How to remove unnecessary desktops on Xiaomi smartphone

Modern Android shells like MIUI, HyperOS or Funtouch OS offer users unlimited options for customizing the interface. However, often in pursuit of aesthetics or simply as a result of chaotic use of the gadget, there are extra pages on the screen that create visual noise. To remove the desktop on Xiaomi in several ways, but not all of them are obvious to the average user who is accustomed to the standard logic of iOS or pure Android. In this article, we will analyze all the nuances of freeing up the space of your home screen.

The problem of extra screens is not only relevant for beginners, but also for experienced users who like to experiment with widgets and widgets-packs. Unnecessary pages can slow down navigation, causing you to make unnecessary swipes when you find the right application. Moreover, empty or semi-empty desktops are often the result of incorrect removal of programs or resetting launcher settings. Understanding how to effectively manage these areas will help you regain control of the interface.

Importantly, the removal approach may vary depending on the version of MIUI or HyperOS installed on your device. In some cases, standard system tools are not enough, and you will need to use third-party launchers or special editing modes. We will look at all the options available so you can choose the most suitable for your smartphone model, whether it is a budget Redmi or flagship Xiaomi.

Standard method of removal through editing

The easiest and safest way to get rid of a superfluous page is to use the built-in editing mode that is available on most devices with a MIUI shell. To do this, you need to go to the home screen and perform a specific action that is not always intuitive the first time, usually a prolonged press of your finger on an empty section of the screen or the combination of two fingers (pinches), which puts the system in preview mode of all desktops.

Once you activate this mode, you'll see a panoramic view of all the pages available, and you'll see thumbnails of each desktop that are horizontally located, and you'll delete it by selecting a specific thumbnail that usually has a basket or cross icon in the top corner, and you'll click on that symbol and ask for confirmation of action, and then the extra page will be permanently deleted.

⚠️ Note: Deleting the desktop through the standard interface is only possible if there is not a single widget or application icon on it. If the page is occupied, the system will prompt you to first clean its contents.

It’s worth considering that on some versions of firmware, the number of desktops may be limited by a minimum threshold. You can’t delete all pages to the last one, because the home screen must always remain active. This is a system limitation designed to prevent the user from having any interface to interact with the smartphone at all.

• 📱 Make a swipe with two fingers from the center of the screen to the edges to enter the edit mode.
• 🗑️ Find the extra thumbnail and click on the deleted icon (basket) that appears).
• ✅ Confirm the action if the system requests permission to change the desktop structure.
• 🔙 Click the Home or Ready button to exit the editing mode.

If the standard method failed or the removal icon is missing, it may mean that the page has system widgets or hidden interface elements attached, in which case a deeper analysis of the screen content or the use of alternative cleaning methods, which we will talk about in the next sections, is required.

Remove through launcher settings and system menu

In some cases, the standard pinch gesture may not work due to launcher errors or specific availability settings. Then the settings menu of the application itself, which is responsible for displaying the desktop, comes to the rescue. On Xiaomi devices, it is a system component that is often hidden from the user’s eyes, but is accessible through the application manager or system settings.

To get to the menu, go to Settings → Desktop. Here you will find options that regulate the behavior of the home screen, the grid of icons and, in some versions of MIUI, the ability to control the number of pages. Although there may not be a direct button to delete all unnecessary tables, resetting launcher settings or changing the grid size often leads to automatic reconfiguration of icons and the disappearance of empty pages.

Another effective method is to use the application search function. In the desktop settings, you can turn on a mode where all installed programs are in a separate menu (app-driver), and only widgets and folders remain on the desktop, switching to this mode often automatically removes unnecessary pages, as the system restructures the storage structure of shortcuts.

⚠️ Warning: Resetting the launcher will bring all icons and widgets back to the factory location.

For advanced users, hidden settings are available through the engineering menu or ADB, but this requires caution. Changing the parameters of the system launcher through the command line allows you to forcibly remove unnecessary elements, but the risk of getting a brick or a non-working interface in this case increases many times.

Remember that after any manipulation of the launcher system settings, it is recommended to reboot the device, which will help the system correctly recalculate desktop indices and apply changes without visual artifacts or interface freezes.

Use of third-party launchers for full control

If standard MIUI tools don’t seem flexible or are unstable, installing a third-party launcher is a great solution. Applications like Nova Launcher, Microsoft Launcher or Lawnchair give the user absolute control over the desktop structure, allowing you to delete, hide and modify pages as you wish.

Once a third-party launcher is installed and activated, the removal process becomes trivial. Most alternative shells allow you to delete pages with a simple swipe in editing mode or even automatically glue empty spaces together, especially for those who like minimalism and do not tolerate empty spaces on the screen.

In addition, third-party launchers often have an “Infinite Scrolling” function, or, conversely, a hard limit on the number of pages. You can set a limit of, for example, 3-5 desktops, and the system simply will not allow you to create a new one, which automatically solves the clutter problem.

When using third-party software, it is important to keep access rights in mind: Launcher will need permission to display on top of other windows, access to contacts (for widgets) and storage. Make sure you only download apps from trusted sources, such as the Google Play Store, to avoid malware.

The problem of empty pages after updating or resetting

Often, users are faced with a situation where after upgrading to a new version of Android or MIUI, or after resetting the settings to factory, strange empty pages appear on the desktop, a phenomenon due to the fact that the new version of the system may have another standard grid or a set of preinstalled widgets that have incorrectly fallen into place.

In such cases, simply deleting it may not help, as the system will persistently restore these pages with each reboot, this is due to the system launcher's cached data. To solve the problem, you need to clear the cache and data of the desktop application (or "System Launcher") through the application settings menu.

To do this, go to Settings → Applications → All applications, find the list “Desktop” or “System Launcher.” In the menu that opens, select “Clear Data” and “Clear Cache.” After that, the desktop will return to the factory look, and the extra pages should disappear, as they will be rewritten again.

• 🔄 System updates often change the structure of the desktop grid.
• 🧹 Cleaning the launcher data is a radical but effective method.
• ⚙️ Resetting application preferences can help if the problem is a software conflict.
• 📱 On different models (Redmi, POCO, Mi) the names of the paragraphs may differ.

Once you clean it, the system will ask you to reconfigure your desktop, select wallpaper and icon layouts, which is a great excuse to clean up your mess and not create unnecessary pages in the future, following the principles of minimalism.

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Before clearing the launcher data, take screenshots of the location of the icons so as not to waste time searching for the right applications after reset.

Hiding applications instead of removing desktops

Sometimes the desire to remove the desktop is dictated not so much by the presence of empty space, but by the desire to hide certain applications or widgets that take up space. MIUI and HyperOS have a built-in "Hide Apps" feature that allows you to remove the icon from public access without removing the application itself and without creating unnecessary pages to host them.

To take advantage of this feature, go to Settings → Apps → Hidden Apps. Here you can select the programs you want to hide, they will disappear from the desktop and from the menu of all applications, but will remain available through a special gesture or password in the Application Manager, which helps to keep the interface clean without having to create additional ones, and then remove unnecessary desktops.

And you should also look at folders. Instead of stretching icons across multiple pages, group them into thematic folders, which not only saves space by removing unnecessary desktops, but also speeds up the search for the right software. MIUI folders support nesting and different display styles, which makes them a powerful tool for organization.

⚠️ Note: Hidden apps don't receive notifications as standard unless an exception is configured.Be careful not to miss important messages from messengers.

Using folders and hiding functions is a preventative measure, and if you use these methods immediately when installing new software, you will never have to wonder how to remove the extra desktop, since they simply will not appear in excess.

Solving problems with widgets and bug interface

There are times when the desktop is not deleted because of a stuck widget, a software error in which the system considers the page to be busy, although it may appear empty visually, and this often happens with weather widgets, news widgets or widgets from remote applications that leave behind tails in the system.

To diagnose a problem, try adding any widget to a suspicious page and then removing it. Sometimes this action shakes the system and allows you to correctly determine the status of the page as empty. If this does not help, change the size of the grid (for example, from 4x6 to 5x6 and back), which will force you to redraw all the elements of the interface.

In extreme cases, when the interface is not good and you can't delete anything, safe mode will help. When you boot in safe mode, you turn off all third-party widgets and launchers. If in this mode the extra tables disappear or are removed, then the problem lies in the third-party application that needs to be found and removed.

• 🐛"Sticky widgets are a common cause of undeleted pages.
• 🎨 Changing the theme of design can forcefully update the interface.
• 🛡️ Safe mode helps to identify the culprit of glitches.
• 🔨 Reset to factory settings - an extreme measure for critical errors.

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If none of the software methods help, the problem may be in the corruption of system files, which requires flashing the device or contacting the service center.