How to Remove Navigation Buttons on Xiaomi: A Complete Guide to Gestures and ADB

Virtual navigation buttons on Xiaomi smartphones take up precious space on the screen, and their random clicks interfere with games or watching videos. Fortunately, the manufacturer offers several ways to hide or completely disable the bottom panel – from standard gestures in MIUI to manual edits through ADB. But not all methods are equally safe: some require unlocking the bootloader, and others can lead to system failures.

In this article, we’ll look at 5 proven ways to remove navigation buttons on Xiaomi, Redmi, and POCO (including models on MIUI 14/15 and HyperOS), learn how to replace them with gestures, hide them through the developer, or even delete system files — with detailed warnings about possible risks. And if you like experiments, at the end you will find a section with undocumented commands for the complete removal of the navigation bar without root rights.

1. Standard gestures in MIUI: the safest way

Xiaomi has built a built-in alternative to buttons, gesture control, which works on all devices with MIUI 9+ (including Redmi Note 12, POCO X5, Xiaomi 13) and does not require superuser rights.

To activate the gestures:

1. Open the Settings → Display.
2. Select Full Screen Mode (or Navigation Type in the newer versions).
3. Switch to MIUI Gestures or Android Gestures (depending on the model).
4. Follow the tips on the screen for training.

After activation, the navigation buttons will disappear and their functions will be performed by swipes:

• 🔙 Back - swipe from right to left from the edge of the screen.
• 🏠 Home - swipe up from the bottom edge.
• 📱 Recent applications – swipe up late or diagonal swipe.

⚠️ Note: On some models (e.g, POCO F4) gesture MIUI In this case, choose Android Gestures, which are less intuitive but compatible with most apps.

2. Hiding buttons through “Developer Settings”

If you don't like gestures, but the buttons take up too much space, you can hide the navigation bar, leaving it functional. This method works through the developer's Settings and is suitable for Android 10+ devices.

First, activate the developer mode:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Click on the MIUI version 7 times (you will be notified that you are a developer).
3. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.

Now find the option Miniature size navigation bar (or Hide the navigation bar in new versions) and turn it on. buttons will become translucent and will only appear when swiping up from the bottom edge. This method is ideal for Xiaomi 12T or Redmi K50, where it is important to keep the maximum screen area.

Activate the Developer Mode|Find the option "Miniature panel size"|Reset the device|Check the gestures.-->

3. Disabling buttons via ADB (no root rights)

For advanced users willing to work with ADB, there is a way to completely disable the navigation bar, retaining gesture control.This method does not require root rights, but if executed incorrectly, can lead to loss of functionality of the buttons before resetting.

You'll need:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed ADB-tool.
• 📱 Included Debugging by USB on a smartphone (Settings) → For developers).
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original).

Follow the commands in order:

adb shell


settings put global policy_control immersive.full=*

When you restart the device, the navigation bar will disappear. To return it, use:

adb shell settings put global policy_control null

⚠️ Note: On some firmware (e.g. HyperOS on Xiaomi 14), this command is unstable. → Memory. → Backup.

4. Delete system files (only for rooted devices)

The most radical way is to physically delete the files that are responsible for the navigation bar, which requires root access and is only suitable for advanced users, and the wrong actions can lead to a device blink (complete failure).

Instructions for devices with root rights:

1. Install a file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Go to /system/usr/keylayout/.
3. Find Generic.kl and qwerty.kl files (or similar ones for your model).
4. Make a backup copy of the files on SD-map.
5. Open the file in the text editor and delete the lines containing the key 158 BACK, key 172 HOME, key 187 APP_SWITCH.
6. Save the changes, set the rights 644 (rw-r-----).
7. Reset the device.

After that, the navigation buttons will disappear forever, and their features will only be available through gestures or third-party apps (for example, Fluid Navigation Gestures).

💡

Before editing system files, check for backups in /system/vendor/overlay/. Some firmware restore deleted files after rebooting.

5. Hiding buttons in games and applications

If the navigation buttons only interfere with certain applications (for example, PUBG Mobile or Genshin Impact), you can hide them selectively without global changes.

• 🎮 Playing space mode (built into the MIUI): Swipe down the notification bar while playing and click on the Game Turbo icon. In the settings, turn on Hide the navigation bar.
• 📱 Third-party utilities: Nacho Notch - hides the panel and the cutout in the screen. Full Screen Immersive Mode - forcibly includes full-screen mode.
• 🔧 ADB For individual applications (advanced method): adb shell am start -n com.android.settings/.DevelopmentSettings Then manually add the app to the list of exceptions for immersive mode.

For POCO F3 and other devices with AMOLED-screens are also useful to disable button animation in Settings → Special facilities → Simplified display – this will reduce the load on the battery.

💡

Game Turbo automatically optimizes performance and hides the navigation bar, but may conflict with some emulators (e.g. LDPlayer).

Frequent problems and their solutions

Even after successful button hiding, users experience common errors, and here are the most common ways to fix them:

Problem 1: Gestures are unstable (for example, swipe back is triggered once).

Solution: Turn off Settings → Special features to Increase edge sensitivity. Also check if the shell (e.g. Nova Launcher) is in conflict with gestures.

Problem 2: After ADB-Navigation panel is missing, but gestures are not working.

Solution: Follow the command:

adb shell settings put global policy_control null

If this doesn’t help, reset your settings through Settings → System → Settings Reset (select App Settings Reset).

Problem 3: On Xiaomi 13 Ultra, after deleting system files, all touch buttons stopped working.

Solution: Restore files from backup or reflash your device via Fastboot with official firmware (instructions at xiaomiflash.com).

FAQ: Answers to popular questions