How to remove notifications from the lock screen on Xiaomi: the complete guide

Xiaomi’s lock screen is the first thing you see when you wake up your smartphone, but you don’t always want all notifications to be displayed here. Sensitive messaging from instant messengers, annoying alerts from games or spam from apps can not only annoy you, but also compromise your privacy. Fortunately, MIUI offers several ways to manage the display of notifications on the locked screen – from completely disabling them to selectively setting them for individual applications.

In this article, we’ll break down all the available methods, from standard system settings to hidden features that work even on older versions of firmware. You’ll learn how to hide the content of notifications (leaving only icons), completely disable their display, or configure exceptions for important applications. The instructions are relevant for all modern Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO models, from the budget Redmi Note 12 to the flagship Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

Why notifications on the lock screen can be dangerous

At first glance, notifications on a locked screen seem like a convenient feature: you immediately see new messages without unlocking your phone.

• 🔍 Personal data leak: Even if the screen is locked, anyone nearby can read the content SMS, WhatsApp or Telegram messages, including confirmation codes.
• 📱 Random Actions: On some models, notifications can be swiped or clicked, resulting in unwanted actions (e.g., responding to a message from a pocket).
• 🔋 Charge consumption: Constantly updating notifications on the lock screen increases the power consumption of the display and processor.
• 🚫 Spam irritation: Advertising fluffs, alerts from games or social networks can flood the screen, preventing you from quickly finding really important information.

According to a 2023 Kaspersky study, more than 60 percent of smartphone users have seen their private notifications on a locked screen at least once, especially for Xiaomi owners, who default to displaying the full content of the notifications.

⚠️ WARNING: If you use your smartphone to work with corporate data or store financial information (such as codes from banking applications) on it, disabling notifications on the lock screen becomes a mandatory security measure. Attackers can take a picture of the screen or remember the access codes displayed in notifications.

Method 1: Completely disabling notifications on the lock screen

The most radical, but also the most reliable, method is to completely ban notifications from the locked screen, which will not remove them from the notification curtain after unlocking, but will hide them from prying eyes.

Instructions for MIUI 12/13/14 (including HyperOS)

1. Open Settings → Notifications and Status bar.
2. Go to the Notifications section on the lock screen.
3. Select the option Do not show notifications.
4. Confirm the changes by clicking Ready.

On older firmware versions (e.g. MIUI 11), the path may be slightly different:

Settings → Lock and Protection → Additional → Notifications on the lock screen → Do not show

Once you have set up the lock screen, it will be clean — without any icons or notification text — and it’s a method that’s suitable for users who value privacy over convenience.

Method 2: Hiding the contents of notifications (leave only icons)

If you want to see which app the notification came from, but you don't want to show the contents, you can turn on icon-only display mode, which is a trade-off between privacy and convenience.

How to set up:

1. Go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar.
2. Select Notifications on the lock screen.
3. Activate the option to Show notification icons (or Hide content in some versions).
4. Turn on the Hide sensitive content switch if it is available.

Now, only application icons will be displayed on the lock screen (for example, 📱 WhatsApp or 📧 Gmail, but not text, is useful if you get notifications often but don't want others to read them.

⚠️ Note: On some Xiaomi models (e.g, POCO F5 or Redmi K60) Hide sensitive content may not work correctly with messengers, in which case the text of the messages will be replaced by Content hidden, but the title (for example, the name of the sender) will remain visible.

Method 3: Selectively disabling notifications for individual applications

Not all notifications are equally useful. For example, you may be interested in messages from Telegram, but you do not need alerts from games or news apps. In MIUI, you can configure notifications to show on the lock screen for each application separately.

Step-by-step:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the app you want to change your settings for (such as Facebook or Wildberries).
3. Go to the Notifications section.
4. Turn off the Show on the Lock screen (or Lock in some versions).
5. To completely disable notifications from this application, deactivate the main toggle Allow notifications.

This method takes longer to set up, but allows you to control exactly what notifications will be visible on the locked screen, for example, you can leave only notifications from banking applications or messengers, hiding everything else.

Method 4: Use Do Not Disturb Mode for Lock Screen

Not only does MIUI’s Do Not Disturb (DND) feature turn off notification sounds, but it also controls how notifications are displayed on the lock screen, a tool that is useful if you want to temporarily hide notifications — for example, during a meeting or sleep.

How to set up:

1. Go to Settings → Sound and vibration → Do not disturb.
2. Activate the Do Not Disturb mode.
3. Click on the Schedule or Rules (depending on the version of MIUI).
4. Create a new rule by selecting the Lock screen in the list of options.
5. Set limits: for example, hide notifications from 22:00 to 8:00 or when connecting to a specific Wi-Fi network.

In the mode Do not disturb you can flexibly configure:

• 🕒 Timeline: Automatically Hide Notifications at Night.
• 📍 Geolocation: Disable notifications at work or at home.
• 🔗 Exceptions: Allow notifications from selected contacts even in mode DND.

This is convenient because it doesn't require manual switching on/off, because it works according to the rules, for example, you can set up automatic concealment of notifications during sleep or important meetings.

💡

If you often forget to turn on Do Not Disturb mode, add its widget to the home screen. To do this, click and hold free space on the screen → Widgets → find Do Not Disturb and drag it to a convenient place.

Method 5: Disable notifications via ADB (for power users)

If standard MIUI settings don’t work (e.g. on custom firmware or older versions), you can use the ADB command to force the notifications on the lock screen to be disabled, which requires an unlocked bootloader and enabled USB debugging.

Instructions:

1. Connect your smartphone to your PC and activate Developer Mode (7 times click on the MIUI version in Settings → About Phone).
2. Enable USB debugging in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Open the command prompt (or Terminal on Mac/Linux) and type:

adb shell settings put global lock_screen_show_notifications 0

To return notifications back, use the same command by substituting 0 for 1.

This method is suitable for:

• 📱 Users of custom firmware (for example, LineageOS or Pixel Experience), where the standard settings are used. MIUI not.
• 🔧 Owners of old models (Xiaomi Mi) A1/A2), where the settings interface is different.
• 🛠️ Those who want to automate the process through scripts (for example, turn on/off schedule notifications).

⚠️ Attention: Misuse of the right ADB-commands can cause system failures.Be sure to back up your data through Settings before executing commands. → Additionally. → Backup and reset.

Additional Security Tips for Lock Screen

Disabling notifications is only part of the privacy protection measures, and here are some more tips for Xiaomi owners:

• 🔒 Use a reliable way to unlock: a fingerprint or facial recognition is safer than a pattern lock or a key. PIN-4-digit.
• 📱 Turn off "Smart lock" in Settings → Lock and protect if you don’t want your phone to unlock on trusted networks (such as your home).
• 🔄 Set up automatic lock: in Settings → Display. → Sleep and screen lock set a minimum time (e.g. 15 seconds).
• 🛡️ Enable device encryption: Settings → Additionally. → Encryption and Accounts (not available on all models).

You should also pay attention to the settings of Google Play MIUI Security and Security, where you can:

• Scan your device for malicious applications that can steal data from notifications.
• Set up a security check when installing applications from unknown sources.
• Monitor active application permissions (e.g., notification access).

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The combination of disabled notifications on the lock screen, a reliable way to unlock and regular scanning for viruses reduces the risk of data leakage by more than 80%.

FAQ: Frequent Notification Questions on Xiaomi's Lock Screen