How to turn off the flashlight when calling Xiaomi: all ways

Flashing the camera when you call or notify is a useful feature for Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO, which helps you not miss an important call in noisy environments. However, bright flashes can irritate, distract others, or even cause discomfort in people with sensitivity to light, especially at night when sudden lighting cuts your eyes or wakes up your household.

Unfortunately, the manufacturer doesn’t always make this option into the main settings, so users have difficulty turning it off. In this article, we’ll look at all the ways to deactivate backlights, from standard MIUI settings to hidden commands and third-party applications, and how to avoid it.

Why does Xiaomi flash when calling?

Flash Alerts was introduced into MIUI as part of a special feature system, originally designed for people with hearing impairments to visually signal an incoming call or message, and over time, the option became available to all users, but it often happens by accident, such as when resetting settings or updating firmware.

On different models Xiaomi backlight works differently:

• 📱 Budget models (Redmi) 9A, POCO M3): It only flashes when you call, without responding to SMS.
• 📱 Mid-segment (Xiaomi 11 Lite, Redmi Note 10): backlighting for calls + messenger notification.
• 📱 Flagships (Xiaomi 13 Pro, Black Shark 5): advanced settings with a choice of colors and flashing frequencies.

Interestingly, on some devices, the function is activated automatically when you turn on Do Not Disturb mode or connect your headphones, which is due to the logic of MIUI, which tries to compensate for the lack of an audio signal with visual.

Method 1: Disconnect via standard MIUI settings

On most modern devices (MIUI 12-14), the option is hidden in the special features menu.

1. Open the Settings. → Special facilities.
2. Go to the Hearing section (or the Sound and Vibration on some firmware).
3. Find Flash Alerts and move the slider to the Off position.

If there is no such item, try the alternative path: Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Flash at notifications.

Check out the MIUI version in Settings → About the phone

Make sure your phone is not in "Do Not Disturb" mode.

Check for system updates

Open the notification curtain – sometimes there’s a quick switch.-->

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware (MIUI 11 and below) the option may be called Camera Flash when calling and be in Settings → Sounds and vibrations. If you don't have one, move on to the next way.

Method 2: Using a Hidden Menu of Engineering Settings

If the standard method didn’t work, try turning off the backlights through the engineering menu, which works on 80% of Xiaomi devices, but you need to be careful – wrong actions can disrupt the system.

Instructions:

1. Open the Phone app and type the combination: ##36446337## (code for MediaTek) or ##4636## (universal).
2. In the menu that appears, select Hardware Testing → Sensors.
3. Find Flashlight or Torch and turn off Notification Flash.
4. Reset the device.

Qualcomm Snapdragon processors may require other code:

##7594## → Enable/Disable Flash Notification

Method 3: Disconnect via ADB (for advanced users)

If previous methods have failed, the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is the official tool from Google that allows you to manage hidden system settings, which requires you to connect your phone to your computer, but it is guaranteed to work on all versions of MIUI.

Step-by-step:

1. Download and install ADB Tools on PC.
2. On your phone, activate Developer Mode (7 times click on the MIUI version in Settings → About Phone).
3. Enable USB debugging in Settings → Additional → For developers.
4. Connect your phone to your PC and type in the command line: adb shell settings put global notification_light_pulse 0 To turn off the backlight when calling, additionally do: adb shell settings put global incoming_call_light_pulse 0

⚠️ Attention: After update MIUI setting ADB To avoid this, back up with the command: adb shell settings list global | grep "light_pulse" > flash_settings_backup.txt

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If ADB doesn’t recognize the device, try reinstalling Xiaomi drivers via the official website, and check that the developer settings have enabled the “Allow Debugging over USB” option.

Method 4: Third-party applications for lighting control

If you don't want to mess with your system settings, you can use Google Play apps that offer flexible backlight management, including color selection, blinking frequency, and exclusions for individual contacts.

Check reviews before installing – some apps may conflict with MIUI due to manufacturer restrictions. For example, on Xiaomi 12T and Redmi Note 11, Flash Alerts 2 requires you to further disable battery optimization for the application.

Why does the lighting turn on on on its own?

Many users complain that the function is activated again after the shutdown, due to several factors:

• 🔄 Update MIUI: After installing a new firmware, some settings are reset to default values.
• 🛠️ Factory reset: When fully reset, all parameters, including Flash Alerts, return to their original state.
• 🔋 Optimizing the battery: MIUI It can automatically turn on backlights if the system thinks you are missing important notifications.
• 📱 Application conflict: Some messengers (such as WhatsApp or Telegram) have their own notification settings that override system settings.

On devices with a MediaTek processor (for example, Redmi 9C, POCO C31), backlighting may be turned on due to a firmware error, in which case only manually disconnecting through ADB or switching to custom firmware will help.

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To prevent spontaneous lighting, after disabling the function, back up the settings via Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When you try to turn off the backlight, you often encounter typical problems, and here are the most common ones and how to solve them:

If none of the methods worked, check if your device has a MIUI beta installed. Backlight control bugs are common in test builds. The solution is to roll back to stable firmware via Settings → About Phone → System Update → Three Dots → Select a Service Pack.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions