How to return your native theme to Xiaomi: 5 proven ways

Xiaomi MIUI-based smartphones offer users a wide range of customization options, including installing third-party themes from the official store. However, some design experiments do not always end well: some themes can slow down the system, conflict with icons or simply annoy with a bad design. In such cases, the logical question is how to return the original factory theme, which is guaranteed to work stably and corresponds to the brand identity.

In this article, we will look at all the current ways to return a native theme on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices, from simple reset via settings to manually installing through custom recavator. We will focus on the nuances for different versions of MIUI (including MIUI 14 and HyperOS), and also consider the typical errors that can occur in the process. If you encounter a problem with a broken interface after installing a custom theme, this guide will help to return everything to its original state.

Why your home is missing and when it needs to be rebuilt

There are several situations when you need to return the standard design of MIUI:

• 🎨 Theme conflict: The installed theme incorrectly displays icons, fonts or animations, causing interface elements to overlap or disappear.
• 🐢 Slowdown: Some topics from the store MIUI Themes contain redundant animations that slow down weak devices (e.g. Redmi). 9A or POCO M3).
• 🔄 Automatic change: After updating MIUI The system can reset the theme to random or install a new version of the factory theme with bugs.
• 🚫 Blocking Features: In rare cases, third-party themes may restrict access to system settings (e.g., Security or Application Permissions).

Before you start recovery, check if the problems are related to other factors:

⚠️ Warning: If navigation gestures or notification panel stop working after the theme change, the problem may not be in the topic, but in the system launcher failure. Try restarting the device or clearing the Launcher app cache in the settings.

Method 1: Reset theme through standard MIUI settings

The easiest and safest method is to return a factory theme through the personalization menu.It works on all Xiaomi devices regardless of the MIUI version (including HyperOS) and does not require superuser rights.

Instructions:

1. Open the Themes app (icon with brush and palette).
2. Go to the My section (bottom of the screen).
3. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Reset Settings.
4. Confirm the action, wait for the application of changes (the device can slow down for a short time).

If the Reset option is not available:

• 🔍 Try to find a factory theme manually: in the Mine section scroll down the list - it's usually called Default, MIUI or standard.
• 📱 The HyperOS path may be different: Settings → Personalization → Topics → Reset.

⚠️ Note: Some firmware may lose desktop wallpaper after resetting the theme. Pre-save your favorite images in the gallery to quickly restore them through Settings → Wallpaper.

Check the current version of MIUI in Settings → About the phone

Save the desktop wallpaper to the gallery

Close all applications (especially launcher and themes)

Connect the charger (on weak smartphones, the process can take up to 5 minutes)-->

Method 2: Remove the cache of the “Themes” application

If a standard reset fails or the theme continues to glitch, the problem may lie in the damaged cache of the system application com.android.themes. Clearing the cache often helps to return the interface to work without a complete reset.

How to clear the cache:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. In the search bar, enter Themes and select the Themes app (brush icon).
3. Press Warehouse. → Clear the cache.
4. Return to the main settings menu and perform a reboot.

For a deeper cleaning, you can delete the application data, but this will result in a reset of all user themes and wallpaper:

Settings → Applications → Topics → Storage → Clean up data

After this procedure:

• 🔄 The system will automatically apply the factory theme.
• 📁 All downloaded themes from the store MIUI Themes will have to be downloaded again.
• 🎯 Icons and fonts will return to standard (if they were changed by the theme).

💡

If the theme doesn't reset after cleaning the cache, try temporarily installing any other theme from the store, and then returning the standard one. This often wakes up system settings.

Method 3: Recovery through Safe Mode

If the Xiaomi smartphone after changing the theme began to slow down, fly out in the menu or does not respond to touch, Safe Mode will help. In this mode, all third-party themes and add-ons are turned off, which allows you to return the factory interface settings.

How to start Safe Mode:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press the Power button and hold it until the MI logo appears.
3. As soon as the logo appears, release the power button and immediately press Volume down.
4. Keep Volume down until the device boots with the Safe Mode label in the lower left corner.

In safe mode:

• 🔧 Go to Settings. → Topics and reset the topic to standard (as in Method 1).
• 🔄 Reboot the device in the usual way – the theme should remain factory-based.

⚠️ Note: Safe Mode does not have a fingerprint or Face Unlock. PIN-If you forget it, you'll have to reset it via Fastboot.

Once a week.

Once a month

Only if the standard theme is tired

Never change.

I don't know how to do that.-->

Method 4: Manual recovery via TWRP (for advanced)

If previous methods have not helped, and the theme still conflicts with the system, you can resort to manually installing a factory theme through the custom TWRP recavator. This method is suitable for users with an unlocked bootloader and installed TWRP.

Important: Back up the /data partition in TWRP before you start, as incorrect actions can lead to data loss.

Instructions:

1. Download the archive with the factory theme for your version MIUI (for example, MiuiDefaultTheme_v12.zip for MIUI 12). Official archives can be found on the forums XDA Developers or 4PDA.
2. Move the archive to the root directory of internal memory.
3. Boot to TWRP (Put Power + Volume Up when the phone is off).
4. Select Install → specify the path to the downloaded archive → swipe for confirmation.
5. After installation, run the Wipe → Dalvik/ART Cache and restart the device.

If the topic is not applied after the reboot:

• 🔧 Check the compatibility of the archive with your version MIUI (for example, theme MIUI 13 is not suitable for MIUI 14).
• 📁 Make sure the archive is not damaged (check checksum) MD5).
• 🔄 Try repeating the installation by first clearing the cache in TWRP (Wipe → Cache).

Method 5: Complete resetting of settings (last resort)

If none of the methods worked, and the interface still doesn't work properly, the last option is hard reset, which will return the smartphone to factory status, including the standard theme, but delete all user data.

How to reset:

1. Back up important data (photos, contacts, messages) through Settings → Additional → Backup or manually.
2. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
3. Choose to erase all data and confirm the action.
4. After restarting, perform the initial device setup.

Alternative method (if the smartphone does not respond to touch):

1. Turn off the device.


2. Press <code>Nutrition + Volume up to log into Fastboot.




3. Connect the phone to the PC and execute the command:




fastboot erase userdata




fastboot reboot

⚠️ Note: On HyperOS devices, a full reset may take up to 10-15 Don't interrupt the process, even if the screen stays black for a long time, which is normal for new firmware.

💡

Complete reset is a last resort, and try all previous methods before using it, as data recovery after hard reset is not always possible.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When you restore a native theme, users often face typical problems, and let's look at the most common ones and how to solve them:

Additional advice:

• 🔍 Before installing any theme, check its rating and reviews in the store. MIUI Topics rated below 4.0 stars often contain bugs.
• 📱 On devices with AMOLED-screens (e.g. Xiaomi 13 or Redmi) K60) Some themes can cause burn-in due to static elements.
• 🔄 After the update MIUI your favorite theme is missing, check its availability in the Archives section of the Topics app.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions