How to remove the wallpaper carousel Xiaomi: step-by-step instructions

Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the intrusive functionality that comes with system updates. One of the most annoying elements is the wallpaper carousel, which automatically changes the background image on a locked screen. It's not just a change of picture, but a full-fledged service that consumes traffic and displays banner ads. Many users are looking for a way to remove the Xiaomi wallpaper carousel to return a clean and familiar interface.

The developers of MIUI and HyperOS are constantly changing the location of settings, hiding them in different sections of the menu. The standard shutdown path may not work on some versions of the firmware or in specific regions. In this article, we will discuss all current methods of deactivation, including hidden settings and additional applications. You will learn to fully control the appearance of your device.

Before we start to do this complex manipulation, we need to understand what we're turning off, and the carousel is a system application that runs in the background, and it downloads content from the company's servers, which can affect the speed of the interface, and not only will it remove the redundant images, but it will potentially save battery power.

What is a wallpaper carousel and why turn it off

The wallpaper carousel, also known as the Glance or Mi Wallpaper Carousel, is a dynamic service that aims to show users new content every time they pick up their phone, which is technically marketed as personalization, but in practice often becomes a source of information noise, instead of the usual hours and notifications, users see promotional offers or random photos of low quality.

Beyond visual discomfort, there are technical reasons to drop the feature: the app constantly accesses the network to upload new images, which consumes mobile traffic and CPU resources; on budget smartphones, this can lead to noticeable micro-delays when unlocking the screen; and it collects user preferences data to target ads.

When you turn off the carousel, you get back a static image that you chose, which can be a personal photo, an abstraction, or a standard high-resolution wallpaper, the lock interface gets cleaner, and the system's response time gets better, and for many users, it's not just a matter of aesthetics, but also of device performance.

⚠️ Warning: After the wallpaper carousel is turned off, standard wallpaper can be reset to a default image of the system. Select and install the static image you want in the gallery in advance.

Basic method of disconnection through screen settings

The easiest and safest way to remove the intrusive feature is in the standard settings menu. The path may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI, but the logic remains the same. You need to find the section that is responsible for the design of the locked screen, which is usually called Wallpaper or Always on screen.

Go to your smartphone Settings and select Wallpaper. At the top of the screen or in the option menu (three dots or gear), find the wallpaper carousel switch. If you have a newer version of the shell, this item may be called "Glance" or "Screen lock." Put the switch to the inactive position.

The system may try to convince you to leave the feature on by showing a pop-up saying "Try again" or "Get more." Ignore these suggestions and boldly press "Disable" or "Switch off." After that, the changes will take effect instantly. The lock screen will return to its standard view.

In some cases, after the switch is turned off, the picture can still change, which happens if you activate sync with the theme. To guarantee that you can capture the image, go to the gallery, select a photo, click "More" and set it as "Blocked Screen Wallpaper," which forcefully replaces the dynamic content with a static file.

Disconnection through the “Themes” app

If the basic settings don't have the right item, it's likely that the carousel has been moved to the Themes system app, which is standard practice for global firmware versions, and the Themes app is responsible for the entire visual style of the system, including fonts, sounds and lock screen.

Run Themes on your desktop. Pay attention to the user profile in the top right corner or find the menu button. You need Wallpaper or Lock Screen. This is where you hide the management of your image update subscription. Often this section is hidden inside the Online tab.

Find an active subscription or a "Enable the carousel" button. Click on it to deactivate the function. The interface may suggest you choose a static category over a dynamic one. Select any item like "Landscapes" or "City," but be sure to uncheck the automatic update box, which will stop new content from downloading.

After manipulations in the Themes app, it is recommended to restart the device, this is necessary for system services to fully update the image cache. If after the reboot, the ad or image change returns, perhaps the component update is running in the background. Check for updates for the Themes application itself in the GetApps store or Google Play store.

Hidden settings and device region

One of the main reasons why users can’t find the turn off button is the region of the device. Xiaomi separates the functionality of the firmware depending on the geographic location specified in the settings. In some regions, such as India or Russia, the carousel can be embedded deeper or called differently than in the global version.

To access the full settings menu, try changing your region temporarily. Go to Settings → Additional → Region. Select a country where MIUI functionality is less intrusive, such as the United States, the Netherlands or Ukraine. After changing the region, the interface may change, and the wallpaper menu will show the desired switch.

This method often helps unlock hidden system functions, but it is worth remembering that changing the region can affect the operation of some local services, weather or news feed. Once the carousel is turned off, you can return the region back, but sometimes the setting is reset, in which case it is better to leave the region in which the function is disabled by the tab.

There is also a method of disabling through special codes in the engineering menu, but they do not work on all models. Entering code ##6484## opens the test menu, but design options are rare there. ADB-The teams that will be discussed below.

Using ADB for forced removal

For users who want to get rid of system debris, there is a method through debugging via USB. This method requires connecting the smartphone to the computer and installing ADB drivers. It allows you to remove or “freeze” the system application responsible for the carousel, even if there is no disconnect button in the interface.

First, turn on the developer mode. To do this, seven times click on the build number in the About Phone section. Then, in the Developer menu, activate USB Debugging. Connect the phone to your PC and start the command line. Enter the command to check the connection: adb devices. If the device is displayed, you can delete it.

The package that controls the carousel is usually called com.miui.misystem or com.android.thememanager depending on the version.

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.misystem

Be careful when using ADB. Disabling the wrong system components can lead to unstable interfaces or cyclical reboots. Mi-services are responsible not only for wallpaper, but also for other background processes. If you are not sure about your actions, you should use Xiaomi's program. ADB/Fastboot Tools, which has a graphical interface and allows you to safely remove components.

Alternative solutions and third-party launchers

If standard methods fail, radical changes can be made to the interface, and installing a third-party launcher completely replaces the MIUI shell. Apps like Nova Launcher or Niagara don’t have a built-in wallpaper carousel from Xiaomi, because they use their own display mechanisms.

Another option is to use screen-locking apps, and there are programs in the Google Play Store that completely replace the standard lock screen, that can provide their widget and notification functionality without the system settings of Xiaomi, but that can lead to increased battery consumption, as the system will run two lock screens at the same time.

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Use the Digital Well-Being app to track the carousel's running time, and if the service consumes a lot of power in the background, it's a sure sign that it needs to be turned off.

Also worth considering is the installation of custom themes that force the lock screen to change style, so you can find designs in the theme store that simply don't have room for a carousel, look for themes that are marked "No lockscreen ads" or "Clean lock," and the use of such a theme often overwrites the system's configuration files, blocking the display of ads.

⚠️ Warning: Third-party screen blockers may conflict with security features such as fingerprint scanner or face recognition. check compatibility before installation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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The most reliable way to remove the carousel is a comprehensive one: changing the region, turning off the wallpaper settings and cleaning the data of the Themes application.

To sum up, fighting the wallpaper carousel is a necessary step in the setup of any Xiaomi smartphone. Despite the efforts of developers to make this feature invisible, there are many ways to curb it. Choose a method that suits your level of training, and enjoy a clean interface without unnecessary advertising.