How to permanently remove the voice recorder from the screen of the Xiaomi phone: from simple ways to hidden settings MIUI

A voice recorder icon on a Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO screen can appear unexpectedly after a MIUI update, installing third-party apps, or even due to a system services failure. For some users, it is just an annoying widget that takes up space on the desktop, for others, a sign of active sound recording, which raises concerns about privacy. In this article, we will analyze all possible causes of the icon and 5 working ways to remove it, including hidden MIUI settings and disabling system processes.

It is important to understand that the on-screen voice recorder can be both part of the standard Call Recorder app (in some regions) and a consequence of third-party programs (for example, Google Assistant or Mi Voice).We will look at universal methods that will work for most models - from Xiaomi Mi 11 to Redmi Note 12, and also point out the nuances for different versions of the shell (MIUI 12/13/14). If you are not sure which application is responsible for the icon, start with the first section - it describes how to determine this.

1. How to determine which application is responsible for the voice recorder icon

Before you delete the icon, you need to understand its origin. In MIUI, the recorder can come from three sources:

• 🔹 Call Recording (built into firmware for some regions, such as India or China).
• 🔹 Mi Voice service – Xiaomi voice assistant that can activate recording to recognize commands.

To identify the source:

1. Press and hold the voice recorder icon on the screen, and if you have a context menu with the name of the app, that's your culprit.
2. If the icon doesn't respond to click, go to Settings → Apps → Application Management and sort the list by date of last use. Apps related to recording sound will usually be at the top.
3. Check Settings → Special features → Hearing. Screen recording functions may be enabled here for accessibility.

If the icon appeared after the MIUI update, there is a high probability that it is a system application com.android.incallui (responsible for recording calls) and it can not be completely removed without root rights, but you can turn off, as described in the next section.

2. Method 1: Remove the icon through the widget settings

The simplest method is if the recorder is displayed as a widget on the desktop, in which case it can be removed by standard MIUI means:

1. Press and hold the empty area on the desktop, then select Widgets.
2. Scroll down and find System Widgets or Tools.
3. Find a voice recorder widget or sound recorder (may be called Voice Recorder in English firmware).
4. Drag it to the Remove (basket) icon at the top of the screen.

If the widget doesn't get deleted or comes back after you reboot, it's tied to the system process, and then move on to the next way.

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI For China, the voice recorder widget may be part of the MiuiSystemUI system application, and removing it without root rights will cause the interface to crash. In this case, use method 4 (disconnect via ADB).

3. Method 2: Disabling call recording in settings

If the voice recorder appears during calls, the problem lies in the system's call recording function, which is not available in all regions (for example, in the EU it is disabled by law), but can be activated after manual firmware updates, to turn it off:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Show System Processes.
3. Find the Phone app (com.android.dialer) and open its settings.
4. Select Permissions → Microphone and shut down access.
5. Go back and find Call Recording. Turn it off.

If there is no Call Record, the function is locked at the firmware level, in which case only disabling the system application via ADB (method 4) will help.

Method 3: Removal of third-party applications associated with recording

If the recorder appears after installing third-party software (for example, Call Recorder, Automatic Call Recorder or Google Assistant), it must be removed or disabled.

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Sort the list by last use.
3. Find apps with names that contain: 🔊 recorder, voice, dictaphone 🔊 call + record 🔊 Assistant (if it is Google Assistant)

Delete

Shut down.

Important: Some applications (such as Mi Voice) may be system-based and not have an uninstall button.

1. Open the application settings.
2. Select Warehouse → Clear data and Clear cache.
3. Go back and click Disable (the app will stop working, but will not be completely deleted).

⚠️ Note: Disabling Mi Voice may affect the performance of Xiaomi’s voice assistant and speech recognition features in other apps (e.g. Google Maps).If you need these features, use method 5 (hiding the icon through launcher settings).

5. Method 4: Disabling system applications via ADB (for advanced)

If previous methods have failed, the recorder is tied to the system process, in which case disabling through Android Debug Bridge (ADB) will help, which requires a computer and minimal technical skills, but is guaranteed to remove the icon.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on USB debugging: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on MIUI to activate Developer Mode. Go back to Settings → Additional → Developer. Enable USB Debugging.

Connect your phone to your PC

Download ADB

Platform Tools by Google

Open the command line.

adb.exe

adb devices

(The name of your device should appear.)

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.incallui

This command will disable the system application for recording calls without deleting its data (which is safe for the system).

If the icon is associated with Mi Voice, use:

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.voiceassist

Once you've done the commands, restart your phone. The voice recorder icon will disappear, but the call recording and voice assistant functions will become unavailable.

💡

Before using ADB, back up your data via Settings → System → Backup. This will help restore your phone in the event of a crash.

6. Method 5: Hiding the icon through launcher settings

If the voice recorder is not removed, but you don't want to use ADB, you can just hide it from the screen. MIUI has a built-in feature to hide apps and widgets:

1. Press and hold the empty area on the desktop.
2. Select Desktop Settings (or Launcher Settings).
3. Go to Hidden Apps.
4. Find a Call Recorder or Call Recorder in the list and activate the switch.

If the problem occurred after the MIUI update, try to roll back to the previous firmware version.

1. Download the old version of MIUI from the official Xiaomi website.
2. Go to Settings → About the phone → System update.
3. Click on three dots → Select a firmware file and specify the downloaded file.

⚠️ Attention: Firmware rollback will reset all phone settings to factory. Pre-create a backup through Settings → System system → Backup or Mi Cloud backup.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the recorder on Xiaomi