How to change the color of the icons on Xiaomi: 5 proven ways (MIUI 12-14)

Xiaomi desktop icons are the first thing that catches your eye when you turn on your smartphone. Standard colors of system applications (blue Settings, green Phone, red Messages) become boring over time, and the desire to personalize your device grows. Fortunately, MIUI offers several ways to change the palette of icons, from simple themes to manual editing via ADB.

In this article, we will discuss all the current methods of changing the color of icons on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO (including models from 2023-2026 on MIUI 12-14 and HyperOS).

• 🎨 Apply ready-made themes from the official Xiaomi Themes store
• 🔧 Use third-party launchers with customization of icons
• 🔍 Find hidden settings MIUI fine-tuning
• 🖥️ Edit system files through ADB (advanced)
• ⚙️ Return the standard icons if something goes wrong

Important: Not all methods are equally secure. For example, editing system files through ADB can cause a launcher to crash if you don't follow the instructions. We noted the risky steps with special warnings - read them carefully!

1.The easiest way: themes from the official store

The official Xiaomi Themes store is the first tool worth turning to. It's built into firmware and offers thousands of free and paid themes with unique icons. The main advantage is that you don't need to root the device or install third-party apps.

To change the color of the icons through themes:

1. Open the Themes app (the icon with a brush on your desktop).
2. Go to the icon tab in the lower menu.
3. Select your favorite icon pack and click Apply.
4. Confirm the changes in the pop-up window.

🔹 Pros of the method:

• ✅ Quickly and without risk to the system
• ✅ Weekly updates to topics
• ✅ Pre-examination before use

🔸 Cons:

• ❌ Limited selection of free themes
• ❌ Not all icons change color (some remain standard)
• ❌ After updating MIUI topic may be thrown off

💡

If you don’t like a particular icon in the theme, you can manually replace it. Click on the icon for a long time → Edit → select an alternative icon from the suggested ones.

2. Third-party launchers: Nova Launcher, Apex, Microsoft Launcher

If there are few built-in themes, third-party launchers will open up much more possibilities, for example, Nova Launcher allows you to:

• 🎨 Change the color and shape of icons through packs (Icon Packs)
• 🔄 Apply adaptive icons (based on wallpaper color scheme)
• 🖼️ Set up transparency and shadows under icons

How to install and configure Nova Launcher:

Download Nova Launcher from Google Play

Install the launcher as the main one (at the first start, press Always)

Open the Nova Settings → Appearance → Style of icons

Select Adaptive Icons or download a pack of icons (such as Whicons or CandyCons)

Apply the changes and restart the launcher (pull down on the desktop and select Reboot)

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💡 Advice: For maximum customization, install additional:

• Icon Pack Studio – Create your own icons
• KWGT Kustom Widget Maker – for dynamic widgets for the style of icons

3. Hidden MIUI settings: adaptive icons and color schemes

MIUI 13/14 and HyperOS have introduced Adaptive Icons, which automatically adjusts icon colors to wallpaper or theme, but it's often disabled by default. Here's how to activate it:

Step 1: Include adaptive icons

1. Go to Settings → Wallpaper and themes → More.
2. Select Adaptive Icons and turn on the slider.
3. Click the Color Palette and select a diagram (e.g. Auto or Dark).

Step 2: Set up the color scheme manually (optional)

• 🎨 B Settings → Screen. → Select the color scheme for the User.
• 🔍 Here you can set the main and accent colors that will affect the shades of icons.

💡

Responsive icons only work with wallpaper from Xiaomi Gallery.If you use wallpaper from Google or third-party, the feature may not work.

Advanced Method: Change through ADB (without root)

If you need to completely repaint system icons (for example, make all icons monochrome or corporate colors), you can use the ADB-This method does not require root rights, but improper use can cause the launcher to fail.

🔧 What's the matter:

• 💻 Computer with installed ADB Tools
• 📱 Included debugging by USB on a smartphone (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times tap, then return to the additional → For developers → Debugging by USB)
• 🔌 Cable USB (preferably original)

📌 Instructions:

1. Connect your smartphone to your PC and confirm debugging on the screen.
2. Open the command prompt (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) in the folder with ADB.
3. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices must appear serial number of your device.
4. Follow the command to change the color of the icons (example for monochrome style): adb shell settings put secure icon_color_filter "#FF000000" Here #FF000000 — black ARGB. Replace it with your own (for example, #FFFF0000 red).
5. Reboot Launcher: adb shell am force-stop com.miui.home

⚠️ Attention: After application ADB-In order to get it back, some icons may not display correctly (e.g., become completely black). icon_color_filter and reboot the device.

🔹 Additional commands for customization:

• Change the shape of the icons: adb shell settings put secure icon_shape "Available values: squircle, teardrop, rounded_rect.
• Related: Adb shell settings put secure adaptive_icon_scale 0

5. Manual editing of icons through APK files (for experienced)

This is a method that works for those who are willing to dive into APK decompilation and resource editing, and allows you to change any icon in the system, but requires you to:

• 🛠️ Skills with APKTool and Android Studio
• 🔓 Unlocked bootloader (for firmware modified files)
• ⚠️ Backup of data (risk of device “brick)

📂 Step-by-step process:

1. Download the APK of a system application (e.g. MiuiHome.apk) using APK Extractor.
2. Decompile. APK using APKTool: apktool d MiuiHome.apk -o output_folder
3. Go to the folder. output_folder/res and find icons (usually in drawable-xxhdpi or mipmap-xxhdpi).
4. Edit it. PNG-Photoshop GIMP (keep transparency!).
5. Compile. APK back: apktool b output_folder -o modified_MiuiHome.apk
6. Sign an APK using a uber-apk signer and run through TWRP or ADB Sideload.

⚠️ Attention: Editing of systems APK It can cause a cyclic reboot if the files are signed incorrectly. APK And backup through TWRP.

🔧 Alternative for beginners: If decompilation seems difficult, use apps like Icon Changer (from Google Play) that let you replace icons one at a time without tampering with system files.

6 How to return standard icons if something goes wrong

If after the experiments the icons began to appear incorrectly (disappeared, turned into white squares or stopped opening), use these methods of recovery:

🔄 Method 1: Resetting themes

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find themes and click Warehouse → Clear the data.
3. Reset the device.

🔄 Method 2: Recoil through ADB

If the icons are gone after ADB-Commands, execute:

adb shell settings delete secure icon_color_filter


adb shell settings delete secure icon_shape




adb shell pm clear com.miui.home

🔄 Method 3: Recovery through TWRP (if the launcher doesn't start)

• Boot in TWRP Recovery (hold Power + Volume up when turned on).
• Select Advanced → File Manager.
• Move to the /data/system and delete the files: icon_color_filter.xml icon_shape_pref.xml
• Reset the device.

⚠️ Warning: If you lose widgets after resetting them, you'll have to reconfigure them. To avoid this, export the settings via Nova Launcher (if you use it) or back up through Mi Mover before experimenting.

FAQ: Frequent questions about changing the color of the icons on Xiaomi