How to remove wallpaper from the lock screen on Xiaomi smartphones: all working methods

Why are the wallpapers on the Xiaomi lock screen not removed in the standard way?

The lock screen on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often behaves counterintuitively: users are faced with the fact that the wallpaper can not be changed or removed through the usual menu, the reason lies in the architecture of the MIUI shell, where the lock background can be tied to the system theme, Mi Account or even installed by a third-party application (for example, Mi Wallpaper Carousel).

Unlike desktop wallpapers, which change in two seconds, the background of the lock screen sometimes sticks after updating the firmware, resetting or changing the theme. This is especially true for devices on MIUI 13/14, where developers have tightened control over system settings. For example, on Xiaomi 12T or Redmi Note 11, users complain that after selecting a new background, the old wallpaper remains in place, and the “Delete” button in the gallery is inactive.

In this article, we will explore all possible ways, from basic to advanced, including bypassing ADB restrictions and cache resetting, and learn why some methods only work on certain models and how to avoid common mistakes.

Method 1: Standard wallpaper change via MIUI settings

Let's start with the most obvious method, which works 60% of the time, and it's suitable for most MIUI 12-14 devices unless the background lock is locked by the system or third-party software.

1. Open “Settings” and go to Lock Screen → Lock screen wallpaper.
2. Select My Wallpaper or Gallery (depending on the MIUI version).
3. Click on the current wallpaper and the Remove button will appear at the bottom of the screen (if not, see the methods below).
4. Confirm the action. If the background changes to the standard, the problem is solved.

⚠️ Note: On certain devices (e.g, POCO X3 Pro) the "Delete" button can be hidden if the wallpaper has been set through the theme, in which case try to change the background to any other one first, and then return the standard one.

• 📱 It works on: Xiaomi Mi 11/12, Redmi Note 10/11, POCO F3/F4.
• ❌ Does not work if: Wallpaper installed by system application (for example, Mi Wallpaper Carousel) or through Mi Account.
• ⚙️ After deleting, restart your phone – sometimes changes only apply after a reboot.

Method 2: Resetting themes and wallpapers through "Themes"

If the standard method didn’t work, the problem could be in the current theme of the theme. MIUI aggressively caches theme elements, including lock wallpaper, and sometimes the only way to remove them is to reset the theme to a standard one.

1. Go to Settings → Themes.
2. Select My Topics and find an active topic (checked).
3. Click on it and at the bottom of the screen select Remove (if the theme is downloaded from the Internet) or Reset (if it is a custom theme).
4. After removing the theme, go back to the Lock screen Wallpaper and try to change the background again.

🔹 Important: If you use super wallpaper (e.g. Earth or Mars on Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra), they can’t be removed in the standard way – they are sewn into firmware. ADB.

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If the wallpaper remains the same after resetting the theme, try installing any other theme from the official store and then removing it. This often knocks down the system wallpaper cache.

Method 3: Cleaning the cache of the "Themes" and "Wallpaper" applications

Often, lock wallpapers get stuck because of a damaged cache of system applications.Cache cleaning can return the standard background, especially if the problem occurred after the MIUI update.

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the Themes app (or Themes in English firmware).
3. Press Warehouse. → Clear the cache.
4. Repeat steps 2–3 for Wallpapers.
5. Reboot the phone.

⚠️ Warning: Do not press Clear the data for the Themes app - this will result in the reset of all your custom design settings (fonts, icons, animations!

• 🧹 What cleans the cache: Temporary wallpaper files, thumbnails, pre-loading data.
• ⚡ When it helps: After the update MIUI, Change of theme or failure of the gallery.
• ❌ It will not help if: Wallpaper installed through Mi Account or third-party software (for example, Zedge).

Method 4: Delete wallpaper via Mi Account (if background is synchronized)

If you use Mi Account and you have themes synced, the lock wallpaper can be linked to your account, in which case you can’t delete them locally, you need to turn off sync or change the background through the web interface.

1. Open Settings → Xiaomi account.
2. Go to Data Sync and turn off the Topics and Wallpaper item.
3. Return to the lock screen wallpaper and try to change the background.
4. If it doesn’t help, go to the Mi Account website from PC, find the “Themes” section and remove the saved wallpaper from there.

On some firmware (e.g. MIUI 13 Global), the wallpaper sync is not working correctly - the background can "return" after rebooting, in which case only completely disabling the themes sync or resetting the phone to factory settings will help.

Method 5: Advanced method - removal through ADB (for experienced)

If none of the above methods worked, the most reliable, but technically challenging, method is to remove wallpaper via Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which is suitable for devices with an unlocked bootloader or USB debugging enabled.

⚠️ Attention: Wrong commands ADB Use this method only if you are confident in your actions.

1. Turn on Developer Mode (7 times click on the MIUI version in Settings → About Phone).
2. Activate Debugging by USB in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: adb shell pm clear com.android.themes This will clear the Themes app data, including the wallpaper cache.
4. If it doesn’t work, try removing the system wallpaper with the command: adb shell rm -rf /data/system/users/0/wallpaper*
5. Reboot the phone.

🔹 Note: On some devices (e.g. Xiaomi) 13 Pro) the path to the wallpaper may be different. If the team does not work, check the current path through adb shell ls. /data/system/users/0/.

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ADB is the only way to remove sewn-in super wallpapers (e.g. Earth/Mars on the Mi 11 Ultra).However, after being reset via ADB, they can return after a firmware update.

Method 6: Extreme measure - factory reset

If the lock wallpaper never gets removed and all other methods are exhausted, the last option is a complete reset of the phone, which is a radical solution, but it is guaranteed to return the standard background.

📌 What to do before resetting:

• 📱 Create a backup of data through Settings → Additionally. → Backup and reset.
• 🔐 Make sure to remember the Mi Account password – after resetting, the phone will require login credentials.
• 📡 Disable your Google account link (if you use it) to avoid problems with your Google account. FRP.

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select Delete all data.
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 14 after reset, you may need to re-activate via Mi Account.If you forget your password, restore it in advance on the Xiaomi website.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi lock screen wallpaper