How to Change the Color of Badges on Xiaomi Redmi: 5 Proven Ways (Including Hidden MIUI Features)

Why Users Want to Change the Color of Their Icons to Redmi – and What’s Stopping It

The color of the icons on Xiaomi Redmi is one of those little things that catch your eye every day, but it’s not as easy to change as it seems. By default, MIUI offers a limited set of color schemes tied to the chosen theme. However, many owners of Redmi Note 12, Redmi 10 or POCO X5 smartphones find that even after changing the theme, the icons remain standard — gray, blue or green, not corresponding to the overall style of the interface.

The main problem is that the MIUI shell architecture is tightly aligned with the system settings, not the user settings, which means that there is no simple "change icon color" switch on the menu, so you have to use workarounds. Fortunately, there are several of them, from official themes to third-party launchers and even hidden commands for power users. But each method has its own nuances: root rights will be required somewhere, additional applications will be reset, and some methods may be reset once the system is updated.

In this article, we’ll look at all the current ways to change the color of the icons on Xiaomi Redmi, including little-known tricks with ADB and developer settings. You’ll learn how to make icons black, white, color or even animated — without the risk of “bricking” the phone. And at the end you will find an FAQ with answers to the most common questions, such as: “Why did icons return to the standard look after the MIUI update?” or “Can only individual icons be changed in color?”

Method 1: Official MIUI Topics is the simplest but most limited method

The safest and most recommended way Xiaomi uses is the built-in MIUI Theme Store, where you can find both fully-made themes with modified icons and individual icon packages.

• 🔹 Not all themes change icons – many only touch wallpaper, fonts or animations.
• 🔹 The color palette is limited – often the icons simply become monochrome (black/white).
• 🔹 Reset after update — MIUI Can return standard icons when upgrading the system.

To try this method:

1. Open the Themes app (icon with brush).
2. Go to the Icons or Populars section.
3. Select a theme marked “Changes icons” (e.g., “Dark Icons” or “Colorful Minimal”).
4. Click Apply and confirm the changes.

If you don't have the right topic in your area, try changing your Mi Account region to India or China, where there's a wider choice, but remember, some topics may contain ads or require payment.

💡

Before applying the theme, take a screenshot of the icons’ current location on the home screen, and after changing the theme, their position may be lost, and a screenshot will help restore order quickly.

Method 2: Third-party launchers – freedom of customization, but with compromises

If the built-in themes don't suit, you can install an alternative launcher from Google Play.

• 📱 Nova Launcher – supports icon packages (.iconpack) and manual color adjustment.
• 🎨 Action Launcher – allows you to change the color of icons through the built-in editor.
• 🔧 Lawnchair – Lightweight launcher with support for adaptive icons (including color change).

For example, in Nova Launcher, the algorithm is as follows:

1. Install the launcher and make it the main one (in the phone settings, select Home → Nova Launcher).
2. Download the icon package (such as "Whicons" or "Minima") from the Play Market.
3. Go to the launcher settings: Settings → Appearance → Style of icons.
4. Choose the downloaded package or adjust the color manually (if supported).

The main disadvantage of this method is that not all system icons will change, for example, icons in the notification bar or in the settings menu will remain standard, and some MIUI functions (for example, double-press to lock) may not work properly.

Method 3: Editing through ADB for Advanced Users

If you are ready for experiments, you can change the color of the icons through the ADB-Android Debug Bridge, which requires you to connect your phone to your PC and enable debugging. USB, But it allows you to point-to-point the display of icons.

Note: Incorrect ADB commands may disrupt the system, and we recommend backing up the data before starting.

⚠️ Note: Some Redmi models (e.g. Redmi) 9A or POCO M3) Change of system parameters through ADB This can cause network settings to reset. Before you execute commands, make sure you have access to a backup Wi-Fi hotspot.

Instructions:

1. Turn on Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version and press 7 times.
2. Activate USB Debugging in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: adb shell settings put secure icon_color_filter #FF0000FF where #FF0000FF — color ARGB (Use the blue for black #FF000000, white — #FFFFFFFF.
4. Reset the device.

This method does not work on all versions of MIUI. If the command does not work, try an alternative:

adb shell am start -a android.settings.ACTION_DISPLAY_SETTINGS

Then manually search for the Color Filter option (if available).

💡

ADB-The commands change the color of all the icons at the same time, including the system icons. If you only need to change the icons of the applications, this method is not suitable - use the launcher.

Method 4: Manually modifying through theme files (requires unlocking the bootloader)

For the most experienced users, there is a way to edit themes manually, allowing you to change the color of individual icons or create a completely unique theme, but requires unlocking the bootloader and accessing system files.

You'll need:

• 🔓 Unlocked bootloader (instructions on the official Xiaomi website).
• 💻 Root access (via Magisk or SuperSU).
• 📁 Editorial APK-files, for example, APK Editor).

Algorithm:

1. Download any theme from the MIUI Theme Store (even if you don’t like it).
2. Find the theme file in /data/system/theme/ (name in com.android.theme.[ID]).
3. Copy the file on your PC and open it via APK Editor.
4. Go to the res/drawable folder – here are stored icons in.png or.xml format.
5. Edit files in Photoshop or another graphics editor while maintaining the original resolution.
6. Collect the APK back and install it via adb install.

This method gives maximum freedom, but has risks:

• 🚨 Incorrect editing can lead to the collapse of system applications.
• 🔄 After updating MIUI all changes will reset.
• ⚖️ Xiaomi may block account for distributing modified themes.

Make a backup copy of the data|Unlock the loader|Get root access|Download the original theme for editing|Install APK Editor on PC-->

Method 5: Use the Xposed Framework (only for older versions of MIUI)

For Android 7-9 devices (such as the Redmi Note 5 or Mi A2), you can use the Xposed Framework with the module "Iconify" or "GravityBox".This method allows you to change the color of the icons without replacing the launcher, but has critical limitations:

• ❌ Not working. MIUI 12+ (due to changes in the security system).
• ❌ Requires an unlocked bootloader and root.
• ❌ May be in conflict with security updates.

If your device supports Xposed, the instructions are as follows:

1. Install Xposed Installer and activate the framework.
2. Download the "Iconify for Xposed" module.
3. In the module settings, select Color Filter and specify the desired color in HEX-format, #4285F4 blue-colored).
4. Reset the device.

On newer smartphones (Redmi Note 11 and later), this method is irrelevant due to DM-Verity and other security mechanisms. Instead of Xposed, you can try LSposed (for Android 10+), but stability is not guaranteed.

Comparison of all methods: which one to choose?

To make the choice easier, we have compiled a table with the pros and cons of each method:

For most users, the best solution is a combination of official themes and a third-party launcher (like Nova Launcher with an icon pack).If you need deep changes and are willing to take risks, try ADB or theme editing, but only after you have created a backup.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions