Xiaomi’s modern smartphones feature huge displays with minimal bezels, allowing for immersion in content. However, the standard Android operating system interface with a MIUI or HyperOS shell displays many elements at the top of the screen by default. Status bar, containing time, battery level and application icons, can interfere with watching videos or reading documents. Many users wonder how to remove the curtain on Xiaomi to free up useful space and make the interface cleaner.
Complete physical removal of the top panel is impossible without deep reprogramming of the system, which is not recommended for ordinary users. However, there are many software ways to hide distractions, change their appearance or completely disable the display of notifications in the status bar. This allows you to adapt the appearance of the gadget to your individual preferences. In this article, we will discuss in detail all available methods of setting, from standard system tools to the use of special applications.
When you think about how to set up the top of the screen, it's important to understand the difference between the notification curtain and the status bar. The status bar is the narrow bar at the top where the icons burn. The curtain is the drop-down menu. We're going to focus on the elements that are visible all the time. The interface settings in newer versions of firmware have become more flexible, allowing you to manage each element separately.
Configure the display of notification icons in the status bar
The first and most common way to clean the top of the screen is to turn off the icons of running apps, and when a message arrives on the phone or the vibration mode is turned on, the corresponding symbol appears in the status bar, which can create visual noise, especially if there are many applications, you can remove these icons through the standard system settings menu.
To do this, you need to go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar. In some versions of the shell, the path may be slightly different, such as Settings → Notifications → Status. This is a switch that is often called "Icons in the Status Bar" or "Show notification icons." If you turn it off, you hide all the characters of the applications, leaving only the system indicators.
It's worth noting that new versions of MIUI 14 and HyperOS have changed the logic of how icons work, and now the system often groups notifications or hides them by showing only the number of unread messages by a number, not by individual icons, and this is done specifically to avoid cluttering the space. If you want to bring back the classic look or, conversely, hide everything, you need to carefully study this section.
It's important to understand that turning off icons doesn't turn off notifications themselves. You'll still get messages, beeps and vibrations. Just the visual indicator at the top of the screen will stop burning, which is especially useful for those who use the phone in Do Not Disturb mode or during meetings to make the screen look as sterile as possible.
Users often confuse turning off icons with completely hiding the status bar. Remember, standard system tools can't remove the entire status bar, you can only clear it of unnecessary characters. If your goal is absolute purity, you'll have to resort to third-party solutions or themes, which we'll talk about in the next sections.
Hiding screen cutout and black bar (Notch)
Many Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones have a front-facing camera built right into the display, which can be a small notch-drop, a wide bang, or a small round hole. The black color of the cutout pixels can contrast with the white background of the status bar, creating visual disharmony. To solve this problem, engineers have designed a cover-out feature.
When this function is activated, the system creates an artificial black bar along the top edge of the screen that visually merges with the frame of the case or masks the camera. As a result, the status bar shifts lower, and the area around the camera turns black. This creates a monolithic effect of the top panel. You can find this setting along the way Settings → Screen → Hiding the cutout.
In the cutout hide menu, you'll be asked to choose one of the apps or apply the setting globally. You can choose a specific game or video player where the black bar will appear automatically. There's also the default option that applies the mask to all applications. This is a great way to make the interface more symmetrical, especially on models with wide bangs.
⚠️ Attention: Using the notch cover function reduces the usable screen area. Status bar goes down to take up a portion of the workspace. On small-diagonal devices, this can be noticeable.
Some users prefer to hide only the time or date if they fall into the notch area. However, the MIUI shell does not have such a fine setting: either the notch is hidden completely with the line shift, or it is displayed standardly. The alternative is to install dark themes of the design, where the black color of the notch will not be noticeable against a dark background.
☑️ Checking screen settings
If you use a black-framed perimeter security glass, you may not need the cutout concealment function, as the edges of the screen will already be closed, in which case it is better to leave the status bar in its place to make the most of the display area for the content.
Managing the Status Line through Engineering Menu
For more advanced users who are not afraid to experiment, there is access to hidden settings through an engineering menu, which allows you to access parameters that are usually hidden from the end user, using special codes you can call the test menu, where the deep settings of the display and interface are located.
To get into the engineering menu, open the Phone app and enter the code ##6484## or #4636##. Codes may vary depending on the processor model (Snapdragon or MediaTek) and the firmware version. In the menu you open, you need to be extremely careful, as changing the wrong settings can lead to unstable operation of the device.
Some versions of the engineering menu have a Common or Display-related item that offers status bar management options, but it’s worth noting that in modern Android versions, access to these features through codes is often blocked by the manufacturer for security reasons. If standard codes do not work, you can try using special launcher applications or ADB-team.
| Parameter | Description | Impact on the system |
|---|---|---|
| StatusBar | Control of line visibility | Can hide time and battery |
| Notch Setting | Customization of the cutout behavior | Changes the display area |
| UI Density | Density of interface elements | Changes the size of fonts and icons |
| Refresh Rate | Screen refresh rate | Affects smoothness and charge |
Using an engineering menu requires a certain amount of technical literacy. If you're not sure what you're doing, you'd better refrain from changing this section. If you set up the wrong setup, you might have to refashion or reset the phone to the factory settings to restore performance.
What if the code doesn't work?
Use of third-party applications for customization
If you don't have the built-in capabilities, Google Play apps come to your rescue. There are many utilities that allow you to flexibly manage the status bar, change its color, transparency, and even completely hide it in certain applications. One of the most popular tools is the Good Lock app (or its Android counterparts) and various launcher modules.
Launcher applications like Nova Launcher or Microsoft Launcher often have their own settings to hide the status bar. By installing such a launcher, you have full control of the desktop. In the launcher settings, you need to find the Desktop or Interface section and tick the "Hide Status Line" box.
There are also specialized applications, like SystemUI Tuner, which is a powerful tool that adds a hidden "System UI Tuner" menu to your phone's settings, which allows you to turn off individual icons, change the order of the elements in the curtain, and adjust the behavior of notifications, and sometimes requires a computer connection and USB debugging to work with these applications.
- 📱 Nova Launcher – allows you to hide the status bar on the desktop and in the app menu.
- 🛠️ SystemUI Tuner – gives access to hidden Android interface settings.
- 🎨 Substratum – theme design, allowing you to change the appearance of system elements.
- 🔒 Immersive Mode Manager – application for forced concealment of navigation bar and status.
When using third-party software, it is important to pay attention to the permissions requested. System interface change applications often require broad permissions. download programs only from trusted sources, such as the official Google Play store, to avoid installing malware.
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Before installing system modifiers, back up your data. If the application causes a system conflict, the phone may go into a cyclical reboot, and a backup will help you recover the data.
Full screen and immersion mode in applications
One of the things that deserves attention is the full screen mode, which activates automatically when you start videos, games or read books, and in this mode, the system hides the curtain and the navigation bar itself so that the content covers the entire area of the display, but the behavior of this mode can be adjusted, for example, you can prevent applications from hiding the status bar or, conversely, force them to do this.
In Settings → Special Features → Full-screen mode (the path can vary) you can control the behavior of the cutout and status bar for each application individually. You can choose how the application will be displayed: with a cutout, with a black bar or stretched to the full screen. This helps to avoid situations where the game interface is overlaid by the camera or control buttons.
To watch videos on YouTube or Netflix, the curtain is removed automatically when you touch the screen. If you want it to stay away even when you touch it, some video players have their own "Hide controls" setting. In the standard Xiaomi gallery, you can also swipe all the interface elements, leaving only the image.
⚠️ Note: In some games, completely hiding the status bar may cause you to miss an important call or message, as the indication will be completely turned off.
Users often complain that the status bar does not disappear in horizontal mode, which may be due to the fact that the application is not optimized for full-screen mode, in which case it helps to force zooming into the developer settings or use the "Forced zoom" function in the special features menu.
Frequent questions and problems when setting up the interface
Users often experience nuances during the setup process that are not described in the official instructions, such as settings that may get lost after updating the firmware, or a hidden string may suddenly appear at the wrong time, and the influence of the themes on the appearance of the status bar is also a question, and some topics may ignore the system settings and impose their style.
Another common problem is the floating status string that appears and disappears for no apparent reason, which can be caused by background applications that constantly update data (e.g., mail, messengers), and it is worth checking the battery optimization and background settings for these applications.
If you have installed a custom theme and can’t return the standard status bar, try resetting the theme to the standard (‘Classic’) through the Themes app. Often, third-party themes make changes to the system files of the interface, which are saved even after changing the theme until a full reset of the theme settings is performed.
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The main problem with hiding interface elements is losing quick access to information, so make sure you have a clock or calendar widget on your desktop to compensate for the status bar.
Keep in mind that customizing the interface is a way to personalize your device, but balance aesthetics with functionality, and a fully-removed curtain can make your phone look more beautiful, but less comfortable in everyday use.