Many Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphone owners face a situation where the display stops responding to light touches or requires too much pressing.This phenomenon, often referred to as "dead zones" or low sensitivity, can seriously make it difficult to use the device, especially when printing fast or in games.The problem can be caused by both software failure and physical impact on the digitizer.
In this article, we will discuss proven methods that will help to return the screen to its former responsiveness without going to the service center. You will learn how to activate hidden system functions, perform accurate calibration and use the engineering menu to fine-tune the parameters of MIUI and HyperOS. It is important to understand that not all methods are universal, and the result depends on the specific model of your gadget.
Before you start to do complex manipulations, you should rule out trivial causes, such as surface contamination or inadequate protective glass. Often it is thick film or cheap glass that causes the loss of tactile contact between the finger and the sensory layer. If physical factors are excluded, then we move on to software solutions.
Diagnostics and checking the current state of the touch screen
The first step is always to make a good diagnosis, and you don't have to go into deep system settings without knowing the nature of the problem, and you have a powerful engineering tool built into the MIUI shell to test all the components, including the touch layer, and you have to put a special combination of characters in the Phone app to start the diagnostic mode.
Dial ##6484## on the call keyboard. If the code works, the CIT menu will open. In the test list, find Touchpanel or Touch. The system will suggest swiping your finger along special lines on the screen, which will reveal not only low-sensitivity areas, but also phantom presses when the screen reacts without touching.
⚠️ Attention: If the test shows areas where the line is interrupted or not drawn at all, this may indicate physical damage to the digitizer.
An alternative way to test is to use third-party apps from Google Play, such as Touch Test or MultiTouch Tester, which provide more detailed statistics on multi-touch and press strength, but Xiaomi’s built-in tool often proves more informative for initial assessment of the state of the touch module.
After you do the testing, analyze the results, and if the screen misses touches in certain corners or edges, it's a classic sign of calibration, and if the problem is evenly spread across the area, it could be a software conflict or contamination.
Using an engineering menu to fine-tune
The engineering menu is a hidden part of the Android operating system, designed for developers and engineers of service centers, where you can change the sensitivity settings that are not available in the usual settings. USSD-codes or special applications.
Try entering the code ##3646633## or ##4636##. In the interface you open, you need to find the "Hardware Testing" tab or «TP» (Touch Panel: Some firmware versions may have different paths, such as: TP Settings → Version → Get Info. Your goal is to find parameters related to sensitivity or the trigger threshold).
What if the code doesn't work?
Inside the TP Settings menu, there is often the option of "Sensitivity upgrade" or the ability to manually adjust values. Changing the settings requires caution. Too high sensitivity will cause the phone to react to random touches in your pocket, and too low will make typing impossible.
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Before changing any values in the engineering menu, be sure to write down or take pictures of the original numbers, which will allow you to return to the factory settings in case of failure.
After making changes, press the Set or Save button and then restart the device. Reboot is mandatory, since the touchscreen drivers are initialized only when the system starts. If the screen is not behaving correctly after the reboot, repeat the procedure and return the original values.
Calibration of the screen through system utilities
If the engineering menu seems too complicated or inaccessible, you should use standard calibration, which is a procedure in which the system re-learns to recognize the boundaries and center of your touches. At Xiaomi, this feature is often hidden, but is available through the recovery menu or special codes.
One way to get into calibration mode is to use the code ##6484## (CIT menu) mentioned earlier, select the touchscreen test and follow the instructions on the screen. In some models, after passing the test successfully, the system will automatically prompt you to calibrate the device if there are any deviations.
There is also a method through the Recovery menu, which is to turn off your phone and press the power and volume button combination (usually Volume Up + Power) and in the menu that appears, select a language (if available) and find "Touch" or "Calibration." However, this item is often missing on global firmware versions.
You can use ADB (Android Debug Bridge) to calibrate more deeply, and by connecting the phone to your computer, you can send a command to reset the calibration data:
adb shell settings delete secure touch_calibrationAfter executing the command and restarting, the system will create a new calibration file from scratch, which can help if previous settings have been damaged or knocked down as a result of a failure.
Settings for users with protective glass
One of the most common reasons for the decrease in sensitivity is the use of protective glasses, especially hardened and thick. The screens of modern Xiaomi smartphones are designed with the expectation of direct touch with your finger. The additional layer of material changes the electrical capacity, and it becomes more difficult for the controller to determine the exact place of touch.
The new MIUI and HyperOS have a special feature called “Gloves Mode” or “Sensitivity Increased” that is specifically designed to compensate for the thickness of the protective coatings, and you can find this setting by going to: Settings → Screen → Gloves Mode.
Activating this mode increases the strength of the signal sent by the touchscreen, which allows you to penetrate the layer of glass, but it is worth remembering that constant operation in this mode can increase battery consumption, since the survey of the touch layer occurs more often.
If activation of the mode did not help, try to remove the protective glass and check the touchscreen "clean." If without glass everything works perfectly, then the problem is precisely the thickness or quality of the accessory, in which case only replacing the glass with a thinner counterpart or getting used to stronger presses will help.
Software optimization methods and resetting settings
Sometimes the low sensitivity is not caused by hardware problems, but by software bugs or overflowing cache of system services, in which case a simple but effective reset of interface settings helps.
The first step is to clear the system cache. Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version and click a few times on the logo to activate additional features (if available), or just go to Advanced Settings → Memory and clear the cache. It is also useful to check for system updates, as Xiaomi regularly releases patches that fix touchscreen bugs.
The second method is to reset all settings to factory settings, which is a radical step that requires you to save data before you reset, and make sure that all important contacts and photos are saved in the cloud before you reset.
☑️ Checklist before resetting settings
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Settings Reset → Erase all data. After this procedure, the phone will return to the “out of the box” state, and all software conflicts affecting the operation of the touch layer should disappear.
It’s also worth checking whether the “Energy Saving” or “Ultra-Energy Saving” mode is on, and in these modes the system can limit the frequency of touchscreen surveys to save charge, creating a sense of “lag” and low sensitivity.
Table of comparison of methods of increasing sensitivity
To make it easier for you to choose the right way to solve a problem, we have prepared a method comparison table that will help you assess the risks and effectiveness of each approach.
| Method | Difficulty | Risk of data loss | Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Removal of the protective glass | Low. | No. | High (if the glass is a problem) |
| Gloves mode | Low. | No. | Medium |
| Engineering menu | Tall. | Low. | Tall. |
| Reset to factory | Medium | Total loss. | High (with software problems) |
| ADB team | Tall. | Low. | Medium |
As you can see from the table, you should always start with the least risky methods, only if simple actions do not help, you should move to complex manipulations of the engineering menu or a complete reset.
Hardware reasons and when repairs are needed
If none of the software methods worked, it's probably hardware. Touchscreens are consumables that wear out or get damaged over time, and falls, pocket pressure, temperature changes, and moisture can disrupt the sensory layer.
Typical signs of hardware breakdown:
- 📱 «Dead zones in certain areas of the screen that do not respond to any settings.
- ⚡ Spontaneous taps (ghost touch) when the phone opens apps or prints text.
- 🌡️ Reaction only after a strong heating of the device or, conversely, only in the cold.
- 🔌 Problem immediately after falling or getting moisture, even if the glass is intact.
In such cases, only a replacement touchscreen will help. In modern Xiaomi smartphones, the screen is often a single module (display + touchscreen + frame), so you have to change everything completely.
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If the test in the engineering menu shows stable gaps in one zone even after calibration, it is 100% a sign of physical failure of the digitizer.
Don’t delay repairs if you see jumping cursors or spontaneous actions, which can lead not only to inconvenience, but also to the accidental deletion of important data or sending incorrect information.