How to turn off the circle on the screen Xiaomi: the complete guide

Users of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often experience the sudden appearance of various interface elements that hover over all applications, most often the so-called “floating ball” or round button that mimics the functionality of the physical home button. However, sometimes the “circle” means intrusive advertising or widgets that block view. In this article, we will discuss all possible options for such objects and methods of eliminating them.

The annoyance element can be a useful feature of Quick Ball, turned on accidentally, and the result of third-party applications or system advertising. Understanding the nature of the origin of this object is the first step to solving the problem. We will look at the standard tools of the MIUI and HyperOS shell, and also address security issues if the object is malicious.

Don't panic if you have an extra icon on the display, and in most cases, it's a regular feature that's easy to deactivate through feature settings. Let's go through all the possible causes and methods to get rid of them, to get your smartphone back clean and ergonomic.

Quick Ball Assistant Ball: What it is and why it is needed

The most common reason for the mug is the Quick Ball feature, which was introduced by Xiaomi developers for users who are uncomfortable using a physical home button or navigation gestures, and this translucent circle allows you to call menus with app shortcuts, take screenshots, or lock the screen with a single touch.

Often users turn on this feature accidentally, trying to adjust navigation or special features. Quick Ball can overlap the content of games or videos, which causes significant discomfort. Despite its usefulness for people with disabilities, it often interferes with the average user than helps.

It's important to distinguish between this system element and third-party launchers. If the ball responds to touch and opens the tool menu, it's Quick Ball. If it's a static picture or advertisement, the elimination method will be different. In this section, we'll focus on turning off the staff assistant.

Step-by-step: Turning off the floating ball

To remove the intrusive circle, you need to go to a deep system settings menu. The path may vary slightly depending on the shell version (MIUI 12, 13, 14 or the new HyperOS), but the logic remains the same. You will need to find the section responsible for additional management functions.

Follow the algorithm to ensure you find the right option. We use a standard menu structure that is relevant to most modern Xiaomi models. If you do not find the item right away, search by settings by typing in the query "Quick Ball" or "Quick Ball".

Once you do this, the circle should disappear instantly, and if it's still there, maybe another function is activated or there's a problem with third-party software, so check if you have a gesture control or memory cleaner app that has permission to display on top of other windows.

⚠️ Warning: If the ball continues to hang on the screen after the function is disabled, try restarting the device. Sometimes system processes require a restart to apply the changes.

Customizing behavior and shortcuts of a fast ball

If you don’t want to completely remove the feature, but only want to make it less noticeable or change behavior, the system offers flexible settings. In the Quick Ball menu, you can turn off the display of the panel when you unlock it or change the transparency of the element.

You can also set up short- and long-press actions, so you can adapt the tool to your needs, turning it from a jammer into a useful gadget, for example, you can set up a double-tape camera call or a long-press return to your desktop.

For those who use a smartphone with one hand, these settings can be a salvation, but if your goal is an exceptionally clean screen without unnecessary elements, it is better to completely deactivate the module, as described in the previous section.

• 🔹 Transparency: allows the ball to be almost invisible when not in use.
• 🔹 Positioning: You can fasten the ball to the left or right so that it does not interfere with the thumb.
• 🔹 Hiding: Automatic Hiding Option After 5 Seconds of Inactivity.
• 🔹 Replace shortcuts: the ability to add up to 5 of your apps to the ball menu.

Advertising mugs and widgets: how to get rid of garbage

Sometimes, what users mean by "circle" is not a system function, but a pop-up ad or a "Memory Cleanup" widget that appears in the corner of the screen. This is not a function of the Android system itself, but rather the result of installing aggressive optimizer applications or activating recommendations in system services.

A common culprit is Xiaomi’s Security app, which can display a floating window recommending that you clear your memory, and can generate your installed cleaners, antiviruses, or battery-saving apps.

To identify the source, look at the behavior of the object. If you click on it, you want to run a scan or go to a site, it's advertising, and removing those components requires you to turn off recommendations in your system settings and check the list of installed applications.

System advertising in the shell of MIUI is often disguised as useful notifications. Be careful when installing any applications that promise to “speed up the phone 2 times”, most often they create those non-removable mugs on the desktop.

Third-party applications and display permissions

If the system settings didn’t work, then your device has a third-party app that allows “Master on top of other apps” — a powerful tool that is often used by instant messengers (for calls), navigators and, unfortunately, advertising modules.

To find the culprit, go to Settings → Applications → Application Management. From the menu (three dots or the “More” button), select Special Access → Display on top of other applications. Here you will see a list of all programs that have the right to draw interfaces on top of the system.

If you see an unknown application or an optimizer that you don't use, disable that access, and that will instantly remove any floating elements that the software has created.

• 📱 Messengers: Viber, Telegram, WhatsApp use this for pop-up call windows.
• 🎵 Music players: show the album cover over other windows.
• 📹 Video players: the mode of "picture in picture».
• ⚠️ Suspicious software: applications with names like "Clean Master", "Battery Saver».

⚠️ Note: Do not disable access for system applications with Android, System, and other systems in their name. UI» or «MIUI», If you're not 100% sure about their purpose, it could disrupt the phone.

Disabling recommendations and advertising in MIUI

To prevent the emergence of advertising circles and pop-ups in the future, it is recommended to disable data collection and personalized recommendations in the Xiaomi system itself, which will make the interface cleaner and increase privacy.

Follow the Settings → Passwords & Security → Access to Personal Data → Authorization & Security (msa). Turn off the msa slider. The system will warn you several times about the consequences and ask you to wait 10 seconds - this is a normal protective reaction, just wait for the timer to end and confirm the disconnection.

You should also go to the settings of each system application (Conductor, Music, Video, Themes), find the item "Receive recommendations" and disable it. This will remove banner ads from the application folders and system utilities.

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To quickly find hidden ad settings, use a search by phone settings by entering the words “advertising,” “recommendations,” or “msa.”

In rare cases, a circle on the screen can be a sign of more serious problems, such as a faulty touchscreen (phantom touches) or a deep infection with a malware virus. If software methods do not help, it is worth conducting a hardware diagnosis. You can check the touchscreen through the engineering menu. Type ##6484## in the phone app. Select the TouchPanel test and swipe across the screen. If the lines break or appear without touching in certain areas, the problem is physical. If the screen responds perfectly, but the circle appears again and again even after resetting, perhaps an undeleteable virus has been introduced into the system, in which case only a complete flashing of the device through the computer will help, and all data will be cleaned. 💡90% of cases of “circles” are solved by disabling the Quick Ball function or removing the optimizer application. Hardware breakdowns are rare. Don't ignore the strange behaviors of the interface. Timely identification of the source of the problem will save your personal data and prolong the life of the battery, which can be discharged due to the background activity of the malicious module.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)