How to remove live wallpaper on Xiaomi: all the ways for MIUI 14/15

Live wallpaper on Xiaomi smartphones looks spectacular, but often causes battery discharge, interface slowdowns and even device overheating. Especially a problem for budget models Redmi and POCO, where background animation can eat up to 15-20% of charge per hour of active use. In this article, we will discuss all the working ways to disable or replace live wallpaper – from standard MIUI settings to manual removal via ADB.

It's important to understand that the methods vary depending on the firmware version. For example, in MIUI 14, the path to wallpaper settings changed compared to MIUI 12, and on some devices (for example, Xiaomi 13 Ultra), live wallpaper is integrated into system themes and requires a separate approach. We tested all the instructions on current models from 2023-2026, so you will definitely find a solution for your gadget.

Why live wallpaper is harmful to the smartphone

Animated background images are not just a picture, but a full-fledged application that is constantly running in the background.

• 🔋 Increased battery consumption: according to tests XDA Developers, live wallpaper increases energy consumption 10-30% even on standby.
• 🐢 Lags and friezes: on devices with 4-6 GB of RAM (e.g., Redmi Note) 11) Animation can cause slowdowns when opening applications.
• 🔥 Overheating of the processor: constant rendering load on GPU This causes an increase in temperature (especially noticeable on Snapdragon). 7xx/8xx).
• 📱 Failures in operation MIUI: Some users complain of spontaneous reboots after installing live wallpaper from third-party sources.

Xiaomi makes no secret that live wallpapers are optimized primarily for flagship models (Xiaomi 14, MIX Fold 3). On budget devices, they often malfunction. If you notice that the phone has become faster to discharge or warm up for no apparent reason, first of all check whether animated wallpaper is included.

Method 1: Disconnect via standard MIUI settings

The simplest method that works on 90% of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices with MIUI 12-15 firmware is that you don’t need root rights or a computer.

1. Open the Themes app (the icon with a brush on your desktop).
2. Go to Wallpaper section. → My wallpaper.
3. Click on the current live wallpaper (they are marked with an icon) ⚡ or dynamic).
4. At the bottom of the screen, select Static Wallpaper or Gallery to set a normal picture.
5. Confirm the changes with the Apply button.

If your version of MIUI does not have static wallpaper, try an alternative path:

1. Hold your finger on the free space on the desktop.
2. In the menu that appears, select Wallpaper.
3. Scroll down to the Basic or Colors section and select the static option.

Make sure your phone is at least 30% charged

Close all background applications

Connect to Wi-Fi (if you plan to download new wallpaper)

Backup of current settings (optional)-->

On some devices (e.g. POCO F5), live wallpaper may be linked to the system theme.

1. Open Topics → My subjects.
2. Choose a standard MIUI theme or Basic theme.
3. After applying the theme, the live wallpaper will be reset automatically.

💡

If after changing the wallpaper, the phone continues to brake, restart it - this will clear the animation cache.

Method 2: Remove through Developer Settings

This method is suitable for advanced users and allows you to completely disable support for live wallpaper at the system level, the advantage is that after that even the occasional installation of animated wallpaper will not work.

First, you need to activate the Developer Mode:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Click 7 times in a row on the MIUI version (the notification “You became a developer” will appear).
3. Go back to the main settings menu and open a new section for developers.

Now turn off rendering animations:

1. In the Developer Settings, find the item Disable window animations (or animation scale).
2. Set the value Animation disabled or No animation.
3. Find the USB Debugging option and activate it (you will need it for the next step).
4. Connect the phone to the computer and execute the command to ADB: adb shell settings put global window_animation_scale 0 adb shell settings put global transition_animation_scale 0 adb shell settings put global animator_duration_scale 0

Once you've done the commands, restart your phone. The live wallpaper will stop animating, but will remain on the screen as a static image. To remove it completely, install new wallpaper through the standard menu.

⚠️ Note: On some devices (Xiaomi) 12T, Redmi K50) shutdown ADB If the swipes stop working after the procedure, return the standard settings with the command: adb shell settings put global settings window_animation_scale 1

Method 3: Remove via MIUI Hidden Settings (without root)

If standard methods don't work, you can use hidden MIUI settings that are available through a special application, which does not require superuser rights, but requires the installation of third-party software.

1. Download the MIUI Hidden Settings app from Google Play (or APKPure if you don't have access to the Play Market).
2. Open the app and give access to MIUI Settings.
3. Go to System UI Tuner → Wallpaper.
4. Find the Disable Live Wallpaper and activate it.
5. Confirm the action and restart the phone.

The app works on most devices with MIUI 11-15, but some models (Xiaomi Civi 3, Redmi Note 11 Pro+) may require additional resolution via ADB:

adb shell pm grant com.gh.miui.hiddensettings android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

Once you turn off the live wallpaper will disappear from the lock screen and desktop, and the wallpaper selection menu will disappear section with animation, which is reversible — to return the live wallpaper, just deactivate the item in MIUI Hidden Settings.

⚠️ Attention: Some versions MIUI Hidden Settings contain ads or request unnecessary permissions. download the app only from trusted sources and check reviews of a particular version before installing it.

Method 4: Manually delete system files (root required)

If you're willing to take drastic measures and you have root access, you can completely delete the system files that are responsible for the live wallpaper. This method is irreversible and only suitable for advanced users!

You'll need:

• 📱 Xiaomi smartphone with unlocked bootloader and installed Magisk.
• 💻 Computer with installed ADB and Fastboot.
• 🔧 File Manager with root access (e.g. Root Explorer or Mixplorer).

Instructions:

1. Backup your system via TWRP or MIUI Backup.
2. Open the root-rights file manager and follow the path: /system/priv-app/MIUILiveWallpaper/
3. Delete or rename (add.bak extension) the following files: MIUILiveWallpaper.apk MIUILiveWallpaper.odex liblivewallpaper_jni.so
4. Reboot the phone.

Once removed, the system’s live wallpaper will disappear from the selection menu, and the system will block the attempt to install it from Google Play, so if you need to return the feature, you just need to restore deleted files from the backup.

💡

Deleting the system files of live wallpaper can lead to errors when updating MIUI. Before installing a new firmware, restore the original files or perform a full reset.

Method 5: Reset the launcher settings (if the wallpaper is "stuck")

Sometimes the live wallpaper continues to show even after it's turned off in the settings, because of a failure in the MIUI launcher, and in such cases, resetting its settings helps.

Option 1 (without loss of data):

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the MIUI Launcher (or POCO Launcher for POCO devices) app.
3. Click Warehouse → Clear the data and Clear the cache.
4. Reboot the phone.

Option 2 (if the first one didn't help):

1. Install an alternative launcher (like Nova Launcher or Hyperion).
2. In the settings of the new launcher, select static wallpaper.
3. Return to the standard MIUI launcher - the wallpaper should reset.

On devices with MIUI 14+, an additional step may be required:

1. Go to Settings. → Desktop.
2. Turn off the animation option when changing the wallpaper.
3. Use any static wallpaper from the gallery.

💡

If widgets disappeared after the launcher was reset or the location of icons changed, use the backup function in Nova Launcher (if you used it temporarily).

What to do if nothing helps

If you’ve tried all the ways, but the live wallpaper is still active, the problem may lie in:

• 🔄 System cache failure: Try clearing partition cache through TWRP (Wipe → Advanced Wipe → Dalvik/ART Cache + Cache).
• 📦 Conflict topics: Set a standard theme MIUI and reboot the phone.
• 🐞 Firmware error: check the relevance of the version MIUI In Settings → The phone. → Updating the system.
• 📱 Hardware acceleration: on some devices (Redmi) 10C) live wallpaper activated due to failure GPU. Try to turn off hardware acceleration through ADB: adb shell settings put global hardware_acceleration_disabled 1

If the problem persists, the last option is a complete reset:

1. Make a backup copy of important data.
2. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
3. Choose to erase all data and confirm the action.

Once reset, the live wallpaper will be removed, but you'll have to reconfigure the phone, a method guaranteed to solve the problem, but should only be used as a last resort.

⚠️ Note: On devices with unlocked bootloader (Xiaomi.eu, custom firmware), resetting can lead to device lock (Anti-Rollback).

FAQ: Frequent questions about live wallpaper on Xiaomi