How to hide navigation buttons on Xiaomi: full instructions

Xiaomi’s current MIUI or HyperOS smartphones offer users a wide range of personalization options. One of the most sought-after features among advanced users is the ability to hide standard navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen, freeing up valuable display space, creating a full immersion in content and making the appearance of the device more modern and minimalistic.

However, standard system settings often don’t allow you to simply “turn off” the bottom panel if you don’t use gesture control. Device owners have to look for workarounds using hidden debugging functions, special commands or third-party software. Completely hiding the controls requires caution, as improper actions can lead to the inability to control the smartphone without flashing.

In this guide, we will look at all the current methods available for devices from different years of release. We will discuss both safe ways through the developer menu and more complex options using a computer. You will get comprehensive information on how to modify the system interface without losing the guarantee and stability of Android.

Why Hide Navigation Buttons and What Alternatives Are There

The main reason users want to remove the bottom bar with the Home, Back and Menu buttons is to increase the usable screen area. On smartphones with a diagonal of 6 inches or more, every millimeter is important, especially when watching videos or reading books. By removing visual noise, you get an immersive mode that makes content the center of attention.

In addition, the absence of static controls reduces the risk of burnout matrix on the AMOLED-The constantly burning white icons can leave a barely noticeable but unpleasant mark on the display over time. Dynamic control or complete concealment of panels prolongs the life of the screen.

It's worth noting that the complete replacement of buttons is gesture control, a modern standard that has been introduced in Android since version 10. Instead of clicking on the screen buttons, the user swipes interacts with the edges of the display. However, not everyone gets used to the new logic of work, and many require a complete absence of any prompts.

• 📱 Save space: Up to 10% of the screen area at the bottom is freed up.
• 👁️ Screen protection: Reduces the risk of pixel burnout on static elements.
• 🎨 Aesthetics: The interface looks cleaner and more modern, especially on full-screen screensavers.

⚠️ Warning: Completely hiding the navigation bar without installing an alternative control method (such as floating buttons or activating gestures) can lead to a situation where you can not return to the desktop or close the application.

Activate Developer Mode to Access Hidden Functions

Before you start deep system setup, you need to access the engineer's hidden menu, and in the MIUI shell, this section is closed by default so that inexperienced users do not accidentally change the operating system's critical parameters.

The activation process is standard for all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices. You will need to find the shell version in the About Phone menu and quickly click on it several times.

Then, a new option, Advanced Settings or Advanced Settings, will appear in the main settings menu, where the menu is located, and this is where the switches are located, allowing you to control the behavior of the interface at a level that is not accessible to the ordinary user.

• 🔍 Go to Settings. → The phone.
• ⚡ Find the line Version MIUI (or the HyperOS version).
• 🖱️ Quickly press it. 7-10 Once in a row before the message “You became a developer” appears».
• ⚙️ Go back and go to the additional. → For developers.

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If the MIUI version is not pressed, make sure that the device does not have input lock or parental controls enabled, which may limit changes to system settings.

It is important to understand that this menu does not give carte blanche for any changes, some options may be hidden by the manufacturer depending on the firmware region (Global, China, EEA), in which case additional manipulation of regional settings may be necessary.

Hiding buttons through developer settings and debugging

There are a lot of experimental features hidden inside the developer menu, one of which allows you to force you to change the way you navigate or hide controls, even if the standard menu doesn't give you that option, and this method works on most devices without having to get root permissions.

You need to find the partition that handles system navigation, which can be called differently in different versions of MIUI, often "Navigation System" or "Selecting Navigation Method," and you can switch to gestures, which automatically removes the buttons.

If your goal is a blind gesture-free mode (which is rare but is needed for specific tasks), look for the option “Hide the navigation bar” or similar in the developer menu.

It is worth considering that after updating the firmware, the developer’s settings are often reset to factory values, which means that the procedure will have to be repeated, and some applications may not display correctly if they are rigidly tied to the presence of standard Android buttons.

⚠️ Warning: Do not turn off the option «USB-Debugging immediately after use, if you plan to control your phone via a computer, but normally keep it off for security.

Using ADB commands for advanced concealment

For those who are not afraid of the command line, the most powerful tool is Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which allows you to make changes to system databases that are not accessible through the graphical interface, with which you can completely remove or hide the navigation bar (NavigationBar).

To get started, you will need a computer (Windows, macOS or Linux), USB-Xiaomi cable and installed drivers. You also need to download the platform SDK Tools from Google's official website. Once you connect your phone to debugging mode, you can send commands directly to the system.

The command to hide the navigation bar is as follows: it changes the value of the system parameter that controls the visibility of the bar, and after the command is executed, the screen can blink, and the buttons disappear.

adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=*

To get it back to normal, you use a reset command or default setting, which is a versatile way that works on most Android devices, including custom firmware based on Xiaomi.

• 💻 Connect your smartphone to your PC and select the File Transfer mode».
• 📂 Open the command line in the folder with ADB.
• 🔌 Enter the adb device command to check the connection.
• 📝 Enter the command to hide the panel (see above).

Using ADB commands gives you maximum control, but it requires care. One typo can lead to unpredictable interface behavior. Always check the syntax of commands before entering them.

Application of third-party applications for customization

If system methods seem too complex or risky, Google Play apps come to the rescue. There are many utilities that create a layer of navigation on top of the system, allowing you to hide standard MIUI buttons. Popular examples include Navigation Bar, Fluid Navigation Gestures or Assistive Touch.

These applications require special permissions, such as Accessibility, which allows the program to intercept clicks and display its own controls, and you can customize the transparency, size and location of the buttons to your liking.

The main disadvantage of this approach is increased energy consumption: a constantly working service tracking user actions can drain the battery faster, and on some versions of HyperOS, the system can aggressively unload such applications from memory.

• 📲 Fluid Navigation Gestures: A powerful tool to replace standard navigation with flexible gestures.
• 🖱️ Assistive Touch: Adds a floating button that mimics iOS functionality.
• 🎨 Navigation Bar: Allows you to fully customize the look and behavior of the bottom panel.

When choosing an app, pay attention to the reviews and the date of the last update. For current versions of Android, only those programs that support the new security APIs are suitable. Old utilities may simply not start.

Possible problems and ways to solve them

Users often face difficulties in modifying the interface, and the most common problem is the "loss" of control, when buttons are hidden and gestures do not work, in which case it helps to quickly connect the keyboard or mouse through the keyboard. OTG-adapter.

Another common situation is the appearance of artifacts or a black bar instead of a transparent panel, which is solved by rebooting the device or resetting the interface settings, sometimes conflicting design topics that change the system files.

If the fingerprint scanner in the screen stopped working after hiding the buttons (on models where it is combined with the navigation zone), you will have to return to the standard look.

⚠️ Warning: If you accidentally hid your navigation and can’t exit the app, try pressing the power and volume button simultaneously to call the reboot menu, or use Google’s voice assistant by saying “Click Home».

To return to factory navigation settings without a computer, you can use Safe Mode. When you boot your phone, press the volume button down. In this mode, third-party apps turn off, and you can reset the settings through the menu.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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The safest and most stable way to remove buttons is to switch to standard gesture control in screen settings, rather than trying to completely disable the navigation bar through system hacks.