How to permanently disable wallpaper carousel on the lock screen in MIUI 12: 5 proven ways

Why the MIUI 12 Wallpaper Carousel is Irritating to Users – and How to Remove It Once and For All

The lock screen on Xiaomi smartphones with the shell of MIUI 12 often turns into a real “carousel” – the system automatically changes the wallpaper, downloading them from the cloud service Xiaomi Cloud or local gallery. For some users, this is a convenient feature of personalization, for others – a source of constant irritation. Especially when the smartphone begins to “slip” wallpaper with low resolution, advertising banners or simply irrelevant images.

The problem is compounded by the fact that MIUI 12 does not offer an obvious way to disable this feature in settings. Even after manually selecting wallpaper, the system can return to automatic change after a few hours or after rebooting. In this article, we will discuss 5 working methods for permanently removing the wallpaper carousel from the lock screen - from standard settings to hidden shell capabilities and even editing system files (for advanced users).

Important: Some methods require root rights or disabling system applications, which can affect the stability of the smartphone, and we will note such methods with special warnings.

Method 1: Disable automatic wallpaper change via standard MIUI settings

Let’s start with the simplest and most secure method that works on most Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco devices with MIUI 12. Even though the option is hidden, it’s in the system – you just need to know where to look.

Instructions:

• 📱 Open the Settings. → Lock screen.
• 🖼️ Slip on the item Wallpaper lock screen (or wallpaper setting, depending on the firmware version).
• 🔄 Scroll down to Auto Shift and turn off the slider.
• 💾 Save the changes by clicking Apply or Ready.

If your version of MIUI 12 does not have Automatic Change, try an alternative way:

1. Click the empty space on the main screen → select Wallpaper.
2. Go to the Lock screen tab.
3. In the upper right corner, press on ⚙️ Settings and look for the option Automatic change.

⚠️ Note: Some firmware (for example, for Poco) F2 Pro or Mi 10T) This is a temporary method, and after you update the system or reset the carousel can come back.

Method 2: Disable wallpaper synchronization with Xiaomi Cloud

One of the reasons for automatic wallpaper changes is synchronization with the Xiaomi Cloud service, which can load the “recommended” wallpaper or restore previous settings after rebooting, and to avoid this, you need to turn off sync for wallpaper.

How to do this:

1. Go to Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Slip on the synchronization.
3. Find the Wallpaper (or Themes) item and turn off the slider.
4. Return to the wallpaper settings (see Method 1) and manually select a static image.

If after these actions the carousel still appears, check if the option Recommended wallpaper is included in the theme settings:

• 🎨 Open the Topics app.
• 🔍 Go to Wallpaper section. → Settings (⚙️).
• 🚫 Turn off Recommended Wallpaper and Auto Update.

Method 3: Remove or disable the Wallpaper system application (requires ADB)

If the standard methods didn't work, you can go a radical way, disable the system application responsible for changing the wallpaper. In MIUI 12, the com.miui.miwallpaper is responsible for this. You can't delete it without root rights, but you can freeze it through ADB (Android Debug Bridge).

Instructions:

1. 🖥️ Install. ADB-pc-tool.
2. 📱 On your smartphone, turn on the developer mode (7 times tap the version). MIUI In Settings → The phone).
3. 🔧 Turn on Debugging. USB In Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
4. 🔌 Connect the phone to the PC and execute a command in the terminal (or CMD):

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.miwallpaper

Once you've done the command, the Wallpaper app will be disabled and the background image will stop automatically changing. To get it back, use:

adb shell pm enable com.miui.miwallpaper

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If after disabling the application wallpaper is completely gone, install a third-party launcher (for example, Nova Launcher) and adjust the background through it.

⚠️ Warning: Disabling system applications may lead to unstable operation MIUI, Especially if you use branded themes or Xiaomi widgets. Before you execute the command, back up your data.

Method 4: Editing the MIUI configuration file (for advanced users)

This method is suitable for those who have root rights or access to system files through the TWRP. We'll edit the file. miui_wallpaper_config.xml, wallpaper-store.

Step-by-step:

1. 📁 Using a root-access file manager (such as Root Explorer) go down the path:

/data/system/users/0/

1. 🔍 Find the file. miui_wallpaper_config.xml Open it in the text editor.
2. 📝 Find the line with the parameter auto_change_wallpaper and change the meaning from true to false:

<boolean name="auto_change_wallpaper" value="false" />

1. 💾 Save the file and restart the smartphone.

If the file is not available, it can be created manually with the following content:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>


<map>




<boolean name="auto_change_wallpaper" value="false" />




</map>

⚠️ Warning: Incorrect editing of system files can lead to a cyclic restart (bootloop) or reset settings. Before changing files, back up via TWRP Xiaomi Cloud.

Method 5: Using third-party launchers and wallpaper applications

If you don't want to interfere with system settings, you can bypass the limitations of MIUI with third-party tools. Many launchers (for example, Nova Launcher, Lawnchair) allow you to capture wallpaper on the lock screen, ignoring the settings of the system.

How it works:

• 📥 Install an alternative launcher from Google Play.
• 🖼️ In the launcher settings, find the Wallpaper or Lock Screen section.
• 🔒 Select a static image and turn off automatic shifting.
• 📱 Set the launcher by default in the smartphone settings.

You can also use specialized applications for wallpaper, for example:

• 🌄 Wallpapers Craft – allows you to block background changes.
• 🎨 Muzei Live Wallpaper – Flexible Update Settings.
• 🔒 Lockscreen Wallpaper Changer – Manual Wallpaper Control on Lock.

The downside of this method is the additional battery consumption, since third-party launchers operate in the background, but this is the most secure way, not requiring interference with system files.

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The launcher side is the only method that is guaranteed to work on all versions of MIUI (including 12.5 and 13) without risk to the system.

What to do if nothing helps: radical measures

If all of the above methods have not yielded results, there are two extreme options:

1. 🔄 Resetting settings to factory settings (with subsequent disabling synchronization from Mi Cloud before first logging in to your account).
2. 📲 Flashing to custom firmware (for example, LineageOS or Pixel Experience), where there is no binding to Xiaomi services.

Reset is done via Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset. Important: before reset, disable Xiaomi account binding in the cloud settings, otherwise after the reset, the system will again tighten the old wallpaper settings.

Flashing to custom OS is the most reliable, but also the most difficult way.

• 🔓 Unlock the bootloader (Bootloader).
• 📥 Installations TWRP or another custom Recovery.
• 🛠️ Ability to work with fastboot and ADB.

Detailed firmware instructions for your model can be found on the XDA Developers or 4PDA forums. Remember that this voids the warranty and may result in data loss.

FAQ: Frequent questions about wallpaper carousel in MIUI 12