Many Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphone users are faced with a situation where standard navigation using three touch buttons at the bottom of the screen becomes uncomfortable, which can be due to random taps in their pocket, a desire to use gesture control, or simply for aesthetic reasons. The question of how to turn off touch buttons on Xiaomi becomes especially relevant for those who are switching from iPhone or simply prefer minimalist interface.
With the latest versions of the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS, the company offers flexible tools to customize navigation. Not only can you remove buttons completely by swiping them, but you can also adjust the backlight behavior, change the response time, or even hide the controls themselves, leaving them functional.
In this article, we will take a look at all the available navigation bar management techniques, standard menu paths, hidden engineering codes, and device models, and learn to fully control the bottom of your smartphone screen.
Transition to gesture control: complete button replacement
The most radical and popular way to get rid of touch buttons is to switch to gesture control, in which the three usual buttons (Menu, Home, Back) disappear from the screen, freeing up the useful area of the display, and navigation is performed by swipes from the edges of the screen, making the interface more modern and visually clean.
To activate this mode, you need to go to the system settings section. The path may vary slightly depending on the firmware version, but the logic remains the same. You need to find the navigation item and select the gesture option. Once confirmed, the system will ask for a brief training.
Training usually involves a few simple actions: swiping from the bottom up to access the desktop, swiping from the left or right to return back, and long-pressing the lower lane to call up recent applications.Gest control significantly speeds up the device after getting used to.
It's worth noting that when you turn on gestures, you get a thin bar at the bottom of the screen, which you can make invisible in the extra settings, but functionally it will remain the active zone, and if you decide to go back to the buttons, the system will save your previous preferences for their location.
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When switching to gestures, try to turn off the system response vibration in the sound settings so that the navigation becomes quieter and more pleasant tactile.
Setting the duration and highlighting of buttons
If removing the buttons completely isn’t right for you, but you want to minimize their impact on the experience, you can adjust the display settings. Xiaomi smartphones often have a time adjustment for the time when the buttons light up after touching, which helps save battery power and reduces visual noise at night.
To access these settings, you should go to the option menu. Here you will find options related to navigation buttons. Changing the backlight duration allows you to make buttons less noticeable when they are not actively used. Standard burning time can be from 1 to 10 seconds or be set to “always on”.
- 🔹 Open the settings of your device.
- 🔹 Go to Additional Features or Advanced Settings.
- 🔹 Select the buttons or navigation.
- 🔹 Find the parameter Duration of illumination and set the minimum value.
Some models allow you to completely turn off the backlight, leaving the buttons visible only when pressed (if the screen is not visible). AMOLED) Or make them completely transparent, and it creates a floating interface. IPS-buttons can remain slightly visible even when the backlight is turned off due to the characteristics of the matrix.
☑️ Configuring the display of buttons
Hidden settings through the engineering menu
For advanced users who want to gain full control of the hardware, there is the possibility of accessing hidden settings through an engineering menu, which allows you to change parameters that are not displayed in the standard MIUI. However, it is worth remembering that interfering with these settings requires caution.
To get into the test menu, you need to enter a special USSD-The code in the phone app. Once you enter the combination, you'll see a list of test modes. We're interested in the section related to the touch screen or navigation. Here you can find options for calibrating or forcing certain areas of the sensor to be turned off, although this is rarely required for simple buttons.
⚠️ Warning: Changes in unknown parameters in the engineering menu may cause the device to function unstable.
Some firmware versions can check buttons with ##6484## (CIT menu), but they are not always software-enabled to be disabled, most often used to diagnose malfunctions when buttons stop responding to presses.
List of useful codes for Xiaomi
If your goal is simply to hide the visual element rather than disable it, standard settings are usually sufficient, and engineering techniques are more suitable for situations where the sensor layer is not working properly and requires deep reconfiguration.
Navigation Methods Comparison: buttons vs. gestures
Choosing between buttons and gestures is a matter of habit and ergonomics. To help you decide, we've created a comparison table that highlights the key differences between the two controls. Each user will find a choice based on the style of use of the smartphone.
| Parameter | Touch buttons | Gesture management |
|---|---|---|
| Occupied screen area | Fixed lane down. | Minimum (thin line) |
| Switching speed | Medium (to aim) | High (swipe in any part of the edge) |
| Learning capacity | Intuitively clear immediately | It takes 2-3 days of getting used to. |
| Risk of accidental pressing | Tall (in pocket/case) | Low (conscious movement is required) |
As the table shows, gestures are winning in ergonomics and screen space use. However, buttons remain more predictable for users with large fingers or those holding a phone with one hand in certain grips. The evolution of interfaces is moving towards gestures, and app developers are increasingly optimizing content for the absence of a bottom bar.
And you also have to consider that on big screens (6.7 inches or higher), it's hard to reach the bottom button with one hand, and gestures solve this problem by allowing you to swipe from any edge of the screen, which is especially important for modern phablets.
Solving Sensitivity and False Pressing Problems
Often users are looking for a way to turn off buttons not because they want to use gestures, but because of the sensor's oversensitivity. Random touches can occur when using high-sided covers or when carrying a phone in a tight pocket. In such cases, a complete shutdown is not always necessary - sometimes fine-tuning is enough.
First of all, check if the screen sensitivity mode is on, and it's designed to use security glasses, but it can cause false navigational triggers, and you can turn it off in Settings → Screen, which often solves the problem of "phantom" presses.
- 🔸 Make sure the screen is clean and dry.
- 🔸 Remove the case and check the buttons without it.
- 🔸 Calibrate the sensor through the engineering menu.
- 🔸 Enable "In your pocket" in the lock settings.
⚠️ Note: If the buttons react chaotically even after resetting and replacing the case, it may be the hardware part (the plume or controller) that is the problem).
Another reason could be a software conflict. Recently, an installed application can overlap the interface or create invisible layers on top of buttons. Check the permission list for newly installed programs, especially those that require the right to overlay on top of other windows.
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In most cases, problems with false presses are solved by removing the protective glass or turning off the hypersensitivity mode in the screen settings.
Use of third-party applications for navigation
If Xiaomi’s standard tools don’t meet your needs, third-party solutions from the Google Play store come to the rescue, and there are launcher apps and navigation utilities that allow you to create your own floating buttons, change their size, transparency and location, giving you maximum customization freedom.
One popular method is to use applications that create a virtual button on top of the screen, and you can place it anywhere you want, even at the top of the display, completely ignoring the bottom touch zone, and these programs often have their own sets of gestures and themes.
However, it is worth remembering the resource consumption: third-party navigators work in the background and can consume additional battery power, and they can conflict with the system security gestures of Android. Use them only if the standard functionality is really limited.
To install these applications, you'll need to give permission to display on top of other windows. This is a critical security parameter, so the system will alert you several times about potential risks. Trust only trusted, high-ranking developers.