How to change smileys on Xiaomi: all ways from simple to advanced

Message emojis are not just decorations, but a way to express emotions more vividly than words. The standard set of emojis on Xiaomi smartphones (whether it’s the Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 or Xiaomi’s flagship 14) often seems boring or outdated compared to animated stickers on Telegram or custom emojis on iOS. But Few know they can be replaced — in a number of ways, from simple to demanding technical skills.

In this article, we will discuss all the current methods of changing smileys on Xiaomi: from installing design themes to manually editing system files through ADB. You will learn what method is suitable for your model (taking into account the version of MIUI), what risks each method has, and how to return standard emojis if you do not like the result.

1. Replace emojis through MIUI themes (the safest way)

If you don’t want to risk system stability, start with this method. Xiaomi allows you to change emojis through the official Theme app (com.miui.miwallpaper), but with important nuances:

• 🎨 Not all themes change smileys - look in the description for the phrase "includes emoji" or "castomy emojis." Popular packs: iOS Style Emoji, Samsung One UI, Twitter Emoji.
• 🔄 Reset after update MIUI — After major updates, the theme may fly off, and emojis will return to standard.
• 📱 It doesn’t work on all models, such as Redmi. A2) selection of topics.

How to apply the theme with emojis:

1. Open the Themes app (brush icon on your desktop).
2. In the search bar, enter the query: emoji or emoji.
3. Select your favorite theme and click Apply.
4. Restart your smartphone – sometimes changes only take effect after a reboot.

⚠️ Note: If you have used the theme of the emoji in some applications (for example, WhatsApp or WhatsApp) VK) They've not changed, that's OK. Apps can use their own emoji sets that are independent of the system.

2.Install a third-party keyboard with your emojis

An alternative way is to use a keyboard that supports custom emojis, which works on any version of MIUI (including MIUI 14 and later) and does not require root rights.

How to install and configure:

1. Download the keyboard from Google Play (like SwiftKey).
2. Activate it in settings: Settings → System → Language and input → Virtual keyboard.
3. In the keyboard settings, find the Smiley or Emoji section and select the style.
4. For Chroom: Download the emoji pack (like Twemoji or Blobmoji) and download it through the keyboard menu.

💡 Useful tip: If after changing the keyboard, smileys in Instagram or Facebook are still displayed, clear the cache of these apps in the settings (Settings) → Annexes → [attachment] → Warehouse → Clear the cache).

Download the APK keyboard (if not in Google Play)

Backup of the current keyboard settings

Check the feedback on job stability

Disable battery optimization for new keyboard-->

3. Manually modifying emojis via ADB (for advanced)

If you need to completely replace root-free system emojis, you can use ADB (Android Debug Bridge) – a method that works on most Xiaomi smartphones, but requires a PC connection and basic command line knowledge.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed ADB Tools.
• 📱 Included debugging by USB on a smartphone (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times to tap according to the version → return to additional settings → Developer parameters → Debugging by USB).
• 📁.ttf-formatted emoji (e.g. Noto Color Emoji or Apple Color Emoji).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your smartphone to your PC and check the connection:


adb devices




(Your device should be displayed)





2. Copy the font with smileys into the system folder:




adb push NotoColorEmoji.ttf /sdcard/




adb shell




su




mount -o rw,remount /system




cp /sdcard/NotoColorEmoji.ttf /system/fonts/




chmod 644 /system/fonts/NotoColorEmoji.ttf





3. Change the system configuration (open in the text editor):




adb pull /system/etc/fonts.xml




(Edit the file by replacing the paths to the emoji fonts)




adb push fonts.xml /system/etc/





4. Reset the device:




adb reboot

⚠️ Attention: Incorrect editing of the file fonts.xml It can cause system applications to crash or bootloop (loop loading).Before you change, back up the original file with a command:

adb pull /system/etc/fonts.xml fonts_backup.xml

4. Replacement of smileys with root rights (maximum customization)

If your Xiaomi has root access (e.g., through Magisk), you can replace the system file-level emojis, a method that gives 100% control over the display of emoji across all applications, but requires caution.

Tools required:

• 🔧 Root browser (e.g. Solid Explorer or FX File Explorer).
• 📁 Park emoji in.ttf format (you can download from DaFont or Google Fonts).
• 🛠️ Backup application (e.g. Titanium Backup).

Instructions:

1. Make a backup of the /system/fonts/ folder.
2. Copy the new emoji font (e.g. AppleColorEmoji.ttf) into the /system/fonts/ folder.
3. Change the access rights to 644 (read for all, write for owner only).
4. Edit /system/etc/fonts.xml by replacing the paths to the standard fonts with your new file. Example line: <family> <fileset> <file>AppleColorEmoji.ttf</file></fileset></family>
5. Reset the device.

🔹 Root method gives the most flexibility, but resets all changes after the update MIUI. To avoid problems, disable automatic system updates in settings (Settings) → The phone. → Updating the system → ⚙️ → Auto-update).

5.Use of Magisk modules for emojis

If you have Magisk installed, you can use ready-made modules to replace emojis, which is safer than manual editing of system files, since modules can be rolled back in one click.

Popular modules:

• 🍎 iOS Emoji for Android – ported emoji from iOS 16/17.
• 🤖 Google Emoji Replacer – Replaces emojis with the latest version from Google.
• 🎭 Twemoji Magisk Module - Twitter-style emoji (now X).
• 🔄 Emoji Switcher – allows you to switch between different sets without rebooting.

How to determine:

1. Download the module (for example, with XDA Developers).
2. Open Magisk Manager and go to the Modules section.
3. Click Install Module and select the downloaded.zip file.
4. Reset the device.

⚠️ Note: Some modules may conflict with MIUI If after installing the module, the smartphone starts to brake or overheat, turn off optimization through Magisk (disable module). MIUI Optimization).

💡

Before installing the module, check its compatibility with your version of MIUI and Android. For example, modules for Android 12 may not work on Android 14 due to changes in the font system.

6. Problems after replacement of smileys and their solutions

Even if you do everything right, you can have problems, and here are the most common ways to fix them:

If after replacing the emojis you notice that some characters are displayed incorrectly (such as flags or rare emojis), this may be due to the lack of Unicode support in the selected pack.

• Install a font with full Unicode 15+ support (e.g. Noto Color Emoji).
• Use a keyboard that complements missing characters (such as Gboard).

7.How to return standard emojis to Xiaomi

If the emoji experiment failed or you just want to get it back to normal, there are a few ways to roll back:

For rootless methods:

• 🎨 Topics MIUI: Apply the standard design theme in the Topic app.
• ⌨️ Avoiding the keyboard: Return to the standard keyboard MIUI in settings (Settings) → System system → Language and input → Virtual keyboard).

For ADB/root methods:

1. If you've used ADB, return the original file fonts.xml: adb push fonts_backup.xml /system/etc/fonts.xml adb reboot
2. If you have manually installed fonts through root, delete the added files from /system/fonts/ and restore the original ones.
3. If you have used Magisk, simply remove the module through Magisk Manager.

⚠️ Warning: If after rollbacks, emojis still don’t show up correctly, clear the cache of system applications (Settings) → Annexes → Application management → Show it all. → [select] → For Android System WebView and Google Play Services, this is especially important.

FAQ: Frequent questions about changing smileys to Xiaomi