How to remove live wallpaper from the desktop on Xiaomi: all ways 2026

Live wallpaper on Xiaomi looks spectacular, but over time it can drain the battery, slow down the system or just get bored. If you want to return static wallpaper or remove animations from the desktop altogether, but do not know how to do it without risk - this article is for you. We will discuss 5 working methods, including hidden MIUI settings, disconnection through ADB and even radical measures for stubborn animations.

It’s important to understand that the process differs depending on the firmware version (MIUI 12/13/14 or HyperOS) and the smartphone model. For example, on the Redmi Note 12, the path to wallpaper settings may be different from the POCO F5. But don’t worry, we covered all options, including cases where standard methods don’t work due to customized launchers or viruses.

Before you start, check the battery power (we recommend at least 30%) and make sure that the device does not have important unsaved data.

1. Standard method: through wallpaper settings

The easiest method is to use the built-in MIUI tools, which are suitable for most Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO models on current firmware versions.

Open Settings → Wallpaper (or press and hold the empty space on your desktop, then select Wallpaper). In some versions of MIUI 14, this item may be called Personalization → Wallpaper. If you have HyperOS, the path will be: Settings → Screen → Wallpaper.

In the wallpaper list, select the tab "Static" or "My Wallpaper." If the live wallpaper was installed through a system app (such as Themes), it can be displayed in a separate category Dynamic or Live. Click on the current live wallpaper and select "Delete" or "Reset."

• 📱 For MIUI 12/13: Long press on the desktop → «Wallpaper» → «Static» → picture.
• 🔄 For HyperOS: “Settings» → «Screen» → «Wallpaper» → «gallery» → picture.
• ⚙️ If there is no Delete button: Try pressing “More” (three dots) → «Reset wallpaper settings».

If you still have live wallpapers after these actions, you've installed them through a third-party app (like Zedge or Wallpapers Craft), and then move on to the next way.

2. Delete via the “Themes” app (Themes)

Many live wallpapers on Xiaomi are installed through the standard Themes app (in Russian firmware – “Themes”). Even if you don’t remember where the animation came from, check out this section:

Open the Themes app. Go to the Mine or Installed tab, which can show both theme and live wallpaper, find the Wallpaper or Dynamic Wallpaper section, and remove the ones you don't need.

If there is nothing in the list, but the wallpaper continues to work, try resetting the settings of the Themes app:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find Themes in the list and open its settings.
3. Click on “Storage” → “Clear Data” and “Clear Cache”.
4. Reset the device.

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If the Themes app is not working properly after cleaning the data, update it via the Play Market or App Store (for global versions of MIUI).

Note: this method removes all downloaded themes and wallpapers, including static ones. If you want to save other design settings, use backup via Settings → Additional → Backup.

3. Disable live wallpaper via ADB (for power users)

If standard methods don’t work and wallpapers continue to live their lives, it may be embedded in system files, in which case disabling through ADB (Android Debug Bridge) will help, which requires connecting a smartphone to a computer and basic command-line knowledge.

First, turn on the USB debugging:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Click 7 times on the MIUI version until the notification “You became a developer” appears.
3. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
4. Activate "Debugging by" USB».

Now connect your smartphone to your PC, open the terminal (or Command Prompt in Windows) and type in:

adb shell pm list packages | grep wallpaper

This command will list the apps associated with wallpaper, and find suspicious ones (e.g. com.miui.livewallpaper or com.android.wallpaper.livepicker) and disable them:

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

After completing the command, restart the device. The live wallpaper should disappear, but be careful: disabling system packages can lead to unstable operation of the launcher.

4.Resetting the launcher to factory settings

If the live wallpaper was installed through a third-party launcher (for example, Nova Launcher, Lawnchair or POCO Launcher), their removal may not work through standard settings.

Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management. Find your launcher (usually called Lawnchair, POCO Launcher or simply Launcher) and open its settings and select Reset Settings or Clear Data.

Once reset, the launcher will return to the factory settings, and the live wallpaper will disappear.

• 📁 Location of icons on the desktop;
• 🎨 Gesture and animation settings;
• 🔧 Personal widgets.

If you use a standard MIUI launcher, you can reset through Settings → Home Screen. Here you will find the Reset Home Screen option, which will return the wallpaper to its factory appearance.

Take screenshots of the current location of the icons

Remember the widgets used and their settings

Check if important notes are saved from the desktop

Make sure that a backup copy of the data is created-->

5. Radical measures: removal via Safe Mode or system reset

If neither method worked, it's possible that the live wallpaper was installed through virus software or deeply integrated into the system, leaving two options:

1. Download to Safe Mode: Turn off your smartphone. Press the power button until the Xiaomi logo appears. Immediately after the vibration, press and hold the volume button until the device boots. In the lower right corner, the Safe Mode will be written.

This mode disables all third-party applications. If the live wallpaper is gone, the problem is in one of the installed applications. Remove suspicious programs through Settings → Apps.

Reset to factory settings:

This is an extreme measure that will delete all data from the device.Be sure to back up through Settings → About Phone → Backup or Mi Cloud before resetting.

To perform the reset, go to Settings → Additional → Restore and Reset → Reset. Select “Erase all data” and confirm the action.

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Resetting to factory settings removes not only live wallpaper, but all accounts, photos, messages and apps, and only use this method if other methods have not worked!

Once reset, the device will boot with clean firmware and standard wallpaper, if there was a system failure, it will solve it, but if the live wallpaper was caused by a virus, after recovering data from the backup, they can return, in which case we recommend scanning the files with antivirus before recovery.

Comparison of methods: which one to choose?

To make it easier for you to determine, we have compiled a table with the pros and cons of each method:

Important: On HyperOS devices (such as Xiaomi 14 or Redmi K70), some system live wallpaper can be protected from removal, in which case only a reset via ADB or a full flashing will help.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When removing live wallpaper, users often face typical problems, and here are the most common ones and ways to solve them:

• 🔄 Wallpaper returns after reboot: This means that the animation is fixed in the launcher settings. Try resetting it (see section 4) or disable automatic application of the themes in Settings → Topics → Auto-application.
• ⚠️ No Delete button: If wallpapers are installed through Google Wallpapers or another system app, try updating it through Play Market.Sometimes newer versions add the delete option.
• 📱 Touch buttons do not work after reset: This is a rare bug that occurs when a launcher is reset on some models (Redmi) 9A, POCO M3). Solution: Reboot the device in Safe Mode and return the standard launcher via Settings → Default applications.

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If after removing the live wallpaper on the desktop there are artifacts (blurred spots, stripes), try to change the wallpaper to a black background, restart the device, and then return the desired image.

Another common problem is that the live wallpaper continues to work in locking. To turn it off there, go to Settings → Screen Lock → Lock Style and select the static option.

⚠️ Note: On some models (Xiaomi Mi 11, Redmi) K40) Live lock wallpaper is tied to the system theme. To remove them, reset the theme to standard through Settings → Topics → My subjects. → Drop it.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions