Personalization of the smartphone interface is the first step that the new owner of the device makes after unpacking. Owners of gadgets of the Chinese company Xiaomi are no exception, because their devices offer the widest possibilities for customizing the appearance of the MIUI system or the new HyperOS. Standard wallpaper provided by the manufacturer often look spectacular, but many users want to see personal pictures or unique images found on the Internet on their device.
The process of replacing a static image on the lock screen may seem trivial, but there are many nuances in the Xiaomi shell that can confuse an inexperienced user. For example, the system often separates the wallpaper settings for the home screen and for the lock screen, which leads to confusion. In addition, there are special services like Wallpaper Carousel that can intercept background control, preventing you from setting the desired image in a standard way.
In this detailed guide, we will take a look at all the available methods for installing a photo on the lock screen. We will look at standard system settings, work with the gallery, and also pay attention to specific features, such as the Theme Store. You will learn how to properly prepare an image so that it does not crop and looks clearly on the display of your Redmi or Poco.
Preparation of the image for installation
Before you start setting up the system, you need to make sure that the image you choose meets the technical requirements for a quality display. The ideal option is a photo that matches or exceeds the resolution of the screen of your smartphone. If the picture is too small, when stretched to the full screen, it will lose in detail and look blurry, which will spoil the overall impression of the device.
The file format also plays a role, although modern versions of Android and MIUI support most common types such as JPG, PNG and WEBP. It is recommended to use lossless formats if you want to keep the fine details in the photo as clear as possible.
It is important to consider that the lock screen often displays widgets of hours, dates and notifications. The key point is to choose an image where the central and upper parts are not overloaded with details, otherwise the text will become unreadable.
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Use the built-in editor in the gallery to add light dimming or blurring to the photo before setting it to lock – this will improve the readability of time and notifications.
- 📸 Check the image resolution (minimum 1080 pixels on the short side).
- 🎨 Make sure the colors of the photo aren’t too bright to blind your eyes when unlocking.
- 📐 Cut the extra edges by leaving important objects in the center of the frame.
- 💾 Keep a copy of the original in case you need to reprocess.
Installation of photos through a standard gallery
The fastest and most intuitive way to set your photo to the lock screen is to use the built-in Gallery app, which doesn't require you to go to the deep settings menus and lets you see the result immediately. Open the gallery app on your Xiaomi smartphone and find the folder that saves the desired image.
Once you open the photo in full screen, look at the bottom control panel or the three-dot menu in the corner of the screen. Depending on the version of the MIUI shell, the interface may vary slightly, but the logic of actions remains the same. Click on the "More" button or the three-dot icon to reveal the additional action menu.
In the options list that opens, you need to select "Set as Wallpaper." The system will offer several options for using the image: on the main screen, on the lock screen or on both screens at the same time. Select "lock screen" so that your photo will appear when the device wakes up, but does not affect the background of the desktop.
☑️ Installation algorithm through the Gallery
It is worth noting that if you have the Wallpaper Carousel feature activated, the system may ignore your choice or suggest that you turn it off, in which case you will first need to deactivate the automatic background change, which will be discussed in more detail in the next sections of the article.
Customization through the Wallpaper menu and personalization
If the gallery method is not available for some reason or you prefer to work through system settings, there is an alternative way: go to the main smartphone settings menu and find the Wallpaper and personalization section. In some versions of the firmware, this item may be called simply Wallpaper or be inside the Display category.
Within this section, you'll see several tabs or categories, including Wallpaper, Themes, and Lock Screen, and we need a tab that directly addresses the lock screen, where the system will suggest using standard collections, downloading an image from a gallery, or using online services. Click on the download button or the + icon to select a file from the device's memory.
After you select the file, the system will ask you to crop the image. The crop interface allows you to move the frame and zoom in so that the photo fits perfectly in the proportion of the screen. Don't rush to confirm: carefully check that important parts of the face or object are not cropped by the edges of the display or a dynamic island, if it is present in your model.
⚠️ Note: When installing a photo through the system settings, an automatic image compression may occur. If the quality is critical, use the method through the Gallery or pre-reduce the file size in a third-party editor.
Special attention should be paid to the depth effects that are available in new versions of HyperOS. The system may suggest adding a parallax effect, when time and date a little “soar” above the image, which makes the picture more vivid, but requires the correct selection of the background so that the text does not merge with the details of the photo.
Working with the Wallpaper Carousel (Glance)
Many users are faced with a situation where they can not put their photos because the lock screen constantly changing pictures from the Internet, this feature is responsible for the service “Wallpaper Carousel” (formerly known as Glance), which is preinstalled on most smartphones Redmi and Poco.
To set your photo, you first need to turn off automatic background change. To do this, go to Settings → Lock Screen or find the Wallpaper Carousel app in the list of programs. Inside the service settings, you need to find the switch “Enable Wallpaper Carousel” and turn it into an inactive state.
Once the service is disabled, the system will return to the standard display of statics, now you can set your photo in any of the ways described above, however, if you still want to use the carousel, but add your photos to it, this is also possible, but requires more complex configuration through the menu of the carousel application itself.
How to add your photos to the wallpaper carousel?
Disabling third-party blocking services often not only allows you to put your photo, but also saves battery power, as background processes stop loading content from the network, this is especially true for models with a smaller battery.
Using the Theme Store for Customization
MIUI Theme Store is a powerful tool that allows you to change not only the wallpaper, but also the style of the watch, fonts and icons on the lock screen. If you don't get the desired result with standard means, you can download a finished theme that already contains the desired design, and then replace it with your background.
There's a lock screen category in the theme store, where you can choose a theme you like visually, set it up, and then change the background image to your own in the theme settings (My Pages → Topics) and that gives you access to advanced watch styles and animations.
Some themes allow you to customize the watch widget right on the lock screen, changing its position and color to better match your photo, which is especially useful if your photo has a specific color gamut and the standard white watch on it is not readable.
| Parameter | Standard installation | Through the store, that | Wallpaper carousel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flexibility of setting | Low. | Tall. | Medium |
| Battery consumption | Minimum | Depends on the topic. | High-pitched |
| Difficulty | Simple. | Medium | Simple. |
| Advertising | No. | Rarely. | Often |
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Theme store is the only way to change not only the picture, but also the time font, date and style of unlocking on the lock screen.
Solving and eliminating errors
Sometimes users find that after installing the photo, it is displayed incorrectly: too close, darkened or not changed at all. The most common reason is the caching of the old version of the image by the system, in which case it is recommended to completely restart the smartphone after installing new wallpaper.
Another problem is Dark Mode: In some themes, when you turn on a dark theme, the system automatically darkens the wallpaper on the lock screen, making it almost black. To avoid this, check the theme settings or use images with bright elements that will not be lost when darkened.
If the photo "goes away" when you turn your smartphone or has black bars around the edges, then the proportions are not observed, in which case only re-fracture the original file will help. Use the built-in editor or third-party applications to accurately fit the size to the resolution of your Redmi screen.
- 🔄 Reboot the device if the wallpaper is not applied immediately.
- 🌑 Check if Do Not Disturb mode is enabled or a dark theme that distorts colors.
- 📏 Make sure the photo does not have an alpha channel (transparency) that can be displayed in black.
⚠️ Warning: Avoid using images with fine text or complex patterns as backgrounds, as they can create visual noise and distract from notifications.
In rare cases, the problem may be in a specific image file, try saving the photo in a different format (for example, converting PNG to JPG) or downloading it again, as the file may have been corrupted by downloading it.