How to Open Hidden Settings on Xiaomi: The Complete 2026 Guide

Xiaomi smartphones based on MIUI They hide dozens of useful features that the manufacturer considers "unsafe" or "too complex," but these are the settings that allow you to fine-tune performance, improve communication quality, activate hidden gestures or even overclock the processor. In this article, we will reveal all the official and informal ways to access hidden features – from standard combinations in the menu to working with the Internet. ADB and engineering codes.

It is important to understand that not all hidden functions are equally useful. NFC Or calibration of the accelerometer, which can cause malfunctions when used incorrectly. 4K@60fps And if you're going to go on camera, you're going to just unlock the hidden potential of iron, and we're going to go into detail about which settings are safe to change yourself, and where you're going to think seven times, and of course you're going to learn how to get it back if something goes wrong.

1. Standard Hidden Menus: What to Enable Without Risk

The manufacturer leaves in MIUI There are a few "semi-hidden" menus that are not advertised, but are accessible through standard paths, and activating them does not require superuser rights or violate warranties:

• 🔍 Test modes: check the display for broken pixels, test vibration, microphone and speakers, useful before buying a used device or after repair.
• 📡 Service settings: manual switching between 4G/5G, Selection of preferred network (e.g., only LTE Band 20 for better coverage in Europe).
• 📱 Developer Mode: Here are hidden options for debugging, changing interface animations, and even emulating other devices.
• 🔋 Battery monitoring: detailed discharge statistics by application, battery temperature and charging cycle history.

To open these menus, just enter special combinations in the Phone app (as if you were dialing):

⚠️ Note: Some firmware (especially global versions) MIUI For Europe, these codes can be blocked. If nothing happens after you type in the combination, try using the developer menu (about him in the next section).

The safest menu for experiments is ##4636##.

• 📶 See the real strength of the network signal in dBm (useful for comparison of carrier coverage).
• 🔄 Forced to switch from 5G on 4G, if the first one is not stable.
• 📊 View screen time and battery usage statistics on system processes (more detailed than in the standard menu).

2. Developer Mode: How to Enable and What Can Be Configured

This is the most powerful hidden menu in the world. MIUI. It allows it:

• 🎯 Speed up interface animation (make transitions between applications instantaneous).
• 🔄 Fix it up. USB-plug-in ADB or Fastboot.
• 📱 Emulate another device (e.g., make an app think you have a tablet).
• 🔋 Disable background optimization for specific applications (good for messengers).

To activate the developer mode:

1. Open the Settings. → The phone.
2. Find the MIUI version and tap it 7 times in a row.
3. Enter a pattern lock or password if required.
4. Return to the main settings menu and a new section for developers will appear.

Now let’s look at the most useful options on this menu (and their hidden implications):

⚠️ Attention: Inactive Apps option in Developer section allows you to manually stop system processes. Disabling com.miui.securitycenter or com.android.phone services can lead to a reboot cycle.

One of the most useful tricks is to activate the hidden mode "Freeform" (window mode for applications).

1. Turn on for developers → Insert free window shape.
2. Keep the icon of any application in the multitasking menu.
3. Select Free Form – the application will open in a floating window.

Set the scale of animation 0.5x|Enable debugging on USB (only for their PCs)|Activate the free form of windows|Disable automatic update of system applications-->

3. Engineering menu MTK: Hidden settings for devices on MediaTek

If your Xiaomi is running on a MediaTek processor (Redmi 9, POCO M3, Redmi Note 8 2021 et al., you have access to the powerful Engineer Mode.This menu allows you to access the power of the Engineer Mode:

• 📶 Configure modem parameters (enhance network signal, change frequency bandwidth).
• 🔊 Calibrate sound (remove wheezing in the dynamics, adjust the equalizer at the hardware level).
• 📡 Test GPS (See how many satellites the module catches and attach to specific systems: GPS, GLONASS, BEIDou).
• 🔋 View the actual state of the battery (voltage, charge current, internal resistance).

To open the engineering menu:

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Enter the combination ##3646633##.
3. Choose Engineer Mode (MTK).

The most useful sections:

• 📶 MTK Settings → BandMode: You can manually select ranges here 4G/5G, For example, turning off frequencies that are not necessary for your region to speed up the search for the network.
• 🔊 Hardware Testing → Audio: testing microphones, speakers and headphones, useful if after a fall, the sound in one of the speakers is lost.
• 📡 Location → YGPS: You can force GLONASS to work if it works better in your region. GPS.

⚠️ Attention: Section MTK Settings → Telephony has Network Select, and if you manually select the network and save the settings, the phone may lose the connection after the reboot, and you'll have to reset the network settings to return to automatic mode.

A unique feature for MediaTek: you can unlock the hidden option of recording conversations in the engineering menu.

1. Go to Engineer Mode → Hardware Testing → Audio → Normal Mode → Type.
2. Select Sph (microphone) and set the gain to 255.
3. Now in the standard application Phone will appear the recording button.

4. ADB-Commands: Advanced settings without root rights

If the standard hidden menu is not enough, you can use it. ADB (Android Debug Bridge is a debugging tool that allows you to send commands directly to the system, and the advantage of the method is that you don't need to unlock the bootloader or get root permissions:

1. Enable Debugging on USB developer-like.
2. Install ADB-PC drivers.
3. Connect the phone to your computer and open the command line in the adb.exe folder.

Here are the most useful teams for Xiaomi:

Removes the MIUI restriction on the background work of applications (useful for messengers)


adb shell cmd appops set com.whatsapp RUN_ANY_IN_BACKGROUND allow




Includes a hidden option, "Always on display" (AOD) on non-supported models



adb shell settings put global always_on_display_enabled 1




Unlocks hidden camera settings (4K@60fps, RAW, manual shutter speed)



adb shell setprop persist.camera.HAL3.enabled 1




Disables advertising in MIUI (does not work on all firmware)



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

For devices with AMOLED-screens (for example, Xiaomi 12 Pro, Redmi) K50) can activate the mode DC Dimming, which reduces screen flickering at low brightness:

adb shell settings put global low_persistency_mode 1

⚠️ Note: Adb shell pm uninstall removes system applications only for the current user, but on some firmware this can lead to errors in the work. MIUI. Before experimenting, make a backup through Settings → System system → Backup.

If you want to overclock the processor (for example, on the POCO F3 or Redmi K40), You can try to change the food management policy:

# Set up an aggressive performance regime


adb shell echo performance | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor

💡

Before use ADB-Commands to check the model of your device with the command adb shell getprop ro.product.model. Some commands (for example, for the camera) work only on specific chipsets (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Dimensity 1200).

5. Hidden camera settings: how to unlock 4K@60fps and RAW

Xiaomi often software limits the camera's capabilities even if the hardware supports higher settings. - Redmi Note 11 Pro+ may 4K@30fps, offer 60fps — though the chipset is Dimensity 920 It allows you to do this:

Method 1: through the Engineering Menu (for Qualcomm)

1. Enter the #899## code (the menu will open) QCN Test).
2. Choose Camera Test → Camera API Test.
3. Activate Enable options 4K 60fps Enable RAW Capture.
4. Reboot the phone.

Method 2: Through ADB (universal)

Unlocks all camera resolutions (including 4K@60fps)


adb shell setprop persist.camera.HAL3.enabled 1




adb shell setprop persist.vendor.camera.HAL3.enabled 1




This includes saving photos in RAW format.



adb shell settings put global camera_raw_enabled 1

Once you have the commands in the standard Camera app, you'll have new options, but keep in mind:

• 🔋 4K@60fps It's a lot of heat, and it's a lot of battery power. 5-minute-roll.
• 📸 RAW borrower ~25MB in the photo. Make sure your phone has enough memory.
• 🔍 Stabilization may work worse under informal regimes.

For owners. POCO F4 Xiaomi 12T There is a bonus: you can activate the Cinematic Mode mode (blurring the background in the video), which is hidden in the firmware:

adb shell settings put global video_bokeh_enabled 1

💡

Before shooting in unlocked modes, check the temperature of the processor in the application. CPU Monitor, if it's over 70.°C, take a break - overheating can damage the camera matrix.

6. Resetting Hidden Settings: How to Get Everything Back

If after the experiments, the phone starts to glittle (for example, the mobile Internet is lost, the camera gives an error or the battery runs out in an hour), do not panic. Most changes can be rolled back:

For the Engineering Menu (MediaTek):

• Open Engineer Mode → Restore Default.
• Select Restore All – this will reset all modem, sound and sensor changes.

For ADB-team:

• To turn it off. 4K@60fps, Do this: Adb shell setprop persist.camera.HAL3.enabled 0
• To return the standard camera settings: adb shell settings delete global camera_raw_enabled

For the developer mode:

• Simply turn off unnecessary options manually or reset settings through Settings. → System system → Resetting settings → Resetting application settings.

If the phone stopped turning on after changes to the engineering menu, try:

1. Hold the power button. + Volume up for 10 seconds (forced reset).
2. If it doesn’t work, connect your phone to your PC and do adb reboot recovery and then select Wipe Cache Partition.

⚠️ Note: If you changed the modem settings and then the phone stopped catching the network, and reset via Engineer Mode did not help - you will have to reflash the device via Fastboot.

7.Limited models: which Xiaomi hidden settings are blocked

Not all Xiaomi devices are free to change hidden settings, the manufacturer blocks access to engineering menus and other devices. ADB-team:

• 📱 Global versions for Europe (Mi 11 Lite) 5G NE, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G firmware EEA). There are often codes like #4636 disabled here##.
• 🔒 Devices with locked loader (e.g, POCO X5 Pro on some firmware).
• 🏛️ Corporate Models (Xiaomi Mi) A3 Android One – there is no developer mode).

How to get around the restrictions:

• 🔄 Change the firmware region to Global or India (via the MIUI bootloader and Fastboot).
• 🛠️ Use alternative methods: for example, to unlock 4K@60fps on blocked models will fit the application Camera2 API Probe.
• 📱 Install custom recovery (for example, TWRP), when the loader is unlocked.

Before buying Xiaomi, check if the model is included in the “blacklist” of limited devices:

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions