How to Hide or Disable NFC Icon on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

The NFC icon at the top of the notification bar on Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO smartphones can be annoying — especially if you don’t use this feature. It takes up space in the status bar, distracts attention, and sometimes even appears arbitrarily after MIUI updates, despite the module being disabled. In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to remove the NFC icon: from standard settings to hidden commands for power users.

Complicating the problem, new versions of MIUI 14/15 have removed the direct option to turn off the indicator, but there are workarounds, both root-free and system-based tools, and we tested each method on Xiaomi 13 Pro, Redmi Note 12 and POCO F5 models to ensure performance.

Why does the NFC icon appear and can it be removed forever?

The NFC icon in the status bar is a system indicator that signals that the module is on and ready to go, and it appears in three cases:

• 🔄 Automatic Enablement: Some Firmware MIUI activate NFC When you bring your device to the payment terminal (even if you have previously disabled it).
• 📱 System error: after software update, the indicator can “hang” in the status bar, despite the module turned off.
• 🔧 Third-party apps: Contactless payment programs (such as Google Pay or Mi Pay) can be forced to activate NFC.

Can you remove the icon forever? It depends on the version of MIUI and the root rights:

If you don’t plan to use contactless payments or data transfer over NFC, it’s better to combine several methods, such as disabling the module in the settings and hiding the icon through ADB.

Method 1: Disable NFC in standard MIUI settings

The easiest method is to deactivate the NFC module through the settings menu, which doesn't always remove the icon forever, but it solves the problem 70 percent of the time.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Connections and Sharing (or Settings → Wireless Networks on older versions of MIUI).
2. Slip on NFC.
3. Transfer the slider to the "Off" position.
4. Additionally, turn off the option to turn on automatically (if it is in your firmware).

After that, the icon should disappear from the status bar.

⚠️ Note: Some models (e.g. Xiaomi) 12T or Redmi K50) The icon remains even after disconnection NFC. This is due to a firmware error, so you can move on to the following ways.

Method 2: Hiding the icon through the notification panel settings

MIUI has a hidden option that allows you to control the display of system icons. It does not work on all devices, but it is worth a try.

How to hide the NFC icon:

1. Deploy the notification panel and tap the gear (Settings of the notification panel).
2. Select Status Indicators (or System Icons depending on version).
3. Find the NFC list and turn off the switch next to it.
4. Save the changes and restart the device.

If there is no NFC item on the list, try an alternative path:

• 🔍 Go to Settings. → About the phone and tap 7 times according to the version MIUI, activate the developer mode.
• Return to the main settings menu, open Additional → for developers.
• Find the option to Show NFC indicators and deactivate it.

💡

If the icon appears again after the reboot, try disabling NFC via Quick Settings (swipe down twice → tap over NFC → hold to disable).

Method 3: ADB-command to permanently disable the indicator

For users who are ready to work with Android Debug Bridge (ADB), There is a reliable method of hiding the icon NFC It doesn't require root rights, but it does require a computer and USB-cable.

Step-by-step:

1. Download and install ADB Tools on PC.
2. Turn on USB debugging on your smartphone: Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (tap 7 times). Go back to Settings → Additional → Developer. Activate USB Debugging.

adb devices

(Your device should appear)

adb shell settings put global nfc_icon_enabled 0

Reset the device.

If the team doesn’t work, try an alternative:

adb shell settings put secure icon_blacklist nfc

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI after updating the system of settings ADB They're reset. To get the icon back, you'll have to repeat the process.

Method 4: Edit system files (root only)

If you have root rights, you can delete the NFC icon by editing systemui.apk files. This method is risky - if you fail, you can crash the interface.

Instructions:

1. Install a file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer or Mixplorer).
2. Go to /system/priv-app/SystemUI/SystemUI.apk or (for newer versions of MIUI): /system/product/priv-app/SystemUI/SystemUI.apk
3. Copy the SystemUI.apk file to your computer and open it with APK Editor or 7-Zip.
4. Go to the folder. res/drawable Find the files associated with NFC (for example, ic_nfc.png, stat_sys_nfc.png).
5. Delete or rename these files, then save the changes and replace SystemUI.apk on the device.
6. Reboot your smartphone.

💡

Editing system files can lead to bootloop.Before making changes, back up SystemUI.apk!

Method 5: Reset network settings (extreme case)

If the NFC icon appears after a MIUI update or system failure, sometimes resetting the network settings helps, which will delete all stored Wi-Fi, Bluetooth devices and mobile network settings, but return the system indicators to their original state.

How to perform the reset:

1. Open the Settings. → SIM-maps and mobile networks.
2. Slip on Network Settings Reset (or Wi-Fi, Mobile Network, and Bluetooth Reset).
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot.

After discharge:

• 🔄 Icon NFC The module will remain active (if it is switched on).
• 📱 Turn it off if necessary. NFC manually (see Method 1).

⚠️ Note: This method does not guarantee 100% results, but it often helps with the system indicators hanging after updates.

What to do if nothing helps

If you’ve tried all the ways, but the NFC icon still shows up, the problem may be:

• 🐛 Firmware error: on some models (for example, Xiaomi Mi 11 with a MIUI 14.0.4) NFC «So the solution is to roll back to the previous version or wait for the patch.
• 🔄 Application Conflict: Check if it activates NFC Third-party software (for example, banking applications or launchers).
• 📱 Hardware failure: if the module NFC physically damaged, the system may constantly try to initialize it, which leads to the appearance of an icon.

Extreme measures:

1. Firmware rollback: If the problem has occurred after the update, return to the previous version of MIUI via Fastboot or Recovery.
2. Contact the service: if the icon appears due to a hardware malfunction, you may need to replace NFC-module.

To diagnose hardware problems, use the engineering menu:

##4636##

(Select Phone Information and check for NFC status.)

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing NFC icons