How to completely disable themes on Xiaomi: 5 working ways

The theme of design on Xiaomi smartphones is both a feature of the brand and a headache for many users, MIUI It offers hundreds of free themes with unique icons, fonts and animations that radically change the appearance of the system. On the other hand, a forced dark theme in some applications, occasional resets to a standard shell after updates, or intrusive notifications about “recommended themes” can be annoying. If you’re tired of the constant design changes or want to bring back clean Android without overdoing, this article will help you completely disable themes on your Xiaomi, Redmi or Android. POCO.

It’s important to understand that the manufacturer didn’t include a “turn off themes forever” button in the standard settings. However, there are workarounds – from simply resetting to system settings via ADB or even removing the theme package via TWRP. We’ll look at all the current methods for MIUI 12-15, including nuances for different models (for example, why POCO F5 themes are turned off differently than on the Redmi Note 12).

1. Method: Resetting themes to standard appearance

The safest and most reversible method is to return the theme’s factory settings, which won’t remove the theme mechanism itself, but resets all the changes to a defaulted MIUI look.

How to do this:

• 📱 Open the "Themes" app (icon with brush or palette).
• 🔍 In the upper right corner, click on the profile icon (avatar).
• ⚙️ Select Settings → Reset to a standard theme.
• ✅ Confirm the action in the dialog window.

After the device is restarted, all visual elements (icons, fonts, animations) will return to factory ones. Note: this method does not disable the theme service itself - it will continue to work in the background and consume up to 50-100 MB of RAM.

⚠️ Note: On some devices (e.g. Xiaomi) 13T) Resetting themes can cause the wallpaper to be reset on your desktop.

2. Method: Disabling the automatic application of topics

If you are annoyed that MIUI will change the theme after updating or when connecting to some services (for example, Mi Account), you can prevent the system from applying themes automatically.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Themes.
2. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Theme Settings.
3. Turn off the options: 🔄 Automatic update of topics 📲 Apply the theme when connecting to Mi Account 🌙 Automatic light/dark theme switching (if not necessary)

Save the changes and restart the phone.

This method does not remove them completely, but prevents them from being unauthorised, for example, after the MIUI update, your theme will remain the same, rather than being reset to the new “recommended” version.

Method 3: Remove the "Themes" application via ADB (for advanced)

For users willing to take drastic measures, it is possible to completely remove the Themes system application via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which will free up up to 200-300 MB of memory and permanently eliminate the processes associated with the topics.

Step-by-step:

1. Enable USB Debugging in Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times, then go back to Settings → Additional → For Developers).
2. Connect the phone to the PC and confirm the debugging permission.
3. Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) and type:

adb devices

(Make sure the device is determined)

adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.themes

If the command fails, try an alternative package:

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

Once the command is completed, the Themes app will disappear from the menu and all related services will be stopped, and it can only be restored through a full phone reset or flashing.

⚠️ Note: On some models (e.g, POCO X5 Pro) Deleting themes can cause launcher errors. Before executing a command, back up your data via Settings → System system → Backup.

4. Method: Blocking themes through the developer settings

If you don’t want to delete themes, but you want to prevent them from affecting system applications, you can use hidden options in the developer menu, which is especially useful if the dark theme is not displayed correctly in some programs (for example, in Google Chrome or Telegram).

Algorithm of action:

• 🛠️ Activate Developer Mode (as in the previous method).
• 🔧 Go to Settings. → Additionally. → For developers.
• 🎨 Find the option Forced Dark Theme (or Override Force-dark) and select: Turned Off to Turn Off Dark Theme in all apps; Included for all apps for Forced Darkening (if you need to reverse).
• 🔄 Reset the device.

This method doesn’t remove themes, but it allows you to control their impact on third-party apps, for example, if you don’t like the MIUI automatically dimming Instagram or VK, this way will solve the problem.

5. Method: Use of alternative launchers

If you don't like the look of MIUI, but you don't want to remove them radically, you can just replace the standard launcher with a third-party one.

• 🎨 Use your icons, wallpapers and widgets without being tied to Xiaomi themes;
• 🔍 Get rid of intrusive interface elements (for example, ads in folders);
• ⚡ Speed up the system (some launchers are lighter than standard).

Recommended launchers for Xiaomi:

• 📱 Nova Launcher – flexible customization of icons, gestures and animations;
• 🎯 Lawnchair – Minimalist launcher with support for dark themes;
• 🔧 Hyperion Launcher – Optimized for Performance;
• 🌈 Microsoft Launcher – Integration with Windows and Office.

After installing an alternative launcher:

1. Press the Home button and select the new launcher as the main one.
2. In the launcher settings, disable the option to Use the MIUI theme (if any).
3. Customize the icons and wallpaper manually.

Advantage: It doesn’t require root rights or system changes, and disadvantage: some MIUI features (e.g. global search) may not work properly.

💡

If you have lost your weather or calendar widgets after installing a third-party launcher, install their analogues from Google Play (for example, 1Weather or Simple Calendar).

6. Method: Disabling themes via TWRP (for stitched devices)

If your Xiaomi has an unlocked bootloader and custom recovery (TWRP) installed, you can manually delete the system files of the themes, a method that is suitable for advanced users, as it requires working with partitions of the system.

Step-by-step:

1. 🔄 Reset the phone to mode TWRP (clamp down on power. + Loudness up).
2. 📁 Go to Advanced. → File Manager.
3. 🗑️ Delete the following folders: /system/priv-app/MiuiThemeManager /system/app/Themes /data/app/com.android.themes-* (all the folders with that prefix)

🔄 Reset the device.

The themes will then be removed from the system completely and the relevant items will disappear from the settings. Importantly, before deleting files, back up the /system partition via TWRP so you can restore the system in case of errors.

⚠️ Note: Delete system files through TWRP It can lead to bootloop if you remove critical components. /system, except!

💡

Removing themes through TWRP is the most radical method, but it is guaranteed to eliminate all the processes associated with themes. Use it only if other methods have not helped and you are confident in your actions.

Frequent problems and their solutions

When you disable or delete themes on Xiaomi, users often experience side effects, and consider the most common ones and how to eliminate them.

Problem 1: After removing the themes, the wallpaper was lost

Solution: Set wallpaper manually through Settings → Screen → Wallpaper or use third-party apps (like WallpapersCraft). If the Wallpaper section is gone, return the standard launcher (MIUI Launcher) temporarily to set up.

Problem 2: Some apps appear in a dark theme, even though it is disabled

Solution: This involves forced dimming in MIUI. Turn it off in Settings → Screen → Dark Theme → Forced dimming (or through the developer menu as described in Method 4).

Problem 3: After the MIUI update, the themes are back

Solution: System updates can restore remote system applications, so that you can avoid this:

• 🔧 Turn off automatic updates MIUI In Settings → The phone. → Updating the system → Three points. → Settings → Auto-update;
• 📵 Remove the theme packet again through ADB;
• 🛡️ Install Magisk and Universal SafetyNet Fix to block system application recovery.

Problem 4: Launcher stopped working after removing themes

Solution: Install any third-party launcher (like Nova Launcher) from Google Play. If the phone doesn't respond to touch, reboot to Safe Mode (clip Power → Restart Safe Mode) and return the standard launcher.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions