Smartphone personalization is not just a nice bonus, it’s a way to highlight your device in the general mass. Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO gadgets often face the question of how to change the standard profile image, which by default looks like a gray silhouette. This action affects several levels of the system, from local display in contacts to a global Mi Account, which synchronizes data between devices.
The procedure for replacing an image may vary depending on the version of the MIUI shell or the new HyperOS, and whether you want to change the photo just for yourself or make it visible to all ecosystem services. It is important to understand the difference between an avatar in a phone book and a profile in cloud services. In this article, we will discuss all the nuances of the configuration to make your smartphone look truly yours.
It's worth noting that some changes take effect instantly, while others take time to sync with servers. If you've just bought a new phone or decided to upgrade an old gadget, setting up your profile properly is the first step to fully working with the device. Let's figure out where the menus are hiding and how to avoid the typical errors when loading an image.
Difference Between Local Profile and Mi Account
Before you start editing, you need to clearly understand the storage architecture of Xiaomi smartphones. There are two main types of profiles that are often confused even by experienced users. One is the local profile of the phone owner, which is used by the system to identify you in calls and messages. The second is the Mi Account account, which is the key to all the company’s cloud services.
The local profile is stored exclusively in the memory of your device and is not transferred to other gadgets automatically. If you change the SIM card or reset the phone to the factory settings without prior synchronization, this image will be lost. At the same time, the Mi Account avatar is tied to your email address or phone number and restored immediately after authorization on any device.
⚠️ Note: Changing a photo in your Mi Account settings doesn’t always automatically update the image in your phone owner’s profile.These settings often live in parallel and require separate settings in different menu sections.
What do you need each of these for? Local photos are displayed when you get calls from contacts you don't have in your phone book, or when you send messages through standard Mi Messaging apps. You can see a photo of your Mi Account in the GetApps app store, in the Mi Cloud, in the community forum, and when you use Find a Device, and understanding this difference will help you prioritize your settings correctly.
How to change the avatar through phone settings
The fastest way to install or replace a profile image is to use the built-in settings, which are suitable for those who want to change the local display of their number and name when calling. The interface may vary slightly on different versions of Android, but the logic remains the same throughout the Xiaomi ecosystem.
To start, open the main menu and find the Settings icon. At the top of the screen, just below the search bar, the current owner profile is usually displayed. Click on it to enter the editing menu. Here, the system will prompt you to choose the source of the image: take a new picture with the camera, select from the gallery or use standard emojis.
☑️ Checking before change
If you've selected an image from a gallery, it opens up with an embedded editor that can frame a picture with a round or a square frame, which is a critical step, because the system will cut everything that goes beyond the allocated area, and make sure that the face or important object is in the center of the frame.
Once confirmed, the system may request permission to access contacts or phone, which is necessary to ensure that the new image is correctly displayed by your interlocutors. In some cases, especially on older versions of MIUI, it is necessary to restart the device to apply changes to all system applications.
Changing photos in Mi Account
The global change of avatar is made through account management. This action will affect all services associated with your Mi ID. To get to the desired menu, go to Settings and click on the top plaque with the name of your account. In the menu that opens, find the section “Profile” or “Personal data”.
Click on the current profile image. A window will open that suggests you upload a new photo. You can select a file from your phone's memory or take a real-time snapshot. Please note that uploading the image to the cloud can take some time, depending on your Internet connection speed.
Why is the avatar not updated immediately?
It is important to note that the image in the Mi Account is public within the brand ecosystem, and can be displayed in forum comments, in the themes of the design and when using some system functions, such as sharing files over Mi Share with unfamiliar users nearby.
If you use multiple Xiaomi devices (like a phone and tablet), changing your account avatar will allow you to be identified uniformly across all devices, especially for family use, where devices can be confused and visual identification of the owner helps avoid conflicts.
Setting up the image in the Contacts app
Special attention should be paid to the Contacts app, which has its own profile system in MIUI and HyperOS shells, and it often happens that the user changes the photo in the phone settings, but when the caller sees the old image or its absence, this is because the contact application can use its own database.
Open the Contacts app and find your number (usually marked as “I” or “My profile”) in the list. Click on it to open the card. In the upper right corner or right in the photo, find the edit button (pencil or camera icon) Here you can upload an image that will be a priority for phone calls.
- 📸 Click on the camera icon to take a selfie through the front camera.
- 🖼️ Select a finished photo from your device’s albums.
- 🎨 Use built-in stickers or frames for decoration.
The advantage of setting up through the Contacts app is that you can set different images for different SIM cards, as long as your smartphone supports Dual SIM and profile separation, which allows subscribers to see different photos depending on which number you call them.
Remember, the quality of the image in the phone book matters: High-resolution files that are too heavy can take longer to load on an incoming call, creating micro-latency, and up to 500KB of image size is considered optimal.
💡
Use images with clear contrast backgrounds for the contact avatar, which will help the system recognize the face faster and correctly display the thumbnail when an incoming call is made, even if the phone screen is turned off (Always On Display).
Problems with loading and displaying the avatar
Despite the simplicity of the procedure, users often face technical difficulties, the most common problem is that the image does not load or a black square is displayed instead of a photo, which can be due to overcrowded cache of system applications or synchronization errors.
If you're trying to install a photo through a Mi Account and the process is stalling, check the stability of the Internet connection. Xiaomi servers can be congested, especially during peak hours. Try switching from Wi-Fi to mobile Internet or vice versa. It's also worth checking if the phone has a modified firmware that can block access to the manufacturer's services.
| Problem. | Probable cause | Decision-making |
|---|---|---|
| Photos not saved | Lack of access rights | Allow access to memory in application settings |
| Quality is deteriorating | Aggressive system compression | Use optimal image size (800x800 px) |
| Avatar resets | Synchronization error | Leave your account and log in again |
| Black square instead of photo | Contact cache damaged | Clear the cache of the “Contact” application |
Another cause of failure is the file format. The system works best with standard JPEG and PNG formats. If you're trying to upload an image in HEIC (from an iPhone) or WebP format, convert it in advance. Some older versions of MIUI simply don't know how to handle modern codecs properly.
⚠️ Warning: If the phone is slowing down after changing the avatar or if artifacts appear on the screen, the system settings file may be damaged.
Adjusting an avatar in ecosystem applications
Xiaomi’s ecosystem includes many applications that can use your profile regardless of system settings, such as the Mi Home app for managing a smart home or Mi Fitness (formerly Mi Wear) for trackers, each with an avatar that can be customized separately.
In the Mi Home app, a profile photo is important for family access. When you share access to cameras or outlets with family members, they see exactly the avatar that is installed in the Mi profile or in the settings of the app itself. To change it, open the app, go to Profile and click on the current photo.
In fitness applications, the situation is similar: Your progress, achievements and place in the ranking of friends will be displayed with the avatar you install in the profile section of the application, which creates a unified visual environment and increases the usability of services.
💡
A single avatar across all ecosystem applications creates a sense of integrity and makes it easier to identify a user in shared chats and family groups.
Some users prefer to put different photos for different services for the sake of privacy, for example, in a fitness application you can use a pseudonym and a picture from the game, and in Mi Home you can use a real photo. Xiaomi’s flexibility allows you to implement this scenario, if you do not bind all applications strictly to one Mi ID, but use local profiles inside the applications.