How to remove the moon on Xiaomi: a complete guide to setting up

Many Xiaomi smartphone users experience a strange visual effect that they describe as a “moon on the screen.” This phenomenon can manifest itself in many ways, from a light glow in the corner of the display to an intrusive icon in the status bar or even a full image that appeared on a locked device. Often gadget owners are frightened, believing that their phone is infected with a virus or has a factory defect matrix. However, in the vast majority of cases, we are talking about the regular features of the MIUI shell or HyperOS, which simply require the correct configuration.

Understanding the nature of this phenomenon is the first step to solving the problem. A visual artifact can be a consequence of an activated reading mode, an enabled "Always On Display" function, or specific design settings. Ignoring these settings leads to a decrease in the comfort of using the gadget, especially in the dark, when any extra light source irritates the eyes. In this article, we will discuss in detail all possible causes of the appearance of the "moon" and give clear instructions for its elimination.

Diagnostics of the image source on the display

Before you start taking radical action, you need to determine exactly what causes the unwanted image to appear. On Redmi and Poco smartphones, the "moon" is often referred to as a round notification indicator or a theme interface element. If you see a pale glow, it can be a matrix light or a software rendering bug. In some cases, users confuse the moon with a protective film that has a factory stencil on it, but this is already a hardware problem.

It's important to pay attention to the context of the image. If the moon is only visible against a black background at maximum brightness, the problem may lie in the screen calibration. If it's a clear graphic element that changes position, it's probably the software. Diagnosis begins with checking for active widgets and live wallpaper, which are often the source of unexpected visual effects.

⚠️ Note: If the "moon" on the screen is purple or green and is visible even in the download menu (before Android is turned on), this may indicate physical damage to the display or plume.

To determine the exact cause, you need to do a simple test: take a screenshot of the screen when the "moon" is visible. If the image does not show an artifact, then the problem is physical (matrix). If the "moon" is displayed in the screenshot, then this is a software element that can be removed through the settings.

Turning off the night mode and blue light filter

One of the most common causes of a yellowish or whitish spot resembling the moon is the vision protection mode, which is called "Read Mode" or "Vision Protection" on Xiaomi smartphones, which changes the color temperature of the screen to make it warmer, which can be perceived as glow, and to remove this effect, you need to go to the display settings.

Find Settings → Screen → Read Mode. Here you will see the switch that you need to turn to the "Off" position. It is also worth checking the color temperature settings. If the slider is shifted towards warm shades, the image will appear unnatural. Return the settings to the "Default" or "Standard" value so that the colors become neutral.

In modern versions of HyperOS, there is also a function of adaptive brightness, which can create the illusion of uneven lighting. Try to turn off autobrightness and set the value manually at 50-60%, which will help to understand whether the problem is with the algorithms of control of backlights. If after turning off all filters, the moon disappeared, then your screen is completely functional.

Always on Display and Lock Screens

The Always On Display feature often becomes the source of the moon, the clock, or other symbols on a black background. There are many display styles available in MIUI and HyperOS, and some of them include moon phases or abstract circles. If you see the moon when the phone is locked, the problem is here.

To turn off, go to Settings → Lock screen → Always On Display. You can turn off the feature completely or select the No style. If you like the idea of a constantly on screen but don't like the current design, choose a different style from the gallery. Many users don't know that styles can be downloaded additionally through the built-in theme store.

Also worth checking is the Wallpaper settings. The Wallpaper Carousel can upload images of the moon without you knowing. Go to Settings → Wallpaper → Wallpaper Carousel and turn off autoload or change the source of images. This is guaranteed to remove random pictures of the night sky.

Elimination of theme artifacts and live wallpaper

Customization of the interface is Xiaomi’s strength, but sometimes third-party themes contain bugs. “Moon” can be part of the unlock animation or background theme element. If the problem arose after the design change, return the standard theme. To do this, open the Themes app, go to profile and select My Themes → Classic (or Standard).

Live wallpaper can also be the cause. It consumes processor resources and sometimes freezes, leaving artifacts on the screen. Replace the live wallpaper with a static image. Go to Settings → Wallpaper and select any photo from the gallery. If the moon is gone, then it is the dynamic content that caused the conflict.

In some cases, cleaning the cache of the Themes app helps. Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps → Topics → Memory and click Clear Cache. Don't worry, your personal data won't be affected, only temporary registration files will be reset.

Resetting screen settings and calibration

If simple switching didn't work, you can try resetting your screen to factory settings. Android doesn't have a separate "Reset Screen Settings" button, but you can use an engineering menu or a special command, but the safer method is to reset all your phone settings, but this is a last resort. Before you do that, try calibrating through the engineering menu.

Type ##6484## into the engineering menu (CIT) in your phone. Select Display, check for broken pixels and uniformity of backlights, if tests show an error, you may need to change the display, if the tests are successful, the problem is software.

It’s also worth updating the display drivers through a system update. Sometimes Xiaomi releases patches that fix color rendering issues. Go to Settings → About the phone and click on the shell version to check for updates.

Frequent questions and additional solutions

Not all cases are the same, and users often have specific questions that are not included in the main sections. Here are the answers to the most popular queries related to visual artifacts on Redmi and Poco screens. Remember that regular software updates help avoid many software glitches.

💡

Use a dark theme in the system. It's not just going to save you a lot of power. AMOLED-screens, but will make any light artifacts less noticeable.

If nothing works, you can do a full Hard Reset. Remember to back up your data to the Mi Cloud or your computer before doing so. Reset will bring the phone back out of the box, removing any software bugs that caused the moon to appear.

⚠️ WARNING: A full reset will delete all your photos, contacts and apps. be sure to back up important data before starting the procedure.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

💡

In 90% of cases, the “moon” on the Xiaomi screen is a theme or vision protection setting, not a breakdown.