How to Hide Notifications on Xiaomi’s Lock Screen: The Complete 2026 Guide

Xiaomi’s lock screen is not just a protection for your smartphone, but a window into the notification world. However, not everyone likes private messages, emails or alerts from messengers displayed on a locked screen, and this is especially true for owners of Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 or Xiaomi 13T, where the default feature is preview notifications.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can hide notifications on your lock screen, from standard MIUI 14/15 settings to little-known tricks for advanced users, how to completely disable notifications, hide their content (leaving only app icons), or set up a selective display for individual messengers, and what to do if the settings are reset after the system update, and how to return privacy in one click.

Important: all methods are tested on current firmware versions and do not require root rights or third-party applications, but some features may differ depending on the model and regional version of MIUI (global, Chinese, European).

Why Xiaomi’s lock screen notifications can be dangerous

At first glance, displaying notifications on a locked screen is a convenient feature. You see important messages without unlocking your phone.

• 🔍 Identity leak. Even if the screen is locked, anyone in the room can read the contents. SMS, WhatsApp or Telegram messages, notifications from banking applications.
• 📱 On some models (e.g. Redmi Note 11 Pro)+) Notifications can be swiped directly from the lock screen, resulting in random responses or link openings.
• 🔋 Battery consumption: Constantly updating notifications on the lock screen increases the power consumption of the display by 5-15% (Xiaomi Community test data).
• 🚨 Social engineering: Fraudsters can use visible notifications to phish (e.g., fake) SMS from the bank with a request to follow the link).

According to Kaspersky Lab, 38% of smartphone data thefts occur through spied notifications on the lock screen, and 62% of Xiaomi users do not even suspect that this feature can be disabled or customized to their needs.

⚠️ Note: If you use a corporate phone or an employer-issued device, check the company's security policy before changing notification settings. Some organizations prohibit hiding notifications on the lock screen to monitor workflows.

Method 1: Completely disabling notifications on the lock screen

The most radical, but also the most reliable, method is to completely ban the display of notifications on a locked screen, which is suitable for those who value privacy over convenience. MIUI 12–15:

1. Open Settings → Always on screen and lock (or lock screen in older versions).
2. Go to the Notifications section on the lock screen.
3. Select the option Do not show notifications.
4. Confirm action if the system requests a password or fingerprint.

After that, no notifications will be displayed on the lock screen, neither app icons nor text messages, and you will still receive notifications in the curtain and on the home screen after unlocking.

On some models (such as the Xiaomi 12S Ultra), this path may be slightly different:

Settings → Display → Lock screen → Additional settings → Notifications

⚠️ Attention: After updating to MIUI 15 notification settings can be reset to factory. To avoid this, back up through Settings → The phone. → Backup.

Method 2: Hide the contents of notifications (leave only icons)

If you want to see which apps have sent notifications, but you don't want their content to be displayed on the lock screen, use this method, which allows you to hide the text of messages, leaving only the icons of messengers or system alerts.

How to set up:

1. Go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar.
2. Select Notifications on the lock screen.
3. Activate Hide Notification Content (or Show without Details in some versions of MIUI).
4. Turn on the Toggle Show notification icons if you want to see app icons.

Now, the lock screen will only display icons (like WhatsApp, Gmail), but not text messages, and you will have to unlock your phone to read the notification.

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If notifications still show text after setting up, check the individual permissions for each application in Settings → Applications → Notification Management. Some messengers (such as Viber) ignore global settings and require a separate configuration.

Method 3: Set up notifications for individual applications

MIUI allows you to flexibly manage notifications for each app individually, such as hiding messages from Telegram but leaving WhatsApp calls, which is convenient if you want to keep the visibility of important alerts but hide personal communications.

Instructions:

1. Open the Settings → Applications.
2. Select the application you want (such as Telegram).
3. Go to Notifications.
4. Turn off the option to Show on the lock screen or select Hide content.
5. For instant messengers (such as WhatsApp), additional settings may be required in the app itself: Settings → Notifications → Lock screen.

Some applications (e.g. banking or system) may ignore these settings for security reasons, in which case you will either have to turn off their notifications completely or put up with their display on the lock screen.

For Google apps (such as Gmail or YouTube), the path may be different:

Settings → Google → Managing Google Account → Notifications

Method 4: Incognito mode (for MIUI 14+)

MIUI 14 and later has introduced Incognito, which temporarily hides notifications on the lock screen, which is convenient if you want to hide alerts only in certain situations (such as at work or in public places), but do not turn them off constantly.

How to activate:

1. Swipe down from the top edge of the screen to open the notification bar.
2. Find the Incognito icon (mask or eye with cross-out) and tap it.
3. The mode is activated for 1 hour (default). To change the time, hold the icon and select Settings.

In Incognito mode, all notifications on the lock screen will be hidden, but you will still receive them in the curtain. To turn off the mode, re-click on the icon in the notification bar.

⚠️ Note: Incognito mode does not work on devices with MIUI 13 and below, it may also conflict with some data protection applications (e.g. AppLock), which will result in duplication of notifications.

Method 5: Hiding Notifications via AppLock (for sensitive data)

If you only need to hide notifications from certain apps (like banking or personal messaging apps), but leave others visible, use Xiaomi’s built-in AppLock app, which not only blocks apps from accessing them, but also hides them on the lock screen.

Step-by-step:

1. Open Settings → Apps → AppLock (if not, install from the Mi App Store).
2. Create a password or use a fingerprint to protect you.
3. Select the application you want to hide your notifications (e.g. SberBank Online).
4. Activate Hide Notifications or Hide Notification Content.
5. Configure additional options (for example, Hide the app icon if you want to hide it completely from the menu).

AppLock works independently of global notification settings, so it can be used as an additional layer of protection. For example, you can leave WhatsApp notifications visible but hide alerts from Telegram Secret Chats or banking apps.

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AppLock is the only way to hide notifications from system applications (such as Mi Cloud or Security) that ignore standard MIUI settings.

Note that if you use third-party blocking apps (like Norton App Lock), they may conflict with Xiaomi’s AppLock, and you’ll have to choose one solution.

What to do if the settings are not saved after the update

One of the most common problems Xiaomi owners have is resetting notification settings after the MIUI update, which is because new firmware versions can change the structure of the system files that display alerts.

• 🔄 Reset notification settings. Go to Settings → Annexes → Management of notifications → Three dots (menu) → Reset your settings. Then reset the notifications.
• 📱 Clearing the system application cache. Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management, find System settings (com.android.settings) and clear the cache.
• 🔧 Manual editing of the configuration file (for advanced users). ADB Adb shell settings put global settings lock_screen_show_notifications 0 where 0 — completely disable notifications, 1 — show off, 2 — show off.
• 📲 If the problem occurred after the last update, try to roll back to the previous version. MIUI through settings → The phone. → Updating the system → Three points. → Select a Service Package.

After upgrading to MIUI 15, some models (such as the Xiaomi 13 Pro) have a bug where notifications are duplicated on the lock screen, even if they are disabled in the settings. Solution: disable the option "Duplicate notifications" in Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Additional settings.

If none of the methods worked, check to see if your phone has job profiles (like Digital Wellbeing or Focus Mode) that can override notification settings.

FAQ: Frequent questions about hiding notifications on Xiaomi