How to make a small screen on Xiaomi: Scaling

Modern Xiaomi smartphones come with high-resolution displays that provide great detail, but often lead to interface elements becoming too large for comfortable use. Many users, moving from lower-resolution models or just wanting to see more content on one page, wonder how to make a small screen on Xiaomi. This is not just a cosmetic change, but an important ergonomics setting to improve productivity with the device.

There are several effective ways to reduce the size of the content you see, from standard system settings to deeper changes through the engineering menu. The scale of the interface affects how much text and applications you see at the same time. Incorrect settings can make the font unreadable, so it's important to approach the process carefully and consistently.

In this article, we will explore all available methods, including hidden features for advanced users, learn how to change screen resolution, adjust font size and use the capabilities of MIUI or HyperOS to maximize the workspace. Follow the instructions to adapt your smartphone to personal preferences.

Standard font size and display settings

The safest and easiest way to change the visual experience of the screen is to use the built-in settings of the system. In the shells of MIUI and HyperOS, this functionality is put into a separate menu, allowing you to adjust the size of the elements without risking damage to the system files, here you can reduce the font and rescal the entire interface.

You need to go to the settings section first, and open the Settings app and look for Screen, which in some versions of the firmware may be called Display, and that's where the main controls for visualizing content are.

• 📱 Go to the Settings menu → Screen.
• 🔍 Select the option “Text size and display».
• ⬇️ Move the Size slider to the left to the minimum value.
• 🔤 Adjust the “Font Size” slider separately if you need to.

Changing Size affects everything from application icons, navigation buttons, and dialog boxes, which is the most comprehensive approach to solving a problem. If you're only concerned about readability, use the second slider separately.

⚠️ Note: When setting minimum font values, some applications may not display correctly, since their developers did not provide support for too small characters.

Using Developer Mode to Change DPI

A more advanced method to make interface elements really small is to change the pixel density (DPI) feature hidden in the developer menu and gives more subtle control over how the system renders an image. DPI density determines how many pixels are per inch of the screen, and its artificial increase makes the system think the screen has a higher resolution.

To access these settings, you need to activate the hidden menu. Find the About Phone option in the settings and quickly click 7 times on the MIUI version or OS version. Once you have become a developer, you can go to the settings.

In the Developer menu that opens, scroll down to the Entering section, and you'll find the Minimum Width (or Least Width) option, and changing that value will dramatically reduce the scale of the interface.

• 🔧 Open the Settings. → Advanced settings → For developers.
• 📏 Find the item "Minimum width».
• ✏️ Write down the initial value so you can go back.
• ➕ Increase the numerical value (for example, from 360 to 450 or 500).

It's important to understand the principle of operation: the larger the numerical value in this field, the smaller the elements on the screen become. You should not dramatically increase the value several times, because this can cause the interface to become unreadable and you will have to reset the device settings.

Change the screen resolution in the advanced settings

Xiaomi’s flagship models often feature displays with resolutions higher than the standard FullHD+, such as WQHD+ or 2K. By default, the system can use lower resolution to save battery power, making the picture less sharp, but the elements are larger. Changing the screen resolution to the maximum available also helps to make the image more detailed and compact.

You can find this setting in the Screen menu, and if your phone supports multiple resolution modes, it will show up, and switching to maximum causes the processor to render more pixels, which visually reduces the scale of objects.

Note that this method is not available on all models: Budget devices usually have a fixed resolution that cannot be changed software, and in such cases, reliance on DPI settings remains the only effective way.

When you switch to higher resolution, you might notice a slight decrease in battery life. The GPU has to process more points, which requires additional power. However, on modern Snapdragon or Dimensity processors, this difference is often invisible in everyday use.

One Hand Mode as a Temporary Solution

Sometimes users don't need to zoom in, but they need to compress the image temporarily to make it easy to control a large screen with one hand, and in this case, the One-Hand Mode feature that is present in the MIUI shell helps. It doesn't change the resolution forever, but it allows you to temporarily compress the desktop.

You can activate this function through the control panel or a specialgesture zone. The compression of the screen is dynamic: you see a smaller copy of the interface in the corner of the display, which allows you to reach the opposite edge with your finger.

This method is useful for people with small palms or when using a smartphone in transport when the second hand is occupied, but it is not suitable for continuous use as a method of reducing font, as it requires constant activation and deactivation.

• 🖐️ Open the Settings. → Additional opportunities.
• 📱 Select "One-hand mode».
• ⚙️ Set up the activation method (button or gesture).
• 📉 Use it to temporarily reduce the workspace.

Third-party applications for interface customization

If standard system tools are not enough, third-party applications come to the rescue from the Google Play store. There are utilities that allow you to change the density of the DPI without logging into the developer menu, as well as launchers that completely change the look of the desktop, making icons and widgets more compact.

One popular solution is launcher apps like Nova Launcher or Microsoft Launcher, which allow you to customize your desktop grid (like 6x6 or 7x7 instead of the standard 5x5), which visually makes elements smaller and allows you to place more applications on a single screen.

⚠️ Note: When installing third-party launchers, carefully check the permissions you request. Some applications may collect data about which programs you use most often.

There are also dedicated DPI change apps that work as shortcuts to hidden system settings, and can be useful if access to a developer menu is blocked for some reason by a carrier or manufacturer (although this is rare on global versions of Xiaomi).

💡

Use launchers with support in order to choose a minimalist style of icons – this will visually reduce the “noise” on the screen and make the interface more compact.

Possible problems and solutions

Experiments with screen resolution and scale don't always go smoothly, and the most common problem is the fly-off of the interface, where once the DPI values change, the elements become so small that you can't find the back button or the settings menu, so you don't have to panic.

The first solution is to try to remember the original DPI and enter it blindly by clicking on the buttons, and if that doesn't work, resetting the phone to factory settings will help, and all the data will be deleted, so always back up before you experiment.

Another problem is that some applications are not displayed correctly, and some programs, especially banking or older versions of software, can float at non-standard pixel density values, and in such cases, you have to find a compromise value that will suit most applications.

💡

Always write down the original DPI before making changes – this is the only quick way to get things back to normal without completely resetting your phone.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)