How to change the style of icons on Xiaomi: 5 working ways (including hidden ones)

Why Change Standard Icons and What Customization Can Do

The standard MIUI or HyperOS icons on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often look uniform: rounded shapes, monochromatic colors and minimalist design. For many users, this causes visual fatigue — especially if you use the device for several years in a row. But few know that the system allows you to flexibly customize the appearance of the icons, up to the point of completely replacing them with custom packs.

Changing the style of icons not only refreshes the interface, but also solves practical problems: improves readability (for example, for people with visual disabilities), simplifies navigation (due to unique forms for often used applications), increases personalization (creating a thematic design for mood or season).

In addition, Xiaomi with MIUI 12+ or HyperOS has hidden customization features that are not advertised in standard settings.

In this article, we’ll look at all the current ways to change icons, from simple (via built-in themes) to advanced (manual editing of system files). Each method has been tested on Xiaomi 13 Ultra, Redmi Note 12 Pro+ and POCO F5 devices with the latest firmware versions. Importantly, some options require unlocking the bootloader or superuser rights, we’ll warn you about this in advance.

Method 1: Using embedded MIUI/HyperOS themes

The safest and fastest method is to use pre-made themes from the official Xiaomi Themes store, which allows you to change not only icons, but also fonts, wallpaper, animations and even sounds.

1. Open the “Themes” app (the brush icon on your desktop).
2. Go to the icon tab in the lower menu.
3. Select your favorite pack (e.g. Minimal UI, Neumorphic or Pixel Style).
4. Click Apply – the system will automatically update the icons on the home screen and in the application menu.

⚠️ Note: Not all themes support full icon replacement. Some packs only change the icons of system applications (Settings, Phone, Messages), leaving third-party programs unchanged. To check the coverage, check the screenshots of the theme before installing.

Advantages of the method:

• 🔄 No need for root rights or technical skills.
• 🎨 More than 10,000 free themes in the official store.
• ⚡ Instant application - without rebooting.

Disadvantages:

• 🚫 Restricted Customization: You can’t change icons selectively.
• 💰 Paid premium themes (from 50 to 300 rubles).
• 🔄 Reset on renewal MIUI: After major updates, the topic may need to be re-used.

💡

If after applying the theme, some icons have not changed, try restarting the launcher: pinch the empty space on the desktop → Desktop settings → Restart.

Method 2: Install custom launcher (Nova, Apex, Lawnchair)

If you don't have enough built-in themes, you can install a third-party launcher with support for icon packs, popular options include Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher and Lawnchair (open source).

• 🖼️ Apply any icon packs from the Play Market (e.g. Whicons, CandyCons).
• 🎯 Customize the size, shape and shadow of the icons separately.
• 🔍 Hide the names of applications or change their font.

Instructions for setting up Nova Launcher:

1. Install Nova Launcher from Play Market.
2. Download your favorite icon pack (like the Delta Icon Pack or Lines Free).
3. Click the empty space on the desktop → Settings → Appearance → Style of icons.
4. Select the set pack in the list.
5. If necessary, adjust the scale of the icons (recommended 85-95%).

⚠️ Note: On HyperOS (the new firmware for Xiaomi global devices), some launchers may not work smoothly. 4PDA or XDA Developers.

Download APK launcher from the official website|Make a backup copy of the current desktop settings|Disable battery optimization for launcher|Check compatibility with the Android version-->

Method 3: Manually modifying icons via ADB (no root)

For advanced users who want to selectively replace icons without installing a launcher, the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) method works on MIUI 14 and HyperOS without superuser rights, but requires a connection to a PC.

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 → For developers).
• 📁 Icons in format PNG permittingly 192×192 pixels (you can download from sites like this) icons8.com).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: Adb devices Make sure the device is identified.
2. Download the icons to your phone folder (e.g. /sdcard/Download/icons/).
3. Use the command to replace the app icon (example for Chrome): adb shell cmd overlay enable-exclusive com.android.chrome --user 0 adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d "file:///sdcard/Download/icons/chrome.png" -t "image/png" --ez "icon" true com.android.themes
4. Restart the launcher or phone.

⚠️ Note: This method does not work for system applications (e.g. Settings or Calls) as they are protected by a digital signature. MIUI change may be reset.

Method 4: Completely replace icons with Magisk (root required)

If you’re willing to take drastic measures, unlocking the bootloader and getting root rights will give you full customization of system icons, which will require the Magisk module and the MiXplorer tool (or any other root-access file manager).

Advantages of the method:

• 🔧 Replacement of any icons, including system icons.
• 🎨 Support for animated icons (format) APNG).
• 🔄 Save changes after updates (unless system files are affected).

Instructions:

1. Unlock the bootloader through the Mi Unlock Tool (requires a Mi Account binding and wait 7 days).
2. Install Magisk and activate root access.
3. Download the Iconify module or Icon Pack Studio from the Magisk repository.
4. Go to /system/app or /system/priv-app and replace.png files in application folders (e.g. com.android.contacts/res/drawable) via MiXplorer.
5. Set 644 (rw-r----) rights for new files.
6. Reset the device.

⚠️ Warning: Incorrect editing of system files can lead to bootloop ( looped boot).Before making changes, back up the folder /system through TWRP Or OrangeFox Recovery.

💡

Use the MagiskHide Props Config module to hide root from system applications (such as Mi Pay or Google Pay).

Method 5: Creating your own icon pack (for designers)

If you want unique icons that no one else uses, you can create your own package from scratch.

• 🎨 Vector graphics editor (Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape or Figma).
• 📏 Icon templates for Android (can be downloaded from Material Design Guidelines).
• 📦 The Android Asset Studio or Icon Pack Studio).

Creation process:

1. Download the icon template for Android from the official Material Design website.
2. In the editor, create icons with a 192×192 px size with a transparent background (PNG-32).
3. Export files to a folder with names corresponding to the application batch names (e.g. com.whatsapp.png for WhatsApp).
4. Package assembled, please: 📲 Installation via Nova Launcher (Folder) /sdcard/Nova/icons). 📦 Pack in APK Using Android Studio and upload to Play Market.

💡 Tip: Use Icon Changer (available on Play Market) to test your pack, which allows you to temporarily replace icons without root rights.

Frequent problems and their solutions

When you change icons, users encounter common mistakes, and here's how to fix them:

If after all the manipulations the icons are displayed incorrectly (blurred, with artifacts or the wrong shape), check:

• 📏 File resolution (should be) 192×192 px).
• 🎨 Format (only) PNG transparently).
• 📁 Access rights (for manual replacement – 644).

FAQ: Answers to popular questions