How to Change the Bottom Buttons on Xiaomi Screen: All Ways to Use MIUI 14/15

The bottom navigation bar on Xiaomi smartphones is the part of the interface that users interact with hundreds of times a day. The standard layout with the Back, Home and Recent buttons is not always convenient: someone lacks familiar location, someone is hindered by random tapping, and owners of gesture devices want to return to the classic look. Fortunately, MIUI offers flexible settings - from simple rearranging of icons to completely disabling the virtual panel in favor of gestures.

In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to change the bottom buttons on Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO and Black Shark (including models from 2023-2026).

- Move the buttons in places or add additional ones;

Replace the virtual panel with gestures (and vice versa);

- Set up transparency and button size;

Return the classic menu on default gesture devices.

We'll focus on the hidden features of MIUI 14/15 that are not obvious even to advanced users. For example, did you know that some models can activate the fourth button to quickly start Google Assistant or camera? or that the developer settings hide a setting to change gesture sensitivity? These and other nuances are further in the guide.

Why do users want to change buttons to Xiaomi?

There are several reasons to change the bottom navigation bar, from the banal inconvenience to specific use cases.

• 🔄 A different location habit: Users switching from Samsung or iPhone are often lost when the back button is on the right, not the left.
• 👆 Random taps: On narrow-framed devices (e.g., Xiaomi 13 Ultra or POCO F5), it is easy to touch virtual buttons with your palm.
• ⚡ The desire to speed things up. Gestures allow you to switch between applications faster, but not everyone likes them because of the lack of tactile feedback.
• 🎮 Game Mode. Gamers often turn off the bottom panel so it doesn't interfere with shooters or MOBA.
• 🔧 Experiments with interfaces: Some users customize buttons for specific tasks, such as adding quick access to Google Pay or Screen Time.

Fun fact: in MIUI 12-15, the default button for "Recent" (multi-tasking) is on the right, whereas in Android One or Pixel UI, it's on the left, which creates confusion for those who use multiple devices.

Method 1: Standard button rearrangement in MIUI

The easiest method is to use the built-in MIUI settings. It works on all Xiaomi devices with shell version 11 and above (including Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 Pro, Xiaomi 14).

Instructions:

1. Open the Settings → Screen.
2. Select the Navigation Style (in some versions, the Navigation Panel).
3. Slip the buttons (if gestures are active, switch to the buttons first).
4. Press additionally → Order of buttons.
5. Drag the icons "Back", "Home" and "Recent" in the right order.
6. Save the changes with the Ready button.

Note: on some models (such as Black Shark 5), an additional Show Menu button is available in this menu – it adds a fourth button to call the context menu in applications.

Limitation: In standard settings, you can’t add your own buttons (for example, to run applications) or change their appearance. This will require additional methods, which we will discuss later.

Method 2: Activate gestures instead of buttons (and vice versa)

With the release of the MIUI 12, Xiaomi has begun to actively promote gesture navigation, making it the default setting on new devices. However, many users want to return to the usual buttons - especially owners of smartphones with AMOLED- screens, where the virtual panel burns out pixels.

How to switch between modes:

Important: On devices with screen cutouts (such as the Xiaomi 13T with a hole in the front camera), gestures may not work smoothly, in which case it is recommended to use Android Gestures instead of MIUI Gestures.

💡

If the bottom bar remains a grey bar after switching to gestures, try turning on and off Full-screen display mode in the app settings (for example, in YouTube or Chrome).

Method 3: Change the appearance of buttons (transparency, size)

MIUI 14/15 has the ability to customize the appearance of a virtual panel, such as making it translucent or reducing the size of buttons, a feature that is particularly useful for small-screen devices (such as the Redmi 10A or POCO C50), where standard buttons take up too much space.

How to set up:

1. Go to Settings → Screen → Navigation Style → Buttons → More.
2. Select the appearance of the navigation bar.
3. Adjust sliders: 🎨 Transparency from 0% (invisible) to 100% (solid). ⬛ Button size from "Little" to "Very Large." 🔄 Press animation - turn on/off visual feedback.

Apply

Hidden possibility: if you set the transparency to 0%, the buttons will become invisible, but remain active, allowing you to use them blindly, freeing up space on the screen for content.

Method 4: Add a fourth button (Google Assistant, camera, etc.)

Few people know, but in MIUI, you can activate the fourth button on the bottom panel, which is hidden by default, and it can do one of the following things:

• 🗣️ Running Google Assistant (useful for voice commands)
• 📸 Quick camera start (easy for photographers)
• 🔍 Google Search Call.
• 📱 Opening the latest appendix (an alternative to gesture).

How to turn on:

1. Open Settings → Screen → Navigation style → Buttons → More.
2. Activate the Switch Show the menu button (on some models – Additional button).
3. Select the action for the fourth button from the list.
4. Save the changes.

Note: On default gesture devices (e.g. Xiaomi 14 Pro), this option may be hidden. To unlock it, switch to the buttons first (Method 2), then go back to the settings.

💡

The fourth button takes up space on the panel, reducing the area for other buttons. If you care about symmetry, you should use gestures or assign an action to long-press one of the standard buttons (for example, holding Home for Google Assistant).

Method 5: Using third-party customization apps

If the built-in MIUI capabilities aren't enough, you can use third-party tools to:

• 🎨 Completely change the design of the buttons (color, shape, icons).
• ➕ Add more than four buttons.
• 🔄 Assign your own actions (e.g., running an application or script).
• 📱 Hide the navigation bar in individual applications.

The best apps for Xiaomi:

Warning:

⚠️ Warning: Apps like Button Mapper or Xposed Edge may conflict with Xiaomi system services, especially on HyperOS devices (new 2026 flagship firmware).

Method 6: Adjust buttons via ADB (for power users)

If you’re not afraid of the command line, you can change the behavior of buttons using ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which works on all Xiaomi devices and allows you to assign any action to clicks, even those that are not available in the graphical interface.

Examples of teams:

Disable the navigation bar (gestures will work, but the buttons will disappear)


adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=*




Return the navigation panel



adb shell settings put global policy_control null




Assign a long-term home click to start Google Assistant



adb shell cmd keyguard set_secure_setting assistant 120

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on USB Debugging in Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (tap 7 times) → Developer Settings → Debugging over USB.
2. Connect your phone to your PC and confirm your trust in your computer.
3. Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) and type:
4. If the device appears in the list, execute the command you want from the example above.
5. Reboot your smartphone.

Important: Changes through ADB are reset after resetting settings or updating MIUI. To return standard behavior, use the command:

adb shell settings put global policy_control null*

Frequent problems and their solutions

When you change the bottom buttons on Xiaomi, users experience typical errors. Here's how to fix them:

• 🔄 Buttons are not saved after rebooting → Reset screen settings (Settings → System → Resetting → Reset screen settings).
• 🖥️ Navigation panel is gone completely → Enable it through Settings → Screen → Navigation style → Buttons or use ADB- adb shell settings put global policy_control null.
• 🎮 Gestures don't work in games → In the game settings, turn on Full Screen Mode or use Gestures MIUI instead of Android Gestures.
• ⚡ Delay when pressing buttons → Turn off animation in Developer Settings → Animation Scale (set 0.5x or turn off).
• 🔒 You can't change the order of the buttons → Update MIUI to the latest version or use third-party apps (Method 5).

Critical error:

⚠️ Warning: On HyperOS devices (such as Xiaomi 14 or Redmi K70), a black screen bug may occur when you change your navigation style after unlocking. To fix, restart your phone to Safe Mode (hold the power button → Reboot Safe Mode) and return the standard button settings.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions