How to make transparent icons on Xiaomi: a complete guide with photos

Transparent icons on Xiaomi smartphones are not only a stylish visual technique, but also a way to make the desktop minimalist and modern. MIUI And HyperOS faces a problem: Standard themes don’t always offer the right level of transparency, and system settings limit customization. In this article, we’ll break down all the working ways to achieve transparency effects, from simple themes to manually editing icons through third-party launchers.

Unlike iOS or stock Android, where transparency often requires root rights, Xiaomi can do this without deep interference (MIUI 12/13/14 We tested all the ways on the Redmi Note. 12 Pro+, Xiaomi 13 Ultra and POCO F5 — The results are shown in the comparative table below.

If you want more than just translucent icons, but full control over their appearance (including shadows, gradients and animations), get ready to install additional apps. MIUI. Let's start with the simplest version.

1. Transparent icons through standard themes MIUI/HyperOS

The quickest way is to use built-in themes with transparency effect. Xiaomi regularly adds new designs to Themes, but not all of them support translucent icons. Here's how to find suitable ones:

Open the Themes app (an icon with a brush) and go to the Icons section. In the search bar, type in the queries:

• 🔍 "Transparent icons" - will find packages with pre-prepared translucent icons.
• 🔍 "Glass or Frosted – themes with matte glass effect.
• 🔍 "Minimal or Flat – Minimal sets where transparency is often used as a design technique.

Pay attention to the ranking and downloads — popular themes are usually better optimized. After applying the theme, check if the icons of system applications (such as Settings or Phone) have distorted. If so, try another theme.

⚠️ Attention: Some topics from the store MIUI Themes contain ads or require a premium subscription. Read reviews before installing them - users often complain about hidden payments.

If there are few built-in themes, try third-party resources:

• 🌐 Miuier Themes – the largest base of themes for Xiaomi with Russification.
• 🌐 ZTUI — Chinese catalogue, but with filter on transparent icons ().

To install themes from third-party sites:

1. Download the file with the.mtz extension.
2. Move it to the MIUI/theme folder on the internal drive.
3. Open Topics → Mine. → Local and select the downloaded file.

2. Use of launchers with transparency support

If the built-in themes don't work, the best solution is to install a third-party launcher that not only makes the icons transparent, but also adjusts their size, shadows, animations when clicked.

Nova Launcher is the most flexible customization tool, to customize transparency:

1. Install Nova Launcher (free version is quite functional).
2. Hold your finger on the desktop → Settings Nova → Appearance.
3. Choose the Icon Style → Transparency and move the slider to the desired level (recommended) 30-50% Balance between visibility and effect).
4. For individual icons: press the icon → Edit → Change the icon and select the translucent option from the package.

Lawnchair is a lightweight open source launcher optimized for Xiaomi, which supports adaptive icons and dynamic colors.

• 📌 Install Lawnchair and activate it as default launcher.
• 📌 Go to Settings. → Icons → Icon Package and select Adaptive Icons.
• 📌 Enable background transparency and set the level (20-40% It gives the best visual effect).

Hyperion Launcher is a dedicated launcher for HyperOS that supports transparent widgets and icons. Suitable for Xiaomi 14, 13T other new models.

Make a backup copy of the current desktop settings

Check the compatibility of the launcher with the version MIUI/HyperOS

Download APK Only from official sources (Google Play or the developer’s website)

Disable battery optimization for launcher in settings -->

3. Manual replacement of icons with transparent through packets

If you want unique, transparent icons for each application, you'll have to use third-party icon packages, which take longer, but maximize customization.

Step 1: Download a pack of transparent icons.

• 🎨 Whicons – Minimalist white icons on a transparent background.
• 🎨 CandyCons – Colored Icons with Regulated Transparency.
• 🎨 DeviantArt – manual download of free sets (see #transparenticons tag).

Step 2: Apply the package through the launcher:

1. Open your launcher settings (e.g. Nova Settings) → Icons → Package of icons).
2. Select the downloaded package. If the icons are missing, the launcher will offer to replace only matching ones.
3. For manual replacement: press the icon → Edit → Change the icon → select from the package.

Step 3 (optional): If you want full transparency (without background), use the Icon Changer app:

• 🖼️ Download the transparent PNG-Icons (can be found on Flaticon by requesting transparent app icon).
• 🖼️ In Icon Changer, select the application → Select an image → Cut the icon in a circle/square.
• 🖼️ Save and apply the changes.

⚠️ Note: Some icon packages may not be available on HyperOS due to system limitations, in which case only manual replacement via Icon Changer or Icon Changer will help. ADB-Teams (see next section).

4. Transparent icons through ADB (power-user)

If you are ready for more complex manipulations, you can change the system icons through the ADB (Android Debug Bridge: This method works on Xiaomi without root, but requires enabling Debugging by USB.

Step 1: Preparation:

1. Turn on Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone and click on MIUI Version 7 times.
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and activate Debugging over USB.
3. Install ADB Tools on your PC.

Step 2: Replace the icons:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: Adb devices (you should display your device).
2. Download ready-made transparent icons in.png format (resolution) 192×192 pixels) and place them in a folder on the PC.
3. Use the command to replace (example for the Settings icon): adb push settings_icon.png /data/local/tmp/ adb shell su mount -o rw,remount /system cp /data/local/tmp/settings_icon.png /system/app/Settings/res/drawable-xxhdpi/ic_launcher_settings.png chmod 644 /system/app/Settings/res/drawable-xxhdpi/ic_launcher_settings.png reboot

⚠️ Important: Paths to icons differ depending on version MIUI/HyperOS And the models. Use the command to determine exactly:

adb shell find /system -name"launcher.png"

Once you reboot, the icons will become transparent, and if something goes wrong, restore the original files from the backup or reflash the device.

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Before work, ADB Make a full system backup through Settings → Memory. → Backup: This will help restore icons if they don't show up correctly.

5. Transparent icons for widgets and folders

Transparency can be applied not only to app icons, but also to widgets, folders and even notification panels, and this will require additional tools:

For widgets:

• 📱 Use it. KWGT Kustom Widget Maker – it has templates with a transparent background.
• 📱 In the widget settings, select the background → Transparency: 100%.
• 📱 Weather widgets are suitable for Transparent Weather.

For folders:

Nova Launcher or Lawnchair can make transparent folders:

1. Create a folder on your desktop.
2. Hold the file. → Edit → File style.
3. Choose Transparent or Frosted.
4. Set up the transparency of the background and text.

For the notification panel:

On HyperOS, you can make the top panel transparent:

1. Go to Settings. → Screen. → Style of the notification panel.
2. Choose Transparent or Blurring.
3. Adjust the intensity of the effect.

💡

Nana MIUI 14 and HyperOS, the transparency of the notification bar only works on the home screen. In applications, it automatically becomes opaque for better readability.

Frequent problems and their solutions

When setting up transparent icons, Xiaomi users encounter common errors. Here’s how to fix them:

Problem 1: The icons become completely invisible.

• 🔹 Reduce transparency to a lower level 20-30%.
• 🔹 Check if the icon pack conflicts with the theme. Turn off the theme in Settings → Topics.
• 🔹 For ADB: Make sure you replace the correct file (icons can be duplicated in different folders, such as drawable-hdpi and drawable-xxhdpi).

Problem 2: Transparency only works on the desktop, not on the app menu.

• 🔹 In Nova Launcher, open Settings → Appendix menu → Style icons and apply the same package.
• 🔹 If you use a standard launcher, try disabling Adaptive icons in the theme settings.

Problem. 3: After updating MIUI/HyperOS Icons dropped.

• 🔹 Restore the launcher settings from the backup (in Nova this is done via Backup/Restore).
• 🔹 If you've used ADB, Repeat the procedure – system files are reset when you update.

Problem 4: Transparent icons look blurry on a high-resolution screen.

• 🔹 Use icons with resolution not lower 192×192 pixel.
• 🔹 In Nova Launcher, increase the size of the icons to 120-130% layout.

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi) 9A or POCO M3) Because of a weak processor, transparent icons can cause lags in animation, in which case reduce the number of animations in the launcher settings or eliminate the blur effect.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions