How to completely remove the voice assistant on the phone Xiaomi: 5 proven ways

Voice assistants on Xiaomi smartphones are often a source of irritation: they are activated by random taps, eat up battery power and collect user data, especially annoying owners of Xiao AI (a branded assistant from Xiaomi) and Google Assistant, which are integrated into MIUI at the system level. In this article, we will discuss all possible ways to turn them off, from standard settings to hidden developer functions.

Many users mistakenly believe that it is enough to disable voice activation in the settings. In practice, assistants continue to work in the background, consuming device resources. On some models (for example, Redmi Note 12 Pro+ or Xiaomi 13 Ultra), even after disconnecting through the menu, assistants automatically turn on after the MIUI update. So it is important not just to deactivate them, but completely block all related processes.

Complicating the problem, Xiaomi is actively promoting its Xiao AI in China and other Asian regions, where it replaces the Google Assistant.In global firmware, both assistants can conflict with each other, resulting in double battery consumption. Below you will find solutions for different versions of MIUI (including MIUI 14/15) and Android 12/13/14, as well as ways to disable for specific models.

1. Standard shutdown via MIUI settings

Let’s start with the simplest method, which works on most Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices, which does not remove the assistant completely, but turns off its voice activation and background activity.

Go to:

Settings → Applications → Application Management → All applications

In the list, find:

• 🔍 Google (to disable Google Assistant)
• 🔍 Xiao AI or Mi AI (Xiaomi's brand assistant)
• 🔍 Google Voice Search (Extra Module)

For each of them, perform the following actions:

1. Click on the name of the app.
2. Select to Disable (if the button is active).
3. Go to Permits and turn off microphone, contacts and notifications.
4. In the Battery section, select Limit background activity.

After that, the assistants will stop activating using a voice command (for example, “OK, Google” or “Little Ai”). However, they will remain in the system and can be triggered by clicking on the icon in the notification bar or through gestures.

2. Disconnect via button and gesture settings

On many Xiaomi smartphones, voice assistants are tied to hardware buttons or gestures, such as Xiao AI can be activated by long pressing the Home button or swiping the lock screen to fix this:

Go to:

Settings → Display → Home button (or Navigation buttons)

Depending on the model, you will see one of the options:

• 📱 Long press on "Home" → Select No Actions or Last App.
• 👆 Swipe up from the bottom edge → Turn off the voice assistant option.
• 🔒 Lock screen → In the lock settings, disable voice activation.

On some devices (such as the POCO F5 or Xiaomi 12T), these options may be hidden, so try an alternative way:

Settings → Special features → Management convenience → Gestures and buttons

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If your firmware does not have the “Home Button” item, try to enable full-screen gestures in the display settings – this will automatically disable the assistant’s binding to hardware buttons.

3. Complete removal of Xiao AI via ADB (for advanced users)

If standard methods don’t work, you can completely remove Xiao AI using the Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which requires connecting the phone to your computer and enabling the developer mode.

Step-by-step:

1. Enable Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times)
2. Activate USB Debugging: Settings → Additional → For Developers → Debugging by USB
3. Connect your phone to your PC and open the command line (or Terminal on Mac/Linux).
4. Enter the command to check the connection: adb devices (the name of your device should appear).
5. Run the command to remove Xiao AI: adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.voiceassist For Google Assistant use: adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox

Once the device is restarted, the assistants will disappear from the system.

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi firmware after the update MIUI Remote applications can be restored, and then you have to repeat the process.

4. Disconnection through battery and autostart settings

Even if you disable the assistants in your application settings, they can automatically start with the system. To avoid this, you need to limit them to the AutoRun and Battery menu.

Do the following:

1. Go to: Settings → Applications → Application Management → Autorun
2. Find Google, Xiao AI and Google Voice Search in the list.
3. Turn off the sliders in front of each one.

Then limit background activity:

Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Mode Selection → Application Setup

For each assistant, select Limit Background Activity or Sleep.

Additionally, you can disable battery optimization for these applications (paradoxically, but this prevents them from automatically starting):

Settings → Applications → Application Management → Three Points (menu) → Special Access → Battery Optimization

In the All Apps list, find assistants and select Not Optimize.

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Turning off auto-start and background activity does not remove assistants, but prevents them from working hidden, saving up to 15% of battery life per day.

5. Resetting to factory settings (last resort)

If all previous methods failed, the most radical option is a complete reset, which will delete all user data, but return the phone to a “clean” state, where assistants will be disabled by default (on global firmware).

Before discharge, it is mandatory:

• 📱 Backup important data (Settings) → The phone. → Backup).
• 🔐 Make sure to remember the password from your Mi Account (required after resetting).
• 📡 Connect to Wi-Fi (after reset, the phone will require the internet to activate).

For reset, go to:

Settings → About phone → Reset settings → Delete all data

After restarting the phone at the first setting:

1. Skip the step of adding a Google account (if you don’t need Google Assistant).
2. In the Voice Assistant menu, select Do Not Use.
3. Turn off the automatic installation of Xiaomi apps in the Mi Account settings.

⚠️ Note: On Chinese firmware (China) ROM) after the Xiao AI It can automatically turn on again, and then you have to reuse it. ADB or install a global firmware.

6. Alternative firmware (for experienced users)

If you finally got built-in assistants, you can consider installing custom firmware, for example:

• 📱 LineageOS – “clean” Android without unnecessary services Xiaomi.
• 📱 Pixel Experience – firmware with Google Pixel functionality, but without Xiao AI.
• 📱 Xiaomi.eu – modified MIUI with the possibility of completely disabling assistants.

Installation of custom firmware requires:

1. Unlock the bootloader (Bootloader).
2. Installations of custom recavery (TWRP).
3. Follow the instructions for a particular model (for example, the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ and Xiaomi 12 Lite process is different).

Advantages of this approach:

⚠️ Attention: Installing custom firmware voids warranty and can lead to device blinking if you make an error. 4PDA or XDA Developers for your model.

FAQ: Frequent questions about turning off voice assistants