How to turn off the black and white screen when charging on Xiaomi

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones sometimes face an unusual situation: after connecting the device to the power source, the display suddenly loses color and goes into monochrome mode. This can look like a technical malfunction, but most often it is the result of built-in MIUI or HyperOS functions aimed at reducing eye strain or saving energy.

Black and white is often confused with matrix breakdown, but it’s actually a software limitation that’s easily removed.It’s important to understand that in modern firmware versions, Xiaomi engineers have implemented many use cases, including reading and sleep modes, which can be activated automatically under certain conditions, such as when a charger is connected at night.

In this article, we will take a closer look at all the possible causes of Grayscale and provide step-by-step instructions for returning a color picture, where hidden accessibility settings are hidden and how to manage energy saving modes so that they do not interfere with comfortable use of the gadget.

Reasons for activation of monochrome mode

The first step to solving the problem is to understand what caused the change in color reproduction. In the Xiaomi ecosystem, there are several independent mechanisms that can turn the screen into black and white, most often it is not one specific “charge button”, but a set of settings that the user may have activated accidentally or earlier.

The main culprit is often the Electronic Ink feature, which mimics the behavior of electronic paper. This mode is designed to be comfortable reading and reduce eye fatigue, but it can be turned on on on a schedule or when running certain applications. Also, consider the operation of sleep mode, which limits the color gamut at night, and if you charge your phone at night, the screen may appear black and white due to the overlay of filters.

Another reason could be the activation of special features for people with visual impairments. Android has a built-in color correction mechanism that, when randomly turned on, makes the image monochrome across all interfaces. Sometimes users activate this mode, trying to quickly increase the volume or change the brightness through the quick settings menu.

• 🔋 Activate Ultra Battery Power Saving Mode, which limits background processes and changes the interface color scheme to save charge.
• 🌙 Digital balance or Do Not Disturb mode, which can be configured to change the theme of the design at a certain time of day.
• 👁️ Randomly enable color correction in the Android special features section.
• 📱 Application of design or wallpaper that forcibly change the palette of the system to monochrome.

It's worth noting that in some cases, the black and white screen can appear when the device overheats during fast charging. The protection system can temporarily limit the brightness and saturation of colors to reduce the heat of the processor and display. If the color does not return after cooling down the phone, then the problem lies in the software settings, which will be discussed later.

Disconnection of Electronic Ink Mode

The most likely reason for Xiaomi’s black and white screen is a feature called “E-ink,” which is specifically designed to mimic the behavior of e-books, making the image more contrasting and devoid of unnecessary color shades, often turning it on for reading and then forgetting to turn it off, or it is activated automatically.

To check the status of this feature, you need to go to the display settings. The path may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI, but it is usually in the Settings → Screen → Electronic Ink section. In older versions of firmware, this option could be simply called Read Mode with advanced settings. Here you will see a switch that needs to be put into an inactive state.

⚠️ Note: If the switch in the menu is active but the screen remains colored, try running the app you use most often.E-ink mode is often customized to specific programs, such as browsers or readers.

There's an important setting inside the read mode settings menu that's worth checking out: it's a schedule or an activation timer. You may have the monochrome mode automatically enabled at a certain time of day or when you start charging, if that option was added in the system update. Turn off all automatic scripts so that the screen behaves predictably.

If the standard path doesn't work, try searching by settings, type "ink" or "read" into the search box, and it will tell you where the switch is, and this is especially true for new HyperOS shells, where the menu structure has been significantly redesigned.

Once the function is disabled, the screen must instantly return its natural colors. If that doesn't happen, restart the device. Sometimes system services need to restart to correctly apply the changes to the display drivers.

Customization of special features and color correction

Deep in the Android settings, there's a section for people with color perception, color correction, which allows you to change the display of shades for users with color blindness or other visual impairments, but under certain settings, it can completely remove color, leaving only shades of gray.

To check this, go to Settings → Additional Settings → Special Options → Vision tab → Color correction. Here you will see the function status switch. If activated, the correction mode will be selected below. Monochrome mode is what makes the screen black and white. Switch it to Off or select Default.

There is also a quick way to activate and deactivate this feature that many people don't know about.In some versions of MIUI, triple tapping the power button or a combination of volume buttons can include special ability modes. Check the quick key settings in the Additional settings → Keyboard combinations to rule out accidental switching in your pocket.

It's important to distinguish between color correction and color inversion. Inversion makes black white and white black, which may look strange, but these are different functions. If you see a negative image, look for a solution at the next feature menu item called Color Inversion.

Power saving modes and Ultra Battery

When the battery is critically low, Xiaomi suggests turning on the power saving mode. However, there is an even more aggressive mode known as Ultra Battery, in which the smartphone restricts most applications and often changes the interface theme to black and white or dark with a minimum number of colors to maximize the life from the residual charge.

If you plug your phone into charging when the battery is already dead or close to zero, the system can inertia maintain a limited mode of operation for a while, wait until the charge reaches at least 5-10%, or force the power saving mode to be turned off, you can do this by pulling the notification curtain down and finding the battery icon, or through the settings → Battery.

The battery settings section also includes Power Saving Mode, which is less aggressive than Ultra, but can also affect performance and visuals. Make sure that the settings in this mode don't tick the theme or turn off animations, which can visually be perceived as a simplification of the color scheme.

It is worth considering that when using the original charger and turning on the fast charge function, the phone can heat up. As mentioned earlier, thermal trottling sometimes affects the display. If you use a third-party low-current charger, the phone can stay in a low-charge state for a long time, maintaining economical mode even with the cable connected.

Using Digital Balance and Sleep Mode

Digital Wellbeing is designed to monitor the time spent on a smartphone, and one of the tools in this service is "Sleep Mode" or "Sleep Time," and when it's active, the screen can go black and white to make phone use less attractive and not interfere with melatonin production.

You can check the settings along the Settings → Digital Balance → Sleep Mode. This is a schedule. If you charge your phone at night and it falls into the sleep mode, the screen will be monochrome. You can either turn off the mode or change its settings by removing the color restriction.

Also, MIUI has Read Mode, which can be activated globally. It differs from Electronic Ink in that it adds a warm yellow filter, but at maximum intensity and overlaying other settings can produce a near fading effect. Check the settings in Settings → Screen → Reading Mode and make sure it is turned off or configured correctly.

If you turn on your sleep schedule automatically at 23:00 and you charge your phone at 23:15, that's the reason. The flexibility of settings allows you to set exceptions for alarm clocks or important applications, but the color scheme is better adjusted separately.

Third-party annexes and design themes

Don't discount the impact of third-party software. Reading apps like Moon+ Reader or FBReader can have their own monochrome settings that sometimes conflict with system settings. If the black and white screen only appears in one particular app, look for settings inside it.

Also, the reason may be Design Themes. Some themes downloaded from Mi Themes are forced to change the palette of the system. Try to return the standard theme "Classic" or "No Limits" to see if the problem disappears. Path: Settings → Themes → Profile → Topics.

In rare cases, viruses or adware can change screen settings. If you have installed apps outside the official Play Market or Mi GetApps store, do a full antivirus check. Malware can mimic system notifications and change display settings to impose ads or mining.

⚠️ Be careful when installing tweakers or software to change the interface (Substratum, Xposed modules) that have deep access to the system and can cause unstable screen performance.

Diagnostics of hardware problems

If none of the software methods worked, and the screen remains black and white even after resetting to factory settings, perhaps the problem is the hardware. The display plume, the power controller, or the matrix itself may have failed, especially if the phone has recently fallen or been exposed to moisture.

For initial diagnosis, you can run an engineering menu. Type ##6484##. In the menu that appears, select a display test (usually called Display or Color Test). If the screen displays colors correctly in test mode, then (hardware) is good and the problem is exactly (software).

If you see artifacts, stripes or no colors on the engineering menu, that's a direct route to the service center, and if you have a matrix repair or a plume replacement, that's the only solution, don't try to heat the phone or disassemble it yourself if you don't have experience, because you can damage the battery.

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Before going to the service center, be sure to take a screenshot or a photo of a black and white screen. This will help the wizard quickly understand whether the problem is software (the screenshot will also be black and white) or hardware (the screenshot will be colored, and the phone screen will not).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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In 95% of cases, the problem is solved by disabling the function "Electronic ink" or adjusting the settings "Digital balance." Hardware breakdowns are rare.