Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face a situation where standard screen design ceases to please the eye or begins to annoy with intrusive animation. The question of how to remove wallpaper on Xiaomi becomes especially relevant for those who prefer minimalism or encountered bugs after a system update. In the shells of MIUI and the new HyperOS, the process of replacing or removing background images has its own nuances that are not always obvious at first glance.
There are several scenarios: you just need to put a black screen, remove the animated “live” wallpaper that eats the battery, or you want to get rid of the constantly changing images in “Carousel” mode. The depth of the interface allows you to flexibly manage the visual style, but sometimes the standard menus hide the necessary options. In this article, we will discuss all ways to return the screen to a strict look or replace the background with a desired one.
Before we make any changes, it’s important to understand the difference between static images and dynamic content. MIUI and HyperOS are actively promoting their design services, so some features can be built deep into the system. We’ll look at methods for all firmware versions, including global and Chinese builds.
Removing and Replacing Static Wallpapers Through Settings
The easiest and most obvious way to change the background is to use the regular settings menu. However, if your goal is to "remove" the image by making the screen monochromatic, you will need to prepare a black image file in advance. Android does not have a built-in "No wallpaper" button, it always requires a file source.
To start, go to the Settings menu and find the Wallpaper section. Here you will see the current preview. Click on it, you will be taken to the theme gallery. If you want to install (solid color), you need to choose a black square from the options offered or download yours. The standard Xiaomi gallery rarely offers all-black options, so it is better to download the image in advance.
Once you select the black image, the system will suggest you use it, and at that point, it's important not to hit the confirmation button blindly, but to look at the bottom of the screen, and you'll have options like "Home Screen," "Lock Screen," or "Both," where you can use it selectively to leave beautiful pictures on the screen, and make the workspace rigid and non-distracting.
There's also a quick way through the desktop editing menu: Press and hold your finger on the blank area of the screen until the menu appears at the bottom. Select Wallpaper. This method is often more convenient because it doesn't require you to log into the deep settings of the system. However, the functionality here can be stripped down compared to the full settings menu.
⚠️ Warning: If after changing the wallpaper to black you see artifacts or remnants of an old image, try restarting the device. MIUI Sometimes it doesn’t update instantly.
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Save the black image in your screen resolution (e.g. 1080x2400) to a separate folder so you don’t search for it every time you reset your settings.
How to turn off the wallpaper carousel (Glance)
One of the most intrusive features in Xiaomi smartphones is the Wallpaper Carousel (known as Glance in some regions), which automatically changes images on the lock screen, often showing promotional content or news. You can remove this feature, but the path to disconnect depends on the version of the shell.
Go to Settings → Wallpaper. Find Wallpaper Carousel or Glance for Mi. Inside you will see the "Enable Wallpaper Carousel" switch. Turn it to the "Off" position. Then the lock screen will only have the static image you installed earlier. In some versions of HyperOS, this item may be in the "lock screen" section.
If the standard shutdown doesn't work or the item turns on quickly again, try to clear the application data. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find Wallpaper or Wallpaper Carousel in the list. Click Clear → Clear everything. This will reset the service settings and force you to stop changing pictures.
Sometimes users are faced with a situation when after cleaning the carousel turns on again when connecting to Wi-Fi. This is due to the operation of Xiaomi system services, in which case it helps to completely remove updates of this system component through the application management menu, if the firmware version allows you to do this without root rights.
☑️ Checking the Carousel shutdown
Why is the Carousel coming back?
We are taking down the Live Wallpapers (Live Wallpapers)
Live wallpaper is a beautiful but resource-intensive interface element that can significantly reduce device autonomy, especially on models with a high-end design. AMOLED-And so, you can use these screens where constant animation is interfering with energy-saving technologies, and you can take them away and you can get a static image back, and you can save a lot of energy.
The replacement process is similar to changing static wallpapers, but requires you to choose a static image from the gallery. Go to Settings → Wallpaper. In the category “Local” or “Recent” select a regular photo. When using the system, the system automatically replaces the active video file with a static one. It is important to make sure that you do not select “Video Wallpaper” in the theme store.
If the live wallpaper was installed through a third-party app from Google Play or GetApps, simply switching may not be enough.Some launcher apps or widgets may impose their backgrounds. In this case, you need to go to Settings → Apps, find a suspicious application with background rights and delete it or revoke permissions.
It's worth noting that new versions of HyperOS have Super Wallpapers, which are a hybrid of static and dynamics, which respond to touch and time of day, and to eliminate their effect, you need to switch from "Effective" to "Static" on the wallpaper selection menu, or just choose a classic image that is not marked with a dynamics icon.
- 🔋 Live wallpaper can consume up to 15% more energy in screen standby mode.
- 📉 Replacing a video background with a static black color significantly prolongs life OLED-matrix.
- ⚙️ To disable animation in "Super-wallpaper" it is enough to select the "Photo" mode in the theme settings.
Reset theme settings to return to factory appearance
If you're confused about settings, have tried a lot of Themes themes, and can't figure out how to get everything back to the original state, a complete reset of the theme can help. It's a radical but effective way to "remove" all custom design changes, including fonts, icons and, of course, wallpaper.
Open the Themes app (an icon with a brush or package). Click on the profile avatar in the lower right corner to log in to your account. Go to My Pages → Topics. Find a theme called Classic, Default or Untitled (usually first on the list or marked as preinstalled).
This operation will return the standard wallpaper that was on the phone at the time of purchase, and if the standard theme seems unnecessary and you want a completely clean screen, after applying the classic theme, perform the procedure for replacing the wallpaper with a black image described in the first section. Combination “Resetting the topic” + Black wallpaper gives the cleanest possible result.
It’s important to understand that resetting the theme won’t remove your personal photos from the gallery, but it will remove all visual modifications to the system.This is useful if the phone is starting to run slower due to a “heavy” theme with lots of animations.
Wallpaper problems after the MIUI and HyperOS update
Users often notice that after updating the system, the wallpaper itself changes to the standard Xiaomi or Redmi logos, or stops displaying correctly (black stripes or offset appear), this is a well-known profile migration bug.
The table below shows common problems and ways to solve them:
| Problem. | Probable cause | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Wallpaper dropped on the logo | Error in updating the firmware | Manually select the image again through Settings |
| Black screen instead of photo | Image file damaged or moved | Check the presence of a file in the gallery, select another photo |
| Poor picture quality | System or cache compression | Clear the cache of the Gallery and Themes app |
| Wallpaper does not change on the lock screen | Conflict with Carousel wallpaper | Disable the Carousel in the lock screen settings |
If you see that the wallpaper is floating or has the wrong resolution after the update, try clearing the launcher cache. Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps. Find System Launcher (or System Launcher). Click Clear → Clear cache. Don't confuse it with Clear All, otherwise you'll lose the location of the icons on your desktop.
In rare cases, the problem lies in the image file format. Some versions of MIUI do not handle files in HEIC (standard for iPhone) or WebP. Convert the image to a classic JPG or PNG before installation to avoid display artifacts.
⚠️ Note: When cleaning the system launcher data, you will reset the location of widgets and folders on the desktop.
Use of third-party launchers for full control
If Xiaomi’s regular funds don’t achieve the desired minimalism or constantly return advertising wallpapers, the best solution is to install a third-party launcher.
When you install a third-party launcher, you get an independent wallpaper setting, and most of them have a Black Wallpaper feature, or the ability to set the background color without using an image file, and it's the perfect way to literally remove the wallpaper, leaving the screen blank.
To install an alternative interface, download APK-The launcher file or find it in the GetApps store. Once installed, the system will prompt you to select the default home screen app. Select the new launcher. Now the wallpaper will be managed through its settings, ignoring the policies MIUI content-imposing.
However, it's worth remembering that third-party launchers can consume more RAM than Xiaomi's optimized system launcher. On devices with 4GB of RAM or less, this can lead to more frequent downloads of applications from memory.
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Third-party launcher is the only way to completely ignore the system limitations of MIUI on the design of the desktop.