MIUI 12 offers users flexible personalization tools, but standard control buttons often take up useful screen space. Smartphone owners strive to maximize immersion in content where every pixel of the display matters. Remove the bottom bar with the back, home and menu buttons without installing third-party applications, using the built-in capabilities of the operating system.
Switching to gesture control is not just a cosmetic change, but a transition to a more modern level of interaction with a gadget, which allows you to free up the lower part of the display for controls in games or reading applications. In this article, we will discuss in detail how to hide navigation buttons, adjust sensitivity and solve possible problems with displaying the interface.
It’s worth noting that abandoning the classic buttons may seem unusual at first, but muscle memory is formed in a couple of days of active use. Xiaomi’s system provides several options for setting up, including changing the thickness of the gesture indicator and selecting a side for the “back” button.
Benefits of Gesture Management in MIUI 12
The switch to gestures opens up more ergonomic use of the smartphone with one hand. Large screens of modern devices make reaching the lower corners difficult, and virtual buttons only make things worse by taking up space. Hiding the navigation buttons frees up to 15-20% of usable space at the bottom of the screen.
In addition, animation in MIUI 12 are optimized for swipes, which makes transitions between applications more smooth and visually pleasing. Standard buttons often look static and knock out of the overall dynamics of the interface, especially on the Internet. AMOLED-screens with their deep blackness.
⚠️ Note: Some models of the budget segment after the inclusion of gestures may have a slight increase in response delay, which is associated with software optimization of the shell.
Users also note improved multimedia experience: When watching videos in vertical mode or reading long texts, the absence of static elements at the bottom of the screen creates a sense of limitless space, which is especially important for devices with bangs or cutouts, where the balance of interface elements is critical.
Preparation for changing navigation parameters
Before making changes to your system settings, make sure your device is running the current firmware version. Older MIUI 12 builds may contain bugs that affect the gesture area.
You also need to know which management scheme you're more likely to use, classic for Android or iOS, and in the first case, swipe on the right will mean return, in the second case, swipe on the left, and this affects your usage habits and speed.
It's important to understand that the complete disappearance of buttons only happens after you have confirmed your choice of navigation system, until then you will see a preview or hybrid mode.
☑️ Checking before setting up
Step-by-step: disabling buttons through settings
The main way to manage navigation is through the system settings menu. The interface may vary slightly depending on the regional version of the firmware (Global, China, EEA), but the logic remains the same. You will need to follow a sequence of actions to activate the desired mode.
Open the main menu first and find the gear icon. Follow the Settings path → Additional settings → Full-screen mode. In some versions, this item may be simply called “Navigation” or located under “System settings”.
In the menu that opens, you'll see three options: Select the second or third item, which is usually marked as "Full Screen Control" or an icon with lines without buttons. Once selected, the system will offer a training video or an interactive demonstration.
- 📱 Click on "Full screen control" to activate gestures.
- 🔄 Use the Hide Hint switch to remove the white bar at the bottom.
- ⚙️ Customize the sensitivity of edges if swipes are not working properly.
- ✅ Click "Apply" or "OK" to save the changes.
Once confirmed, the buttons will disappear instantly from the screen. If you use a thick edged protective glass, you may need to calibrate the touch sensitivity. Go to Settings → Advanced Settings → One-handed Mode (optional) or use a built-in calibrator.
💡
Activation of full screen mode automatically hides the buttons, but a separate transparency setting is required to completely disappear the indicator.
Set up the gesture indicator and hide it
Even after you turn on gesture control, there's often a thin white bar at the bottom of the screen, the Home indicator, which many users want to remove to achieve the perfect picture, and MIUI 12 has the ability to make this indicator completely transparent.
To do this, go back to the navigation type selection menu. Near the selected Full Screen Control mode, there is often an additional gear or text link, Settings. That's where the "Show Hint" or "Swipe Indicator" switch is hidden.
If you turn off this option, you get a completely clean screen, but it's worth remembering that without a visual guide, new users can forget about the home screen return zone, which is a matter of habit and personal preference.
| Parameter | Description of function | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Visual indicator | Thin strip at the bottom of the screen | Leave it to the newcomers. |
| Swipe vibration | Tactical response to return | Insert for control |
| Sensitivity of edges | Width of activation zone | Medium or high |
| Party of return | Location of the back button | By the dominant hand |
Some themes may force the display back without the system settings, in which case try to change the theme to a standard one or check the settings of a particular theme in the Themes app.
Solution: buttons don’t disappear or don’t work properly
Sometimes users are faced with a situation where after all the manipulations, the buttons remain in place or work with a delay, this can be caused by a conflict of running applications or an error of the Poco Launcher or MIUI Home system launcher.
The first step should always be to reboot the device, which is a standard procedure that cleans the RAM and restarts the system services that run the interface, and often the problem is solved in this simple way.
If the reboot didn't work, try clearing the cache of the Security app and system launcher. Go to Settings → Apps → All applications, find the processes you want, and select Clear Cache. Don't confuse it with clearing data so you don't mess up your desktop settings.
⚠️ Note: Use of third-party programs to hide buttons (e.g., via ADB or modified launchers) may cause system instability and loss of warranty.
In rare cases, the problem lies in the hardware of the screen or the protective glass. If the extreme areas of the screen do not respond to touch, software will not be enough to hide the buttons — swipes simply will not work, in this situation, it is better to leave the thin indicator visible.
Hidden settings through ADB
Alternative methods and third-party launchers
If Xiaomi’s standard tools don’t work, consider installing alternative shells, and launchers like Nova Launcher or Lawnchair have their own navigation bar settings that can override the system.
However, third-party launchers consume more battery life and may not work properly with MIUI 12 gestures, especially with application opening animations, a trade-off between functionality and stability.
There's also a one-handed method that shifts the image and can visually hide the bottom panel, but it's a temporary solution that's not comfortable with constant use, and it's more suited to situational concealment of interface elements.
- 🚀 Nova Launcher is a powerful tool, but requires you to configure access rights.
- 🎨 Microsoft Launcher – well optimized, but heavy for the public sector.
- 🛡️ Smart Launcher is minimalist, but can conflict with gestures.
When using third-party software, be sure to provide the necessary permissions to display on top of other windows. Without this, gestures may not work in certain applications, and buttons will appear chaoticly.