How to permanently turn off screen wakeup on Xiaomi: 5 proven ways

The screen of your Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO wakes up in your pocket from accidental touches, draining the battery and including unwanted features? This problem is familiar to many owners of the brand's smartphones - especially after MIUI updates, when sensor sensitivity or control gestures begin to work too aggressively. 80% of the time, it is not the breakdown that is to blame, but the wrong settings of the system.

In this article, we’ll look at all the possible causes of spontaneous screen switching on, from basic menu settings to hidden developer features, and show you how to turn them off. You’ll learn why even when the display is off, how the proximity sensor affects it, and why some applications ignore system limitations. Instructions are relevant for MIUI 12-14 and all modern models, including the Xiaomi 13/14, Redmi Note 12 and POCO F5.

Basic screen settings: what to turn off first

Start by checking the obvious parameters — often the problem is solved in 2 minutes without in-depth manipulation. The main “culprits” of waking the screen are hidden in the Settings → Display section.

The first thing to look at is the Lift to Wake feature, which activates the screen when you pick up the phone, but it also works when you move in your bag or pocket.

• 📱 Open the Settings. → Display. → Lift to wake up and move the slider to the off position.
• 🔄 If there is no option, check the Settings section. → Additionally. → Gestures (on some firmware).
• ⚡ Nana POCO The path may be different: Settings → System system → Gestures → Raise to wake up.

The second is Double Tap to Wake, which is convenient but often false, especially if the phone is on a hard surface, and it turns off in the Display or Gesture section.

⚠️ Note: On some models (Xiaomi) 12T, Redmi K50) After disabling gestures, the screen may stop responding to touches when you connect to charging. To return the function, activate the option to turn on the screen when charging in Settings → Battery.

Approximation Sensor: Why the screen turns on in your pocket

Few people know, but the proximity sensor (the one that turns off the screen during a call) can cause false awakenings. On Xiaomi, it sometimes works on the pressure in your pocket or bag, interpreting this as “removing your hand from the screen.” AMOLED-Displays (Xiaomi 13 Pro, POCO F4 GT), where the sensor is embedded.

To check and disable its effects:

1. Go to Settings → About phone and tap on the MIUI version 7 times to activate the developer mode.
2. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
3. Find the option to turn off sensors when blocking and turn it on.
4. If there is no option, try calibrating the sensor: in the same menu, select the Calibration of the proximity sensor.

Some firmware (MIUI 13 Global) may require manual deactivation of the sensor via ADB. Connect your phone to your PC, enable USB Debugging, and follow the command:

adb shell settings put global proximity_sensor_wake_lock_enabled 0

⚠️ Warning: Once the proximity sensor is turned off, the screen will not go out during calls when you hold the phone to your ear. To return the function, use the command adb shell settings put global. proximity_sensor_wake_lock_enabled 1.

Disable sensors when blocking|Check the sensor calibration|Perform ADB-team, if necessary)|Reboot the phone-->

3. Notifications and background apps: hidden culprits

Even if you have disabled all gestures, the screen can wake up due to notifications or app activity, such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber, by default, allow the display to display messages, and some games (PUBG Mobile, Genshin Impact) use push notifications that ignore system limitations.

How to fix it:

• 📵 Open the Settings. → Notifications → Notification settings and disable Show on locked screen for unnecessary apps.
• 🔕 In the same section, select Notification Priority and set the Sound Only mode for instant messengers (without waking up the screen).
• 🛑 For a radical solution, ban background activity: Settings → Annexes → Application management → [select the application] → Battery → Limit background activity.

Pay special attention to system notifications – for example, MIUI Optimization or Security sometimes wake up the screen to show “helpful hints.” Turn them off in Settings → Notifications → System notifications.

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If the screen wakes up at night, check Settings → Lock screen → Watch/Widgets. Some MIUI themes update the time every minute, resulting in microwakes of the display.

4.Sleep mode and deep battery optimization

MIUI has a hidden Deep Sleep mechanism that is designed to prevent the screen from waking up during non-working hours, but by default it is often turned off or not working properly, to activate it:

1. Go to Settings → Battery → Battery Mode.
2. Choose Energy Saving or Super Energy Saving (depending on the model).
3. Click on Mode Settings and turn on the Deep Sleep (or Sleep Mode) option.
4. Set a schedule – for example, from 23:00 to 7:00.

If you do not have an option, use ADB to force you to:

adb shell settings put global deep_sleep_optimization 1

Important: After deep sleep is activated, some background tasks (e.g., email sync) will be suspended. To eliminate critical applications, whitelist them in Settings → Battery → Battery Optimization.

5. Firmware problems and resetting settings

If none of these things worked, the problem could be firmware errors or conflicts after the upgrade, such as MIUI 14, which caused the screen to wake up every 5 to 10 minutes, regardless of settings.

• 🔄 Resetting screen settings: Settings → System system → Resetting settings → Reset the display settings.
• 📥 Update rollback: If the problem occurs after the update, go back to the previous version MIUI through settings → The phone. → Updating the system → Three points. → Select a Service Package.
• 🛠️ Manual firmware: download the stable version MIUI For your model from the official Xiaomi website and go through Fastboot or Recovery.

Before resetting or firmware, make sure to back up through Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset. If you use TWRP, create a backup of the data and system partition.

⚠️ Note: On models with a locked bootloader (Xiaomi 13 Lite, Redmi Note 11), trying to flash the unofficial firmware will lead to a hard brick.

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If the problem occurred after upgrading to MIUI 14, try to roll back to MIUI 13.5 – there is no bug with false approximation sensor awakenings.

Hardware malfunctions: when iron is to blame

If the software methods did not help, the cause may be a physical malfunction:

A damaged gyroscope (responsible for the gesture of “lift to wake up”).

Faulty approach sensor (constantly sending false signals)

- Display plume (leads to spontaneous touches).

- Phone flooding or falling (may cause contacts to close).

How to diagnose a hardware problem:

1. Check gesture response in Settings → Additional → Developer → Show touch. If the screen registers touch without you, the sensor or plume is to blame.
2. Install the Sensor Test app from Google Play and test the gyroscope/accelerometer. If the readings jump without the phone moving, the sensor is faulty.
3. See if the battery is bloated (take the back cover carefully), and the pressure on the screen can cause false positives.

Decisions:

- If the plume or sensor is to blame, a replacement is required (cost: 1,500–4,000) ₽ model-wise).

If the gyroscope is faulty, you can turn off gestures via ADB:

adb shell settings put global lift_to_wake 0


adb shell settings put global tap_to_wake 0

If the battery is a problem, replace it (on Xiaomi, you can do it yourself by buying the original battery).

FAQ: Frequent questions about the screen wake up on Xiaomi