on XDA Developers).
2. Open the manager, go to /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases.
3. Find the settings.db file and open it with the built-in SQL-editor.
4. Follow up on the following requests: UPDATE system SET value='0' WHERE name='window_animation_scale'; UPDATE system SET value='0' WHERE name='transition_animation_scale'; UPDATE global SET value='0' WHERE name='animator_duration_scale';
5. Save the changes and restart the phone.

This method does not require a PC connection and works even on devices with a locked bootloader (if there is root).However, be careful - incorrect editing settings.db can lead to system failures.

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Before editing settings.db, back up the file. To do this, copy it to another location (for example, on the site). SD-map or export through MiXplorer.

Comparison of methods: which way to choose?

To make it easier for you to decide, we have compiled a table with the pros and cons of each method:

For most users, the best solution is to combine ADB + third-party launcher, which gives maximum acceleration without risking damage to the system. If you're not afraid of experimentation and you have root rights, try editing build.prop, which is the most radical, but also the most effective way.

Frequent problems and their solutions

When you turn off animations, users often face unexpected consequences, and here are the most common ones and ways to eliminate them:

⚠️ Warning: If after editing build.prop the phone stopped booting, try to go to Recovery Mode (click Power). + Volume up, restore backup of the file, and if there's no backup, you'll have to refashion the device through Fastboot.

Problem 1: Animations return after the MIUI update.

• 🔹 Solution: Repeat the procedure with ADB or use an automatic script (e.g., Tasker with AutoADB plugin).

Problem 2: Some apps (like Google Play Store) ignore animation settings.

• 🔹 Solution: For such applications, use Nova Launcher with Startup Animation setting: No.

Problem 3: After the animations were turned off, the scroll lags appeared.

• 🔹 Solution: Include the option of Forced in Developer Settings GPU-quick-work.

Problem 4: HyperOS is not working ADB-team.

• 🔹 Solution: Try using Shizuku + AppOps to change settings without ADB.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions