How to permanently remove the voice keyboard Google on Xiaomi Redmi: 4 working ways

Voice input on Google’s Gboard keyboard can be useful in some situations, but many Xiaomi Redmi users are faced with the fact that the microphone button takes up precious space on the screen, accidentally activates when printing or simply interferes, especially on devices with small displays (such as the Redmi 9A or Redmi Note 10), where each pixel counts.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can turn off your voice keyboard, from simply hiding the microphone button to completely removing Google’s voice recognition services. The instructions are valid for all MIUI 12/13/14 and HyperOS-based Redmi models, including the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, Redmi K50 and others, and how to return the button if you need it, and which alternative keyboards do not have voice input by default.

Why does the voice keyboard interfere and should it be turned off?

Before proceeding to the instructions, let’s understand what problems the microphone button on Gboard creates and in which cases its disabling is justified:

• 📱 Takes up space on the screen – on small smartphones (Redmi) 7A, Redmi 8 button can eat up to 10% of the useful area of the keyboard, making typing difficult.
• 🔋 Battery Consumption – Speech Recognition Services (Google App, Android Speech Services) run in the background, even if you don’t use voice input.
• 🎤 Accidental positives – it is easy to touch the microphone with fast printing, which leads to unwanted activation of the recording (especially unpleasant in public places).
• 🛡️ Privacy – Google can send audio data to its servers to improve recognition, raising concerns among privacy-conscious users.

On the other hand, voice input is useful for:

• 📝 Quickly typing long texts (such as messages on Telegram or WhatsApp).
• 🚗 Using a smartphone while driving (if supported by Android Auto).
• 👨‍🦽 People with disabilities who find it difficult to print by hand.

If you don't fall into those categories, you can turn off the function -- it won't affect the basic operation of the keyboard, but it will free up the resources of the device. And now let's get to the practice.

Method 1: Hiding the microphone button in Gboard settings

The easiest and safest method is to remove the microphone button from the keyboard without turning off the speech recognition functionality itself. This won't remove Google services, but will visually free up space.

1. Open any application where the keyboard appears (such as Messages or Notes).
2. Touch the gear badge (⚙️) In the top Gboard panel to open the settings.
3. Go to the Topic and Mockup section → Toolbar.
4. Find the option Voice input and move the slider to the position "Off".
5. Go back and check that the microphone button is gone.

If your version of Gboard doesn’t have Toolbar, try an alternative path:

Gboard settings → Preferences → Voice input → Show the microphone button (disable)

Importantly, this is a way of hiding the button, but not turning off the function itself. If you press and hold the space or comma, voice input can still activate. To completely deactivate recognition, read on.

Method 2: Completely disabling speech recognition in Android settings

If you want to completely disable voice input at the system level, you need to disable the relevant services of Google, which is more radical and can affect the work of other functions (for example, Google Assistant or Voice Search).

1. Open the settings on your Xiaomi Redmi.
2. Go to the Appendix section → Application management.
3. Press three points (⋮) in the upper right corner and select Show System Processes.
4. Search in the Google list (the Google app, not Google Play Services) and open it.
5. Select Permissions and find the Microphone. Turn it off.
6. Go back and press Disable (if the button is active). Confirm the action.

After that, it is also recommended to turn off Android Speech Services:

1. In the same App Management section, find Android Speech Services.
2. Press Disable and confirm. If the button is inactive, click Stop.

What's that gonna do?

• ✅ The microphone button will disappear from Gboard and other keyboards.
• ✅ Google and YouTube Voice Search will stop working.
• ✅ Reduced background activity of system processes.

Note: some MIUI firmware may experience errors when updating apps via Google Play after disabling Android Speech Services. If you encounter such a problem, return the settings back or use Method 3.

Method 3: Remove Gboard Updates (for older versions of MIUI)

On devices with MIUI 11 and below (like the Redmi 8 or Redmi Note 7), sometimes rolling back the keyboard to the factory version helps, which will remove all updates, including the Google-added microphone button. Importantly, the method does not work on all models and can reset personal keyboard settings.

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find Gboard (or Google Keyboard) and open it.
3. Press three points (⋮) In the upper corner and select Remove Updates.
4. Confirm action. The system will return the keyboard to the factory version.
5. Reboot your smartphone.

On some firmware after rollback, Gboard can automatically update via Google Play. To avoid this, turn off auto-update for the keyboard:

1. Open the Google Play Store.
2. Find Gboard in the list of installed apps.
3. Click on the three dots next to the Update button and uncheck the Auto Update box.

If you have a microphone button left after rolling back, try installing an alternative keyboard (more on this in the next section). Also note that on MIUI 12+ and HyperOS, this method may not work due to the integration of Google services into the system.

💡

Before rolling back Gboard, take a screenshot of the current keyboard settings (section "Themes and layout", "Text input"). This will help quickly restore the usual look after reset.

Method 4: Install keyboard without voice input

If none of the previous methods helped or you want to get rid of the Gboard completely, the best option is to install a third-party keyboard that initially lacks a microphone button.-3 Alternatives to Xiaomi Redmi:

To install and activate a new keyboard:

1. Download the selected application from Google Play.
2. Open Settings → System → Language and input → Virtual keyboard.
3. Turn on the slider next to the name of the new keyboard.
4. Press the Current Keyboard and select the installed alternative.

Note: After changing the keyboard, some MIUI features (such as a quick search in the app menu) may not work properly. If you encounter bugs, return Gboard back or update the firmware.

💡

Alternative keyboards not only remove the microphone button, but often offer more flexible text input, theme and gesture settings, a better option if you want to opt out of Google services altogether.

How to return voice input if needed?

If you decide that you need a voice keyboard after you shut it down, you can return it in a few steps, depending on the method you used before:

• 🔄 If you hid the button in Gboard: go to the keyboard settings (Themes and layout) → Toolbar) and turn on the option again.
• 🔊 If you have disabled permissions for Google: return access to the microphone in Settings → Annexes → Google → Permits.
• 📱 If you rolled back Gboard: update the keyboard through Google Play or install it again.
• ⚙️ If you used a third-party keyboard: return Gboard as the default keyboard in your system settings.

If the microphone button does not appear after returning, try:

1. Clear Gboard cache in Settings → Apps → Gboard → Memory → Clear cache.
2. Reboot the smartphone.
3. Update Gboard and Google App to the latest version.

Some MIUI firmware may require resetting keyboard settings to factory settings.

Settings → System → Language and input → Virtual keyboard → Gboard → Additional → Reset settings

Frequent problems and their solutions

When you turn off your voice keyboard, Xiaomi Redmi users sometimes encounter unexpected bugs, and here are the most common ones and ways to fix them:

If none of the solutions worked, try resetting your keyboard settings or updating your firmware. MIUI Xiaomi forums also advise using the latest version. ADB-commands to force the services to be disabled, but this requires unlocking the bootloader and may result in loss of warranty.

💡

If the keyboard is being manipulated, clear the system cache: Settings → About Phone → Memory → Clear the cache. This won’t delete personal data, but it can eliminate lags.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions