How to permanently disable Google Assistant on Xiaomi: 5 working ways

Google Assistant on Xiaomi smartphones is often a source of annoyance: it spontaneously activates when holding the Home button, eats battery power in the background and collects data about your requests. Despite the usefulness of the feature for some users, many owners of Redmi, POCO or Mi want to get rid of the voice assistant forever. The problem is that MIUI hides direct shutdown settings - they have to search in the depths of the system or use workarounds.

In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to deactivate Google Assistant on Xiaomi smartphones running MIUI 12-14 (including global and Chinese firmware), you will learn how to disable the assistant through settings, with ADB, or even delete its system files, taking into account the peculiarities of specific models.

Why Google Assistant is in the way of Xiaomi?

Even if you've never used a voice assistant, it still works in the background, and here are the main reasons why users want to turn it off:

• 🔋 Google Assistant is constantly listening to the command “OK, Google” and consumes up to 5-10% of the charge per day.
• 🛑 Random positives: Holding the Home button or touching the edge of the screen can activate the assistant in your pocket.
• 📊 Data collection: All voice requests are sent to Google servers (even if you have disabled your activity history).
• 🚫 Conflict with MIUI: Google Assistant blocks the work of native assistant Xiao AI.
• 📱 Lags and hangings: on budget models (Redmi) 9A, POCO M3) background activity of the assistant may inhibit the system.

According to XDA Developers’ tests, on smartphones with 4GB of RAM and below, turning off Google Assistant increases battery life by 12 to 15 percent. But there’s a downside: some features (like smart search in Launcher or fast commands) will stop working.

Method 1: Disable via Google Settings (without root)

The easiest and safest method is to deactivate the assistant in your Google account settings, which is suitable for all Xiaomi models (including Redmi Note 12, POCO X5, Mi 11) and does not require superuser rights, but does not remove the assistant completely, but only blocks its activation with voice and buttons.

Instructions:

1. Open the Google app (the icon with the letter "G" on a color background).
2. Slip on the profile avatar in the upper right corner → select Settings.
3. Go to the Google Assistant section → General.
4. Turn off the sliders: 🔊 Google Assistant (Main Switch) 🎤 Google (voice activation) 📱 Screen locking assistant

Settings

Devices

Xiaomi

Use the on-screen search bar

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI (for example, MIUI 13 for Redmi Note 10 Pro) after the system update, settings may reset.We recommend monthly check the status of the assistant in Google settings.

Method 2: Deactivate via MIUI settings (for Chinese firmware)

If your Xiaomi is running on the Chinese version of MIUI (like the Mi 10 Ultra or Black Shark 5), standard methods may not work due to regional firmware limitations, in which case the hidden MIUI settings menu that allows you to disable integration with Google services will help.

Steps:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Slip on the three dots in the top right corner → select Show all apps.
3. Find the Google (or Google App) list and tap it.
4. Select Disable → Confirm the action (this won’t remove the app, but will block its background activity).
5. To completely disable the assistant also find and disable: 🤖 Google Play Services (may cause other services to fail!) 🔍 Google Search

⚠️ Note: Disabling Google Play Services will render most Google apps, including Play Market, inoperable only for users who have switched to alternative services (e.g., Huawei AppGallery or APKMirror).

Method 3: Using ADB to Deep Shut Down

If previous methods failed, you can use the Android debugging bridge (ADB), which is suitable for all Xiaomi models, including the POCO F4, Redmi K50 and Mi 12, but requires a connection to a computer, the advantage of the method is a complete deactivation of the assistant at the system level, without the need for root rights.

Instructions:

1. Turn on the developer mode on your smartphone: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on MIUI Version. Go back to Settings → Additional → Developer. Activate USB Debugging.

ADB Tools

Minimal ADB and Fastboot

adb devices

(The name of your device should appear).

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox

This command removes the Google app only for the current user, without affecting system files.

adb shell pm revoke com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO

⚠️ Warning: After restarting the device or resetting the command settings ADB To avoid this, create a batch file with these commands and run it after each update. MIUI.

💡

If, after the execution, ADB-Google Assistant teams keep popping up, check for updates for the Google app in Play Market. manually remove them: Settings → Annexes → Google → Remove updates.

Method 4: Delete system files (root required)

For users with obtained root rights (for example, through Magisk), a radical method is available - deleting the system files of Google Assistant. This method is guaranteed to get rid of the assistant, but requires caution: improper actions can lead to a bootloop (a looped reboot of the device).

Step-by-step:

1. Install a file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Go to /system/priv-app/GoogleQuickSearchBox or (for newer versions of MIUI): /product/priv-app/GoogleQuickSearchBox
3. Remove or rename the GoogleQuickSearchBox folder (for example, in the GoogleQuickSearchBox_bak).
4. Go to /system/app/GoogleSearch and delete/rename the content.
5. Clear the cache and data of the Google app in the settings.
6. Reset the device.

How to set up Nova Launcher to block Google Assistant:

1. Install Nova Launcher from Play Market.
2. Click the empty space on the main screen → Settings.
3. Go to the App and widgets → Gesture Assignments.
4. Find the action Hold the Home button and assign it No Action or Open the application (e.g. Xiao AI).
5. In the Search bar section, select No or Search Nova.

💡

Replacing the launcher is the only method that does not require superuser rights or ADB, but does not disable the background processes of Google Assistant. For complete deactivation, combine this method with others (for example, ADB).

Frequent problems and their solutions

When you turn off Google Assistant on Xiaomi, users experience common mistakes, and we'll look at the most common ones and how to fix them.

If you notice a performance deterioration or notification problem after disabling Google Assistant, check:

• 🔄 System cache: clean it in Settings → Memory. → Clear the cache.
• 📱 Background Processes: Use Greenify to Freeze Unnecessary Services.
• 🔧 Battery Settings: Add Critical Apps to the List Without Limitations.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions