How to completely remove themes from the lock screen on Xiaomi: 5 working ways

The lock screen on Xiaomi smartphones often becomes the object of user experiments: someone installs animated themes from the Mi Theme Store, someone tries custom wallpaper, and some accidentally activate advertising banners from MIUI. The result is one – instead of a minimalist interface, you see a motley heap of elements that prevents you from quickly unlocking the phone or simply spoils the appearance. Especially annoying when the the theme changes not only the background, but also fonts, notification icons or even adds unnecessary widgets.

In this article, we’ll look at all the possible ways to remove themes from the lock screen, from standard MIUI settings to manual editing of system files (for advanced users). It’s important to understand that some methods may differ depending on the firmware version (MIUI 12/13/14) and the smartphone model (Redmi Note 12, POCO X5, Xiaomi 13T, etc.).

Before you start settings, make sure you have a backup of important data. In rare cases, resetting themes can cause a launcher or widget to crash, and check if you have third-party launchers (such as Nova Launcher or Hyperion) installed – they may conflict with system themes.

1. Standard method: Reset themes via MIUI settings

The easiest and safest method is to return a standard theme through the settings menu, which works on most Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices with MIUI 12 firmware and later.

Open the Themes app and go to My Themes, where you'll see a list of themes you've installed, including the one currently active. Note that if the theme was installed from the Mi Theme Store, you can remove it right here -- click on the three dots next to the title and select Remove. To reset to the factory theme:

• 📱 Find a theme in the list called Standard or Default (may be called differently depending on the region).
• 🎨 Click on it and select Apply. Confirm the replacement if the request appears.
• 🔄 Restart the device – sometimes changes only apply after a reboot.

If you don't have a standard theme on the list, try downloading it again from the Mi Theme Store. Type default theme or system theme into the store's search box. Set the first theme you find from official Xiaomi Inc.

An important nuance: on some devices (such as the POCO F4 or Xiaomi 12 Lite), the theme reset does not always remove custom wallpaper from the lock screen, in which case you will have to change them separately - read about this in the next section.

2 Manual change of lock screen wallpaper

If you have someone else's wallpaper or animations left on the lock screen after resetting the theme, you can replace them manually.

1. Open the Settings → Lock screen.
2. Select Lock Screen Wallpaper (or Lock Style on newer versions of MIUI).
3. Scroll down and click Add Wallpaper or Select from Gallery.
4. Select any image from your phone’s memory or use standard Xiaomi wallpaper.

On devices with MIUI 14 and HyperOS (such as Xiaomi 14 or Redmi Note 13 Pro+), the path may be slightly different:

Settings → Personalization → Lock screen → Style → Wallpaper

If you want to completely remove the wallpaper and leave a clean background, choose the color option and set a monochromatic shade (for example, black or gray). AMOLED-screen.

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To keep the wallpaper on the lock screen from getting lost after the updates, save your favorite image to the DCIM → Wallpapers folder and set it as “Static Wallpaper” in the settings.

Removing themes via ADB (for power users)

If standard methods don’t work, try removing the theme through ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which is suitable for users who are not afraid of the command line and have basic knowledge of working with Android.

First, turn on USB debugging on your phone:

Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times until the notification “You became a developer” appears)


Settings → Additional → For developers → Debugging by USB (enable)

Connect your phone to your computer, open the terminal (or Command Prompt in Windows) and type:

adb devices

Make sure your device appears in the list. Then run the command to reset the theme:

adb shell cmd overlay reset com.android.theme.icon_pack.android

If this doesn’t help, try removing the cache with the following:

adb shell pm clear com.android.thememanager

After you execute the commands, restart your phone. In most cases, this will return the standard look of the lock screen. If the problem persists, perhaps the theme is in the system files, then only a full reset will help (see section 5).

4. Disabling ads and banners on the lock screen

Many users confuse themes with banner ads that Xiaomi sometimes embeds into the lock screen, which can appear even after the theme is reset, to remove them:

• 🚫 Go to Settings. → Lock screen → Additional settings.
• 📵 Disable Recommendations, Msa (Mi Advertising) and Personalized Advertising.
• 🔍 If banners are left, check the list of apps with display rights on top of others (Settings) → Annexes → Special access → Display on top of other apps. Uninstall suspicious programs.

On some models (such as the Redmi 10 or POCO M4 Pro), ads can be part of the firmware, in which case only disabling Xiaomi services through ADB will help:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.weather2


adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.xiaomi.discover

Warning: Disabling system applications can cause the phone to work in an unstable way. If errors occur after executing commands, return the applications back with the command:

adb shell pm enable com.miui.weather2

5. Full reset settings (last resort)

If none of the methods worked, the last option is to reset the phone to factory settings. This will delete all user data, so be sure to back up through Settings → Google → Backup or Mi Cloud.

Resetting instructions:

1. Open Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select Erase all data (on some models – Recover and Reset → Reset settings).
3. Enter your Mi Account password if required.
4. Confirm the action and wait for the process to be completed (it will take 5-10 minutes).

Once reset, the phone will boot with clean firmware and a standard theme, and it’s important that if you’ve used your Mi Account, you’ll need to enter your username and password to unlock it (anti-theft protection) after rebooting.

6 Solving problems after the MIUI update

Often, the themes break down after updating the firmware, for example, after switching from MIUI 13 to MIUI 14, users of Xiaomi 12 and Redmi Note 11 complain about the disappearance of standard wallpaper or resetting the lock screen settings.

• 🔄 Restart the phone – sometimes the system itself restores the settings after a reboot.
• 📲 Remove the app cache Topics (Settings) → Annexes → Application management → Topics → Warehouse → Clear the cache).
• 🔧 If the problem is fonts, reset them through Settings → Additionally. → Fonts.

If the update comes with errors (for example, the phone hangs on the MIUI logo), try to roll back to the previous version via Recovery.

1. Download the full firmware package (.zip) for your model.
2. Rename the file to update.zip and place it in the root of the phone’s memory.
3. Press Volume Up + Power to enter Recovery.
4. Select Install update.zip and confirm the installation.

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If the lock screen wallpaper is missing after the update, check the MIUI → Wallpaper folder in internal memory. Sometimes the system backs up wallpaper with the.wallpaper extension - you can restore them manually.

Comparison of methods of deleting topics

To choose the best way, compare them by key parameters:

For most users, the first two methods are sufficient.If you are not sure of your skills, do not resort to ADB or reset unless absolutely necessary.

FAQ: Frequent questions on topics on Xiaomi

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If none of these methods worked, check your phone for viruses. Some malware changes themes and wallpapers without the user's knowledge. Use Malwarebytes or the built-in scanner in MIUI Security.