How to change the font color on the lock screen Xiaomi: 4 working ways

Xiaomi’s lock screen is the first thing you see when you turn on a smartphone, and its appearance can significantly affect the overall experience of the device. Many users want to personalize this element, but face a problem: standard MIUI settings do not always allow you to easily change the color of the font on the lock screen. Unlike wallpaper or widgets, which change in two clicks, working with text requires a deeper immersion into the system.

In this article, we’ll look at all the options available for changing the color of the font, from simple solutions through built-in themes to advanced methods using ADB and third-party applications. It’s important to understand that the customization options depend on the MIUI version and device model: the Redmi Note 12 with MIUI 14 has some options available, and the Xiaomi 13 Ultra with HyperOS has a completely different one, and we’ve taken these nuances into account and prepared universal instructions that will suit most of the brand’s devices.

If you've never worked with Xiaomi's system settings or are afraid of breaking something, don't worry. We'll explain each step in detail, point out the risks and provide alternatives. And for those who are ready to experiment, there's a section with advanced methods that will open up the hidden personalization options.

Why MIUI Standard Settings Limit Color Change

Smartphone makers, including Xiaomi, often limit the ability to customize the lock screen for security and user experience uniformity, and here are the main reasons why you won’t find a direct option to “change the color of the text” in the settings menu:

• 🔒 Security: The lock screen displays critical information (time, notifications, battery status) and changing the color scheme can make it difficult to read data or even be used to mask phishing attacks.
• 🎨 Design system: MIUI And HyperOS is built on the principles of material design, where the color of the text is rigidly tied to the theme of the design, which guarantees readability on any wallpaper.
• 📱 Hardware restrictions: On budget models (e.g. Redmi) 10A POCO M5) CPU performance may not allow dynamic redrawing of interface elements with custom colors.
• 🔄 Updates and Support: Frequent changes to firmware (MIUI 12 → MIUI 14 → HyperOS) require unification of the interface to avoid bugs during upgrades.

However, these restrictions can be circumvented. Next, we'll look at legal and not-so-legal ways to change the color of the font, starting with the safest ones.

Method 1: Using the built-in MIUI themes

The easiest and safest method is to change the theme, and in MIUI, the font color on the lock screen is tied to the palette of the theme you choose, for example, dark themes typically use white or gray text, and light themes usually use black or dark blue.

1. Open the Themes app (the icon with a brush on the home screen).
2. Go to the popular section or for you.
3. Choose a theme with contrasting colors. Pay attention to the lock screen preview, where you can see how the font changes.
4. Click Apply and wait for the installation to be completed.

If you don’t like the options, you can download additional topics:

• 🔍 Enter in the search by topic the query "contrast text of the lock" or "color font".
• 🌈 Look for tagged topics "AMOLED" or "Dark Mode" - they often offer custom color solutions.
• ⭐ Check ratings and reviews: Topics with a score below 4.0 may contain bugs or incorrectly display text.

Important: Some themes change the font color only for time and date, leaving notifications in the standard palette. lockscreen_style.xml.

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If the text becomes hard to read after the theme change (for example, gray on a dark background), try to turn on the option “Color Inversion” in the special features settings (Settings → Special Opportunities → Color and contrast).

Method 2: Edit system files via ADB (for advanced)

If the built-in themes don't work, you can manually change the color of the font by editing the system files. This method requires an unlocked bootloader and root rights or access via ADB. We'll look at the option without root, but using a debugging bridge.

Warning: Mistakes may cause system failure or device "brick" and we recommend you back up your data before starting.

⚠️ Note: On HyperOS devices (e.g. Xiaomi 14 or Redmi) K70) The path to lock screen configuration files may be different. Before editing, check current paths through the root file manager.

Instructions:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times)
2. Enable USB debugging in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: adb pull /system/media/theme/default/lockscreen_style.xml This will copy the configuration file to your computer.
4. Open up. lockscreen_style.xml in a text editor (for example, Notepad)++) Find the lines with the color parameters: <item name="lockscreen_time_color">#FFFFFFFF</item> <item name="lockscreen_date_color">#B3FFFFFF</item> Here #FFFFFFFF — white (ARGB-format), #B3FFFFFF — white-colored.
5. Replace the hex codes with the colors you want (e.g. #FF00FF00 for green) and save the file.
6. Return the file back: adb push lockscreen_style.xml /system/media/theme/default/
7. Reset the device.

If the changes did not apply after the reboot, try clearing the cache of the themes:

adb shell pm clear com.android.themes

Method 3: Applications for customization (without root)

If it's too risky to edit system files, you can use third-party apps that don't change the color of the font directly, but offer alternative solutions:

• 📱 Always On Display (AOD) Mi: Allows you to adjust the color and style of the information displayed on the screen off. Supports Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco with the help of the new model. AMOLED-screen.
• 🎨 Hex Installer: A custom themes installation utility, including modified versions of standard themes MIUI colored.
• 🔧 Substratum Theme Engine: Works on devices with unlocked bootloader, allows you to deeply customize the interface, including the lock screen.

Example of settings through Hex Installer:

1. Download and install the app from Google Play.
2. From the menu, select Browse Themes and find a theme marked "Lockscreen Mod".
3. Download the theme file (usually.mtz or.apk).
4. Set the theme through Hex Installer and apply it to the MIUI settings.

Limitations of this method:

• Not all apps support the latest versions of MIUI/HyperOS.
• The font color can only change for time/date, not for notifications.
• Some models (such as the Xiaomi 13T) require you to disable MIUI Optimization in the developer settings.

1. to create a backup copy of the data

2. Check the version of MIUI/HyperOS

Deactivate "Optimization" MIUI" developer-setting

4. Install a file manager (e.g., FX Explorer)

5. Download the topic from a verified source-->

Method 4: Using Launchers and Alternative Shells

If you don't like the previous methods, you can completely replace the standard MIUI launcher with an alternative one that supports lock screen customization.

• 🚀 Nova Launcher + Sesame Shortcuts: Allows you to change the style of notifications and text on the lock screen through plugins.
• 🌌 Action Launcher: Has built-in settings for personalizing fonts and colors.
• 🔄 Microsoft Launcher: Supports dark themes with customizable accent colors.

Important: alternative launchers do not replace the standard MIUI lock screen, but simply superimpose their elements on top of it. Completely change the color of the system font (time, date, notifications) in this way is impossible without root rights.

How to set up Nova Launcher for partial customization:

1. Install Nova Launcher and make it the default launcher.
2. Go to Settings Nova → Lock screen.
3. Activate the option "Show widgets on the lock screen".
4. Add a Chronus or Another Widget widget that supports text color setting.

⚠️ Note: On HyperOS devices (e.g. Xiaomi 14 Pro), some launchers may conflict with system services, causing the lock screen to freeze. Check compatibility on forums (e.g., check for compatibility before installing, XDA Developers or 4PDA).

Frequent problems and their solutions

When changing the color of the font on the lock screen, users often face the following problems:

If after all the manipulations the lock screen stopped showing correctly, try:

1. Delete the last topic that has been set.
2. Reset the launcher settings (Settings → Applications → Application Management → Launcher → Storage → Clear data).
3. Reset the lock screen settings: adb shell settings reset secure lock_screen_*

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On HyperOS devices (2026 and later), editing system files via ADB may require additional permissions. Before starting, check the current instructions for your model on the official Xiaomi forum.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions