How to completely disable wallpaper on Xiaomi: from live backgrounds to system animations

Why users want to remove wallpaper on Xiaomi – and can it be done without consequences

The background wallpapers on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones are not just static images, but a whole range of visual elements, from live wallpapers to lock animations and system transitions. Many owners of MIUI devices face the desire to turn them off - and there are many reasons: from battery savings to irritation from constant animation.

But here's the catch: unlike Android's "pure" wallpaper, where wallpaper is controlled through standard settings, MIUI integrates background elements deep into the system. This means that simply removing a picture from a gallery or choosing a "black background" doesn't always solve the problem. In some cases, wallpaper continues to load in the background, consuming CPU and RAM resources, especially on budget models like the Redmi 10A or POCO M4 Pro, where every percentage of performance counts.

In this article, we will look at all possible ways to disable wallpaper, from basic settings to hidden MIUI features, including methods for devices with an unlocked bootloader, and learn which elements can be deactivated without risk to the system, and where to stop so as not to get a brick.

Method 1: Disable live wallpaper through standard settings

To start with, the simplest thing is to deactivate dynamic wallpapers, which consume significantly more energy than static wallpapers, because of the constant animation. In MIUI 12-14, this process is as simple as possible, but there are nuances for different models.

Instructions:

1. Open the Settings → Wallpaper (or Themes → Wallpaper on some firmware).
2. Select the section Live wallpaper (can be called Dynamic or Animated).
3. Slip on the current live wallpaper and at the bottom of the screen click Remove or Disable.
4. Return to the main wallpaper menu and select a static image (for example, a black background from the Basic collection).

⚠️ Note: On some devices (e.g. Xiaomi) 12T or POCO F4) When you turn off the live wallpaper, you can still have animations when you unlock them (AOD). To remove it, go to Settings. → Screen. → Always-on Display and turn off the option.

Remove current live wallpaper from the Wallpaper menu |

Select a static image (preferably dark)|

Turn off Always-on Display in screen settings|

Reset the device to apply changes-->

Method 2: Remove system wallpapers via “Themes” (including hidden ones)

MIUI stores wallpaper not only in the user's gallery, but also in the system partition. Even if you delete all the wallpaper manually, some standard themes (such as Earth or Mars) will remain in the device's memory. They can be deactivated through the Topic menu, but not everyone knows how to do it correctly.

Step-by-step:

• 📱 Open the Themes app (icon with brush and palette).
• 🔍 Go to Wallpaper section. → My wallpaper.
• 🗑️ Press and hold your finger on an unnecessary topic, then choose Remove (for uploaded wallpaper) or Reset (for standard ones).
• 🔄 If the wallpaper is not removed, tap on three dots in the upper right corner and select Reset wallpaper settings.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 13+ Some system wallpapers are protected from removal. ADB Or a file manager with root rights could cause a launcher to crash, and the only safe way to do that is to replace them with custom ones, rather than completely delete them.

Method 3: Disable animations and background processes through "Special Features"

Even after changing the wallpaper to static in the system can remain background processes responsible for animation transitions, paralax effects and other visual "chips" MIUI. They can be turned off through the menu of special features - this will not only remove unnecessary graphics, but also speed up the interface.

How to do this:

1. Go to Settings → Special features → System settings.
2. Find the animation section (may be called visual effects).
3. Disable all sliders: Windows animation (manages the smoothness of opening applications), transition animation (effects when swiping), Paralax effect (shifting wallpaper when tilting the phone).

Smooth crossings

💡 Useful tip: If after disabling animations, the interface began to seem “twitchy”, try to turn on the option GPU-Acceleration in the developer settings:

1. Activate Developer Mode (7 times tap on the MIUI version in Settings → About Phone).
2. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
3. Enable Forced GPU and USB Debugging (the latter is not necessary, but sometimes helps stabilize the work).

💡

If you have lost the transitions between the apps after disabling the animations, try restarting the phone in Safe Mode (press the power button → Safe Mode) and this will reset the system animation cache.

Method 4: Delete wallpapers via ADB (for advanced users)

If standard methods didn’t help and the wallpaper is still loaded in the background, you can resort to disabling via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which is suitable for users willing to work with the command line and requires an unlocked bootloader or developer rights.

🔧 Conditions required:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed ADB Tools (you can download from the official Android website).
• 📱 Included Debugging by USB on a smartphone (see previous section).
• 🔌 Cable USB (preferably original).

Commands to disable system wallpaper:

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


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




adb shell pm clear com.miui.miwallpaper

⚠️ Warning: These commands completely remove the system application "Wallpaper", which can lead to:

• Inability to change wallpaper through the standard menu (you will have to use third-party launchers).
• Failures in the Always-on Display (on some models)
• Loss of dynamic themes (e.g. Super Wallpapers)

To get it all back, do this:

adb shell pm install-existing com.miui.miwallpaper

Yeah, often |

I tried it 1-2 times |

No, but I want to learn |

No, I don't plan on.-->

Method 5: Using third-party launchers for full wallpaper control

If you want to not just remove the wallpaper, but completely replace the MIUI interface, the best option is to install an alternative launcher.

• 🎨 Use wallpaper without animations and paralax effects,
• 🔋 Reduce battery load with optimized code,
• 🛠️ Customize the appearance for yourself (including transparency, scaling icons, etc.).

Top.-3 Launcher for Xiaomi with support for wallpaper disabling:

🔹 How to remove wallpaper completely through Nova Launcher:

1. Install the launcher and make it the main (sentence will pop up at the first start).
2. Press your finger on the desktop → Desktop settings.
3. Select Wallpaper → background color and set black or other monochromatic color.
4. Turn off all animations in Settings → Animations (set the value No animation).

💡

The launchers don't physically remove the system wallpaper, they just ignore it, which means that when you go back to the standard MIUI launcher, the wallpaper will come back.

What to do if the wallpaper is not turned off: diagnosis of problems

Sometimes, even after all the manipulations, the wallpaper continues to be displayed or loaded in the background.

Problem 1: Wallpaper returns after the reset.

• 🔄 Solution: This is related to the auto-recovery theme function. Turn it off in Settings → Topics → Settings of topics → Restore the theme after updating.

Problem 2: The blocking animation remains despite the static wallpaper.

• 🔐 Solution: Go to Settings → Lock screen → Lock style and select Classic or Digital Watch (no animations).

Problem 3: System wallpaper takes up space in memory.

• 🗃️ Solution: Use a root-access file manager (like Root Explorer) and delete folders: /system/media/theme/default_wallpapers /data/system/theme/ (Carefully – here are the user themes stored!)

⚠️ Note: Deleting system files without backup can lead to bootloop.Before any manipulation with root, make a backup through TWRP Or Mi Flash Tool.

FAQ: Frequent questions about turning off wallpaper on Xiaomi