How to Remove a Theme on Xiaomi: From Standard Methods to Hidden MIUI Features

Why Xiaomi themes don’t get deleted “as usual” and what to do about it

If you’ve ever tried to return a Xiaomi smartphone to a standard look after installing a custom theme, you’ve probably come across an unpleasant surprise: even after “deleting” through Settings → Theme, some elements remain in place. Icons in the launcher, fonts in the menu, screen lock animations – all this can “stick” in the system, spoiling the appearance. What is the matter?

The problem lies in the architecture of MIUI Themes, Xiaomi’s proprietary theme engine. Unlike Android themes on other smartphones, the changes affect not only surface elements but also system files. When you delete the theme through the interface, you actually reset the active theme to the standard, while the files of previous themes remain in the device’s memory.

In this article, we will discuss 5 working methods, from basic to advanced, that will help to completely clean the smartphone from unnecessary topics, including those cases when standard methods do not work. All instructions are tested on MIUI 14/13/12.5 and are relevant to the models of Redmi Note 12/11/10 Pro, POCO F5/X5, Xiaomi 13/12/11 and others.

Method 1: Standard removal through “Theme settings”

Let's start with the most obvious method, which works 70 percent of the time, and it's a good way to do it if you've installed a theme through the official MIUI Themes store and it's displayed on the list of available ones.

Instructions:

1. Open the Themes app (the icon with a brush on your desktop).
2. Go to My Themes (or Theme Management in older versions of MIUI).
3. Find an unnecessary topic in the list and click on it.
4. In the window that opens, tap the Remove button (or Reset if the delete option is not available).
5. Confirm the action.

⚠️ Note: If the Remove button is inactive or absent, this means that the theme is system-based (e.g., standard). MIUI Default) or was manually installed via a.mtz file, in which case proceed to the following methods.

After removal, it is recommended to clean the cache of the Topics application:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find themes in the list and select Warehouse.
3. Press Clear cache.

Method 2: Reset theme through the Theme Lab (hidden MIUI function)

Few people know, but MIUI has a hidden section called Lab Themes, where you can reset all your appearance to factory settings, which is effective when standard removal doesn't help or the theme is stuck after you upgrade.

How to open a Lab of topics:

1. Open the Topic app.
2. Slip on the profile avatar in the upper right corner.
3. Select Settings (cogs).
4. Scroll down and find the Lab Theme (in some firmware it may be called Additional or Experimental Features).
5. Inside the section, select Reset all the theme settings.

⚠️ Note: This option will reset all custom look settings, including:

• 🎨 Color schemes (dark/light theme, accent colors).
• 📱 Icons and wallpaper (return of the standard launcher).
• 🔤 Fonts and interface styles (including text size).
• 🔒 Screen lock animations.

After reset, restart your smartphone. If some of the theme elements are still there (like the icons in the launcher), move on to method 3.

Method 3: Cleaning the cache and data of the Themes application

Sometimes theme files remain in the system cache even after they are “deleted”, which causes the interface elements to continue to display incorrectly, in which case a complete cleanup of the theme application data will help.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find Themes (or com.android.themes in the list of system applications).
3. Choose Warehouse.
4. Click Clear the cache, then Clear the data.
5. Confirm the action (this will remove all downloaded themes and reset settings).

⚠️ Note: The cleaning of the Topic application data will lead to:

• 🗑️ Delete all downloaded themes (including purchased ones).
• 🔄 Resetting the design settings to the factory.
• 📱 Possible resetting of wallpaper and icons on the desktop.

If the interface still doesn't look as it should after this procedure, the problem may be in the corrupted system files, in which case method 4 or 5 will help.

Method 4: Remove themes via ADB (for power users)

If standard methods didn’t work and the theme was manually installed (for example, via a.mtz file), its files could remain in the system folders, and you can delete them using ADB (Android Debug Bridge), a tool for debugging Android devices.

⚠️ Attention: This method requires an unlocked bootloader and enabled debugging. USB. Wrong teams ADB If you're not sure what you're doing, you can skip this.

Instructions:

1. Install ADB and Fastboot Tools on PC.
2. Enable USB debugging on your smartphone: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (tap 7 times to activate Developer Mode) Settings → Additional → For Developers → Debugging over USB (enable)
3. Connect your smartphone to your PC and open the command line (or Terminal on macOS/Linux).
4. Enter the command to check the connection: adb devices (should display the name of your device).
5. Delete theme files with the commands: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.theme.icon_pack.fallback adb shell rm -rf /data/system/theme/*
6. Reboot your smartphone: adb reboot

If the theme was installed as a system application (which happens with manual flashing), you may need to delete it via Magisk or TWRP. In this case, you should contact the 4PDA community for instructions for your model.

💡

Before working with ADB, back up your important data. Adb backup -apk -shared -all -f backup.ab will help you save your applications and settings.

Method 5: Complete reset to factory settings (last resort)

If none of the previous methods worked, the last option is hard reset, a radical solution that will remove all data from the smartphone, including themes, apps and personal files.

How to reset:

1. Create a backup of important data (photos, contacts, messages).
2. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
3. Choose to erase all data.
4. Enter your password (if required) and confirm the reset.

⚠️ Attention: After discharge:

• 📱 The device will return to the factory firmware (including the version). MIUI).
• 🔐 All accounts. Xiaomi/Google will be removed (re-entry required).
• 🗃️ Internal memory will be completely cleaned (photos, videos, documents).

If the theme issue has occurred after the MIUI update, a reset may not help - in this case, it's worth considering rolling back the firmware through Fastboot.

💡

A complete reset is a last resort, and before you do it, try all the other methods and make sure that the problem is not with the corrupted firmware files.

Table: Comparison of theme removal methods on Xiaomi

Frequent problems and their solutions

Even after removing themes, users often experience residual effects, and here are the most common problems and ways to fix them:

1.The icons on the desktop have not changed

• 🔄 Try changing the launcher: install Nova Launcher or Hyperion Launcher from Google Play.
• 🗑️ Clear the launcher's cache: Settings → Annexes → Launcher → Clear the cache.

2. fonts or animations left from an old theme

• 🔤 Go to Settings. → Screen. → Text size and font and select a standard font.
• 🔄 Reset in the “Theme Lab” (see Method 2).

3.The theme returns after rebooting

• 📱 It's a sign of corrupted system files, and only resetting or flashing will help.
• 🛠️ Check the integrity of the firmware through MIUI System Repair (available in Settings) → About the phone on some models).

4. The “Default” theme is not deleted

• 🚫 This theme is systemic and non-deleteable. You can only reset the settings to it.
• 🔧 If it is damaged, only reflashing will help.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions