How to turn on the black and white screen on Xiaomi: all working ways

Shifting to black and white on Xiaomi smartphones may seem like a strange idea, but it has many practical applications: First, the monochrome display significantly reduces eye strain, especially in the evening or when you’re working with texts for a long time. Second, it saves battery power on devices with AMOLED-And third, it's often used to focus attention, because without bright colors, it's easier to avoid distractions.

But not everyone knows that Xiaomi offers several ways to activate this mode, from standard settings to hidden features for developers. In this article, we will examine all available methods, including those that work even on older models like the Redmi Note 4 or Mi A1.

It's worth noting that some of these things require developer rights or a connection to a computer. If you're a beginner, start with the simplest options, which are suitable for 90% of MIUI devices. For advanced users, we've prepared instructions using ADB and hidden menus.

1. Standard Black and White Mode in MIUI Settings

The most obvious and secure way is to use the built-in feature of special features, which is available on most Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices with MIUI 10 and later.

To activate it:

1. Open the Settings. → Special facilities.
2. Select the Color Filter section (or Color Correction on some firmware).
3. Activate the Color Filter Switch and select Shades of Grey.

The screen will be monochrome. To get the colors back, you just have to turn off the same switch.

The device is equipped with MIUI 10 or later

The battery is charged by more than 20%

No active system updates-->

This method does not require root rights and works even on blocked downloaders, but it has a limitation: some applications (such as games or video players) can ignore the system color settings and display in normal mode.

2. Mode "For the visually impaired" (hidden function)

If your firmware doesn't have a Color Filter, try an alternative path through the Visually Impaired mode, which is even present on older versions of MIUI and some custom firmware.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Special Opportunities → Mode for the visually impaired.
2. Activate the option of High contrast or Color Inversion (depending on the model).
3. In some firmware there will be a point Shades of gray - turn it on.

If there is no such item, try triple pressing the power button (setting is included in Special Opportunities → Gesture for special features).

3. Activation through the developer menu

For users ready for deeper customizations, there is a way through the developer menu.It works on all Xiaomi devices, but requires developer mode pre-activation.

Steps:

1. Activate the developer menu: go to Settings → About Phone and click on the MIUI version 7 times.
2. Return to the main settings menu and open Additional → for developers.
3. Find the item Simulate the space of colors (or Simulate color space in English firmware).
4. Choose Monochromacy (Monochromacy).

This method completely disables all colors on the system level, including wallpaper and icons, and to get it back, you just need to select Unplugged from the same menu.

Through Special Opportunities

Through the developer menu

With ADB

I don't know, I haven't tried it yet.-->

⚠️ Note: On some devices (POCO F1, Mi 9) after activation of monochrome mode through the developer menu, brightness settings may be lost.

4.Use of ADB for forced inclusion

If standard methods do not work, you can resort to ADB commands. This method is universal and works even on devices with custom firmware.

What you need:

• 🖥️ A computer with installed Xiaomi drivers and ADB.
• 📱 Included debugging by USB on a smartphone (Settings) → For developers → Debugging by USB).
• 🔌 USB-Type C Cable (preferably original).

Instructions:

1. Connect the phone to your computer and confirm the debugging permission.
2. Open the command line (cmd) and type: adb shell settings put global accessibility_display_daltonizer_enabled 1 adb shell settings put global accessibility_display_daltonizer 0 Here. 0 At the end of the second command, you'll see shades of gray. 1 before 5.
3. Reset the device.

To return the colors, run the same command, but with the 0 at the end of the first line:

adb shell settings put global accessibility_display_daltonizer_enabled 0

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If the screen remains colored after the commands are executed, try first to turn off and then turn on the color filter again via ADB. Sometimes the system requires a "reset" of the settings.

5. Google Play apps for monochrome mode

If you don't want to dig into the settings, you can use third-party apps that offer more flexibility, like setting up the gray level or automatically turning on a schedule.

Top.-3 tested applications:

• 🎨 Gray Scale is a simple solution with the ability to quickly switch through the notification panel.
• 🔄 Color Blindness Simulator – simulates different types of color blindness, including full black and white mode.
• ⏱️ Night Mode – allows you to configure automatic activation of the monochrome filter over time.

The downside of this is that applications need overlay rights that can conflict with other services (e.g. banking applications), and they don’t affect system elements of the interface, only the content within the applications.

⚠️ Note: Some antiviruses (e.g. Avast or Kaspersky) may block color-shifting apps as “potentially dangerous.” This is a false positive — add such programs to the exceptions.

6. factory reset: if nothing helps

In rare cases, after experimenting with color filters, the system may not work properly: for example, the screen remains black and white even after all settings are turned off, due to conflicts in the MIUI configuration files.

To get it back to its original state:

1. Make a backup of the data through Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset.
2. Perform a reset to factory settings (Settings → About phone → Reset settings).
3. After rebooting, set your phone as new – the color filter should reset.

If the problem persists, the firmware may be damaged, and in this case, flashing through Fastboot will help (see the instructions for your model on the 4PDA or XDA Developers forum).

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Resetting to factory settings is a last resort, before you do so, try rolling back special features settings via ADB or manually removing configuration files (requires root).

Comparison of methods: which one to choose?

To make it easier for you to determine, we have compiled a table with the pros and cons of each method:

On devices with AMOLED-screens (for example, Xiaomi 12 Pro or Redmi) K50) Black and white gives you up to 15 percent battery savings when you use it, which is because the pixels are just turned off, not highlighted in gray.

FAQ: Frequent questions