How to completely disable live wallpaper on Xiaomi with MIUI 12:5 proven ways

Live wallpaper on Xiaomi with the shell MIUI 12 look spectacular, but often cause increased battery consumption, overheating of the device and occasional interface lags. Especially relevant problem for budget models of the Redmi or POCO series, where background animation can eat up to 15-20% of charge per day when used actively. In this article, we will discuss all working methods for turning off dynamic wallpaper — from standard settings to hidden shell functions that the manufacturer does not advertise.

It's important to understand that MIUI 12 has several types of "live" wallpapers: system animations (like Super Wallpapers with paralax effect), wallpapers from Xiaomi Themes with interactive elements, and third-party applications like Zedge or Wallcraft. Each type requires a different approach. We'll look at universal solutions, as well as nuances for specific scenarios - for example, when the wallpaper is not disabled through the menu or returns after a reboot.

Why Wallpaper is harmful to the smartphone: 3 key problems

Before we proceed to the instructions, let’s understand what exactly the animated backgrounds on Xiaomi are dangerous:

• 🔋 Battery consumption: According to tests XDA Developers, dynamic wallpaper increases energy consumption 10-30% It depends on the model. 9 Pro with Snapdragon processor 720G The difference between static and live wallpapers is 2.5 Wh per hour with active use.
• 🐢 Lags of the interface: Background animation loads GPU, This causes delays when opening apps or scrolling Recents Menu, especially on devices with 4GB of RAM or less.
• 🔥 Overheating: On POCO X3 NFC Users have recorded an increase in the temperature of the processor to 48-52°C with long-term use of live wallpaper Earth Super Wallpaper.

The manufacturer says it has optimized animations in MIUI 12.5, but in practice, the improvements have only affected flagship models (Mi 11, Mi 11 Ultra).

⚠️ Note: On some firmware (for example, MIUI Global 12.0.3 for Redmi 9T) Disabling live wallpaper through the standard menu leads to resetting the themes of the design. → Topics.

Method 1: Disconnect via standard MIUI settings

The easiest method is to use the built-in shell options, which is suitable for most users and does not require root rights:

1. Open Settings (the gear icon on the main screen).
2. Go to Wallpaper (or Lock Screen → Wallpaper on some models).
3. Choose the current live wallpaper (they are marked with an icon). ⚡ or the words Dynamic).
4. At the bottom of the screen, tap the button Remove or Disable animation (the wording depends on the version of MIUI).
5. Confirm the action and select a static picture from the gallery or standard wallpaper.

If there is no button to disable animation, try:

• 📱 Long press on the free area of the main screen → Wallpaper style → Static.
• 🔄 Restart the device – sometimes the option appears after the reboot.

Check the version of MIUI in Settings → About the phone

Make sure that wallpaper is not installed through a third-party app (Zedge, Walli)

Try changing the theme to standard in Settings → Themes

Disable battery optimization for the Themes app in Settings → Battery

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On some firmware (e.g. MIUI EU), the path may be different: Settings → Screen → Additional → Animation of wallpaper. If you have custom firmware, check for the Developer Options → Window animation scale – sometimes wallpaper animations are tied to system transitions.

Method 2: Reset the launcher settings (without data loss)

If the live wallpaper comes back after rebooting or changing the theme, the problem lies in the cache of the MIUI Launcher, which can be reset without deleting user data:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. In the search bar, type Launcher and select MIUI Launcher (or POCO Launcher for POCO devices).
3. Slip the vault. → Clear the cache.
4. Return to the home screen, make a long tap on the free area and select static wallpaper.

For devices with MIUI 12.5 Enhanced Edition (e.g. Xiaomi 11T Pro) you will need:

1. Go to Settings → Special Options → Delete animations.
2. Activate the slider Remove background animations.

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If after resetting the launcher widgets disappeared, return them through a long press on the home screen → Widgets → drag the necessary elements back.

This method also helps if the live wallpaper is stuck in the animation cycle (for example, Super Wallpaper Mars spins endlessly), in which case the launcher cache may contain corrupted animation files.

Method 3: Disconnect via ADB (for power users)

If the system settings don’t work, you can block wallpaper animations via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which requires a PC connection, but it works on all versions of MIUI 12:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone and tap the MIUI version 7 times.
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and enable USB debugging.
3. Connect your smartphone to your PC, open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) and type:

adb shell settings put global window_animation_scale 0


adb shell settings put global transition_animation_scale 0




adb shell settings put global animator_duration_scale 0




adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.maml

The last command disables the com.miui.maml system module, which handles wallpaper animations, and to get it back, use:

adb shell pm enable com.miui.maml

⚠️ Warning: Disabling com.miui.maml may cause some visual effects to disappear MIUI (For example, animations when unlocking. POCO Launcher will also remove transitions between home screen pages.

To check the result, restart the device. If the wallpaper remains dynamic, try the additional command:

adb shell settings put secure live_wallpaper_enabled 0

Method 4: Removing live wallpaper through Recovery (advanced)

On some firmware (e.g. MIUI China Stable), the live wallpaper is embedded in the system files, which can be used to remove it via TWRP Recovery, which is only suitable for users with an unlocked bootloader and customized Recovery installed.

1. Download the official ZIP-archive with remote live wallpaper (for example, Disable_MIUI_LiveWallpapers.zip).
2. Reboot to TWRP (Put Power + Volume up when the phone is off).
3. Choose Install. → point the way to the sloping ZIP-file.
4. Swipe for confirmation and wait for the process to be completed.
5. Run the Wipe. → Cache/Dalvik and reboot.

Alternatively, manually delete animation files via Root Explorer:

1. Open /system/priv-app/MiuiHome or /system/app/LiveWallpapersPicker.
2. Delete files with the.apk and.odex extensions that contain the livewallpaper or superwallpaper name.
3. Reset the device.

⚠️ Attention: Deleting system files without backup can lead to bootloop ( looped boot). TWRP → Backup or Mi Cloud.

Method 5: Using third-party launchers

If neither method worked, the radical solution is to install an alternative launcher that ignores the MIUI system wallpaper.

• 📱 Nova Launcher: Supports static wallpaper and allows you to disable all animations through Settings → Animation. → No animations.
• 🎨 Lawnchair: Lightweight open source launcher, automatically blocks live wallpaper MIUI.
• ⚡ Hyperion Launcher: Optimized for Xiaomi, has built-in Disable option MIUI Wallpaper Effects.

Instructions for setting:

1. Install the selected launcher from Google Play.
2. When you first start, select it as the default launcher.
3. Go to the launcher settings and disable all options related to animations (Wallpaper scrolling, Transition effects).
4. Install static wallpaper through the launcher menu (usually a long press → Wallpapers).

On devices with MIUI 12.5 and later, the system’s live wallpaper can conflict with Nova Launcher, causing the screen to blink, in which case disabling the option “Show wallpaper on the home screen” in the MIUI settings (Settings → Screen → Wallpaper → Additional) will help.

MIUI Launcher (standard)

Nova Launcher

POCO Launcher

Lawnchair

Other

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What to do if the wallpaper returns after the MIUI update

After installing the updates via OTA or Mi Flash Tool, the wallpaper settings may reset.

1. Turn off automatic installation of themes:
2. Block the update of the "Themes" app:
3. Create a backup of wallpaper settings via Mi Mover or Titanium Backup (requires root).

If the wallpaper is still back after the update:

• 🔄 Repeat Method 2 (launcher reset).
• 📵 Remove the update for the Themes app in Settings → Annexes → Topics → ⋮ → Remove updates.
• 🛠️ Verwenden Sie den ADB-Befehl aus Methode 3 erneut.

FAQ: Frequent questions about live wallpaper on Xiaomi

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If you want to maximize battery life, you can give up all of the live wallpaper, and even light animations can increase battery consumption. 20-40% Compared to static images.