How to reduce the screen on Xiaomi devices: from smartphones to Smart TV

The screen of a Xiaomi smartphone or TV seems too big? The text is blurry, icons take up half the display and the interface looks bulky? The problem isn't your vision - most likely the device has zoomed in or the resolution is incorrectly configured. In this article, we'll discuss 7 working ways to reduce the screen on any of the brand's gadgets, from budget Redmis to flagship Mi 13 Ultra and Mi TVs.

It's important to understand that screen shrinkage is not a physical resize of the display, but a content adjustment. We'll work with zoom settings, screen resolution, pixel density (DPI), and even hidden engineering menus. Some techniques are universal for all Android devices, others are unique for MIUI firmware. If you're an iPhone user or other branded devices, some of the instructions may not be appropriate.

Before you start settings, make sure that the problem is not in the screen itself. For example, on Xiaomi Q1 and Q2 TVs, when you activate the Movie mode, the zoom automatically increases to 120% - this is not a bug, but a feature for improving movie viewing. And on smartphones, the settings sometimes get lost after the MIUI update. You can check the current scale in the Settings menu → Special features → Enlarge.

1. Standard scale reduction in MIUI

The easiest way is to use the built-in MIUI tools. This method works on all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones with a firmware version at least MIUI 10. If you have an older version, update the system first.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings (the gear icon on the main screen).
2. Go to the Screen section.
3. Select Text Size and Display (Screen Size may be called on some models).
4. Move the slider to the left to zoom in, and the optimal value is 85-90% for comfortable reading.

On Mi TVs, the path is a bit different:

• 📺 Go to Settings. → General. → Special facilities.
• 🔍 Find the screen size option and set the Normal value.
• 🖼️ If the image is cropped at the edges, activate the "Fix under the screen" mode".

⚠️ Note: On some TV models (Mi) TV 4S 55", Mi TV Q1E) If you zoom in, you might lose some of the interface, so you can either reset the factory settings or upgrade the firmware.

2. Change the size of the font and icons separately

If you're comfortable with the overall screen scale, but you want to reduce just text or icons, MIUI has separate settings for that, which is useful, for example, when the desktop icons take up too much space and the font in the browser seems huge.

To change the font size:

1. Open Settings → Screen → Text Size.
2. Choose one of the options: from Very Small to Very Large.
3. For fine tuning, press Additional and manually adjust the slider.

To change the size of the icons:

• 📱 Click and hold the empty space on the main screen.
• 👆 Select Home Screen Settings (or Screen Settings).
• 🔄 Move the slider Size of the badges to the left.
• 📏 Optionally: Enable the Grid option 5×6 to accommodate more icons.

On Xiaomi TVs, you can change the font size in the menu:

Settings → General → Font → Font size

3.Using the MIUI Lab mode (hidden settings)

For power users who don't have enough standard settings, MIUI has a hidden Lab menu, where you can change the pixel density (DPI), which directly affects the size of the interface elements, which works on all Xiaomi smartphones, but it requires caution that the wrong values can make the interface unreadable.

How to open a laboratory:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Click 5-7 times in a row on the MIUI version until the message “You are a developer!” appears.
3. Go back to the main settings menu and open a new section for developers.
4. Activate the switch at MIUI Laboratory.

Now you can change the DPI:

• 🔧 In the Lab menu, find the Minimum Width (this is the setting). DPI).
• 📏 Standard value for most smartphones — 411dpi or 440dpi.
• ➖ Reduce the value by 20-30 units (e.g. with 411 before 380).
• 🔄 Save the changes and restart the device.

⚠️ Attention: Change DPI It can cause some applications (e.g. banking or gaming) to crash, if the interface is not displayed correctly after the change, return the standard value or reset the settings.

4. Screen reduction via ADB (for advanced users)

If standard methods don’t work, you can manually change screen settings via Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a method that works for all Android devices, including Xiaomi, but requires a computer connection and basic command line knowledge.

Step-by-step:

1. Download and install ADB Tools on your computer.
2. On your smartphone, activate Debugging by USB in the Developer Menu.
3. Connect the device to the PC through USB-Cable (use the original cable for stability).
4. Open the command line (Windows) or the terminal (Mac/Linux) and type:

adb shell wm density 380


adb shell wm size 1080x2340

Where:

• 380 is a new DPI value (you can substitute your own).
• 1080x2340 – screen resolution (learn your own in the device settings).

To return the standard settings, use the command:

adb shell wm density reset

⚠️ Note: On some models (Redmi) 10A, POCO M4 Pro) after modification D through ADB So, you can go out and calibrate the sensor. You can back up your data before you experiment.

5. Scaling for individual applications

Sometimes the problem isn't with the screen itself, but with the app, like Instagram or TikTok, the text can be too big, mientras that other programs are fine, and in this case, the "App Scale" feature in MIUI will help.

How to scale for a particular application:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Select the app you want (such as Chrome or Telegram).
3. Click on Additional → Display Scale.
4. Set the value to Decrease or select a specific percentage (e.g. 90%).

If you don’t have this option, try an alternative method:

• 📱 Hold the app icon on the home screen.
• 🔧 Select Application Information → Permits → Special access.
• 🔍 Activate Change of Window Size (if available).

On Xiaomi TVs, the scale of the apps changes differently:

Settings → Applications → Application settings → [Select App] → Scale

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If after the zoom change the application began to work incorrectly (for example, buttons do not appear), try to clear its cache in the Settings menu → Applications → Storage.

6. Reset screen settings to factory

If all the attempts to shrink the screen lead to even more problems (distorted interface, broken gestures or missing elements), the most reliable way is to return the factory display settings, which will reset all the changes in scale, DPI and resolutions.

How to reset the screen settings:

1. Open Settings → System → Resetting settings.
2. Select Reset Display Settings (not to be confused with a full phone reset!).
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot.

On Mi TVs:

• 📺 Go to Settings. → General. → Reset and update.
• 🔄 Select Resetting Image Settings.
• 🔐 Enter. PIN-code (default 0000 or 1234).

⚠️ Note: On some models (Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite, Redmi Note 11 Pro), the screen reset also resets the Always On Display settings and Adaptive Brightness settings.

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Before resetting the screen settings, write down the current DPI and resolution values – this will help to quickly restore optimal parameters if factory settings are inconvenient.

7 Hardware problems: when settings don't help

If you've tried all the ways, but the screen still seems too big, the problem could be hardware. Here are the most common causes and their signs:

If you suspect a hardware malfunction:

• 🛠️ Check the device in Safe Mode (press the power button) → Safe Mode. If it's scaled normally, software is a problem.
• 🔧 Connect your smartphone to your computer and check the error logs through ADB logcat.
• 📞 Contact the authorized Xiaomi service center (list on the official website).

For Mi TVs with hardware problems:

Settings → Support → Self-diagnosis → Screen Test

FAQ: Frequent questions about screen shrinkage on Xiaomi