How to Remove Chinese Keyboard on Xiaomi: From MIUI 12 to HyperOS

The Chinese Sogou or Baidu IME keyboard is a common problem for Xiaomi smartphone owners, especially if the device is purchased in China, on AliExpress or with a firmware. It not only takes up space in memory, but can also automatically activate when you type in text, interfering with work. Worse, some versions of these keyboards send data to servers in China, raising legitimate privacy concerns.

In this article, you will find 5 proven ways to remove the Chinese keyboard on Xiaomi – from simple methods through settings to advanced solutions using ADB and editing system files. All instructions are relevant for MIUI 12-14 and the new HyperOS firmware, and work on Redmi, POCO, Black Shark and even some Xiaomi Pad tablets.

Before you start, consider that some methods require a superuser or PC connection. If you're a beginner, start with the simplest ways (sections 1-2) and then move on to the hard ones. Also back up your data in case something goes wrong.

1. Remove via standard MIUI/HyperOS settings

The safest way is to disable or remove the keyboard through the settings menu, which is suitable for most Xiaomi models if the keyboard is installed as a regular application (not a system one).

Open Settings → Applications → Application Management and find in the list:

• 🔍 Sogou Input
• 🔍 Baidu IME
• 🔍 iFlytek Input

If you find one of these names, tap it and select:

• ❌ Delete (if the button is active)
• 🚫 Disable (if deletion is not available)
• 📱 Remove updates (if the keyboard has been updated through Play Market)

Once you turn off, restart your phone. If the keyboard has disappeared from the list of available inputs (Settings → Additional → Language and input), the problem is solved. If not, move to the next method.

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To check if the keyboard is deleted, try holding a space in any text field – if there are no Chinese characters in the list of languages, then everything worked.

2. Reset keyboard settings to factory

Sometimes the Chinese keyboard won't be removed because it's embedded in the firmware as a system application, and resetting the input settings will help.

Go to: Settings → Additional → Language and input → Virtual keyboard

Find the Chinese keyboard here, tap it and select:

• ⚙️ Resetting settings (if there is such a point)
• 🗑️ Clear the data and clear the cache

If the keyboard still appears after that, try to force it to disable:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications.
2. Find a Chinese keyboard and tap it.
3. Choose Forced Stop.
4. Turn off autostart (Battery → Autostart).

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI After a forced stop, the keyboard may be activated again after restarting, in which case a more radical method will be required (see section 4).

3. Removal via ADB (no root)

If the keyboard is not removed by standard methods, but you have a computer, you can use Android Debug Bridge (ADB).This method does not require root rights, but requires installing drivers and enabling debugging over USB.

First, prepare the phone:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone and tap the MIUI version 7 times.
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and enable USB debugging.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and select File Transfer mode.

Now download ADB Tools (the official Google website) and execute commands in Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (macOS/Linux):

adb devices

(Your device name should appear – if not, install the driver)

adb shell pm list packages | grep -i keyboard

com.sohu.inputmethod.sogou

com.baidu.input

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.sohu.inputmethod.sogou

com.sohu.inputmethod.sogou

Install ADB Tools on PC

Enable debugging over USB on Xiaomi

Connect the phone to the computer

Check the list of keyboard packages

Run the removal command-->

If the command is executed without errors, the keyboard will be deleted for the current user (without root it will remain in the system, but will not interfere).

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI After the update, the OS is removed through ADB The keyboard may return, in which case repeat the procedure or use the root method (section 5).

4. Editing system files (for advanced)

If the keyboard is built into the firmware and is not deleted even through ADB, you can turn it off by editing system files, which requires root rights or custom recovery (TWRP).

Get root first (like Magisk), then use any root-enabled file manager (like Root Explorer or Mixplorer: /system/priv-app/ or /system/app/

Look for the names of the folders:

• 📁 SogouInput
• 📁 BaiduIME
• 📁 iFlytek

Remove or rename these folders (e.g. add at the end of.bak). Once the keyboard is rebooted, it will disappear from the system.

An alternative way is to disable the keyboard via build.prop:

1. Open /system/build.prop file in the text editor.
2. Add a line: ro.com.android.ime.fallback=com.android.inputmethod.latin/.LatinIME (this enforces the English keyboard by default)
3. Save the file and restart the phone.

5. Flashing on global or custom firmware

If none of these methods worked, the radical solution is to reflash the phone to a global version of MIUI or custom firmware (like LineageOS or Pixel Experience), which will completely remove all Chinese components, but require unlocking the bootloader.

Step-by-step:

1. Unblock the bootloader through the official Xiaomi website (you need a Mi Account and wait 7-15 days).
2. Download the global firmware for your model from en.miui.com.
3. Swipe your phone through the Mi Flash Tool (for Windows) or fastboot.

For custom firmware:

• 📱 Install. TWRP fastboot.
• 🔄 Make a full backup of the current system.
• 📦 Sweep LineageOS or other firmware through recovery.

⚠️ Warning: Flashing resets all data on the phone. On Xiaomi models with a locked bootloader (e.g. Redmi Note 12 for China), unlocking can lead to loss of data. IMEI. Before firmware check compatibility on the forum XDA Developers or 4PDA.

6.Alternative Solutions: How to Live with a Chinese Keyboard

If you can not remove the keyboard, but it greatly interferes, you can minimize its impact:

• 🔑 Install Google Gboard or SwiftKey as the default keyboard.
• 🚫 Turn off auto-start Chinese keyboard in battery settings.
• 🛡️ Use App Ops (requires) ADB), to block keyboard access to the Internet.
• 📵 Delete all Chinese accounts (Mi Account, WeChat, QQ), which can activate the keyboard.

You can also hide the keyboard from the list of available:

1. Go to Settings → Additional → Language and input → Virtual keyboard.
2. Slip on the Chinese keyboard and uncheck the box with Included.
3. Only tick for Gboard or another reliable keyboard.

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Even if the Chinese keyboard remains in the system, it can be completely disconnected from the network and hidden from the interface, the main thing is not to use it to enter sensitive data (passwords, bank details).

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing Chinese keyboard