How to completely remove themes from Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro: from standard methods to radical

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro with its proprietary MIUI shell allows you to customize the interface to the smallest detail — from icons to animations. But what if the installed themes occupy memory, slow down the system or just annoy with their design? In this article, we will discuss all possible ways to remove them: from basic settings to working with ADB and resetting to factory settings.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro (begonia) feature is that some themes are integrated into the system at the firmware level, which means that simply clicking “Delete” in the themes menu may not work. We tested 5 methods on current versions of MIUI 12-14 (including global and Chinese builds) and found which ones are guaranteed to clear memory and which can lead to failures.

Important: Before any manipulation of system files, back up your data via Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset. Some methods (such as deleting via ADB) can disrupt the shell if performed incorrectly.

1. Removing themes through the standard MIUI menu

The most obvious and safe way is to use the built-in MIUI tools. It is suitable for themes installed by the user from an official or third-party store (Mi Themes).

Instructions:

• 📱 Open the Themes app (icon with brush on desktop).
• 🔍 Go to the tab My topics → pick out an unnecessary topic.
• 🗑️ Click on three dots in the upper right corner → Delete.
• ✅ Confirm the action in the dialog window.

If the Remove button is inactive or not, then the theme is system (preset).

⚠️ Note: Some themes from the Mi Themes store may leave cache in the folder after deletion /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/theme/.data. To completely clear the memory, use a file manager (such as Mi File Explorer) and manually delete the theme name folder.

2. Cleaning the cache and data of the “Themes” application

If topics are deleted but their elements (fonts, icons, wallpaper) continue to appear, the problem may be cached data.

How to do this:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the Topics list (or com.android.themes).
3. Open Warehouse → click Clear Cache and Clear Data.
4. Reboot the phone.

This method doesn't delete the themes themselves, but resets them to default, so if after a reboot, the interface goes back to the standard MIUI theme, then the problem was the data conflict.

💡

Before cleaning the data of the Themes application, take screenshots of the current wallpaper and icon settings - after resetting them, you will have to adjust them again.

3. Removing themes through file manager (manual method)

System themes are stored in secure MIUI folders, but if you have root rights or through ADB, you can manually delete them, which is suitable for advanced users.

The way to themes:

/data/system/theme/ – User Themes


/system/media/theme/default/ System themes (root rights required)

How to delete:

• 📁 Use a root-enabled file manager (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
• 🔍 Find a folder with the name of an unnecessary theme (e.g. com.example.theme).
• 🗑️ Delete the entire folder or only files with the.mtz extension (theme archives).
• 🔄 Reset the device.

⚠️ Note: Removing files from /system/media/theme/ root-free can lead to bootloop. If you're not sure what you're doing, use the method with a loop. ADB (described below).

4. Removal of topics through ADB (no root rights)

If manual removal is too risky and standard methods don’t work, Android Debug Bridge (ADB) will help.This method does not require root, but you need a computer with Xiaomi drivers installed and the ADB Tools package.

Step-by-step:

Install Xiaomi drivers on PC| Download ADB Tools from the official website |Enable USB debugging on your phone |Plug Redmi Note 8 Pro to PC via cable-->

1. Turn on USB Debugging on your phone: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times to activate Developer Mode) → Return to Settings → Additional → For Developers → Debugging on USB.
2. Connect your phone to your PC and confirm your trust in your computer.
3. Open the command prompt (cmd) in the folder with ADB and execute: adb devices (should display your device).
4. Remove the unnecessary theme by command: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.theme.iconpack.theme name theme (replace the title themes with a real package, for example com.miui.tsmclient).

To find out the exact names of the theme packages, use the command:

adb shell pm list packages | grep theme

💡

ADB allows you to remove only custom themes. System themes (com.miui.tsmclient) are blocked at the MIUI level and require root permissions to delete.

5. Resetting settings to factory (radical method)

If none of these methods worked, and the themes continue to take up memory or cause crashes, the last option is a complete reset, which will delete all user data, including themes, but return the phone to a “clean” state.

How to reset:

• 🔄 Go to Settings. → Additionally. → Backup and reset → Resetting settings.
• 📱 Select to erase all data (including internal memory if the topics are stored there).
• 🔐 Enter the password (if installed) and confirm the action.
• ⏳ Wait for the process to be completed (it will take 5-10 minutes).

Once reset, the phone will boot with the factory MIUI theme. All custom themes will be deleted, but all other data (photos, apps, contacts) will be removed, too.

⚠️ Note: On some Redmi Note 8 Pro firmware (e.g. Chinese) a reset could bring back the global version MIUI, This will result in the loss of support for certain features (e.g. Google Services). → The phone. → Version. MIUI.

6.Why Topics Aren't Deleted and How to Fix It

Sometimes even after all the manipulations, the topics remain in the system.

If the problem is not resolved, check:

• 📌 Version MIUI: on old assemblies (below) MIUI 12) there may be bugs with the removal of themes.
• 📌 Firmware region: on Chinese versions (China) ROM) Some topics are blocked.
• 📌 Updates: Go to Settings → Update the software and install the latest version.

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing themes on the Redmi Note 8 Pro