How to Increase Screen Lock Time on Xiaomi: From 15 Seconds to Never

Your Xiaomi screen goes out too quickly before you can show notifications or finish reading a message? MIUI has a lock timeout of 15 to 30 seconds, which is not always convenient. This is especially annoying when viewing photos, reading long articles or using your smartphone as a navigator. Fortunately, the system allows you to adjust this value flexibly, from a minimum of 5 seconds to completely disabling autolock.

But there are nuances: on different models Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO, the path to settings may differ, and some options are hidden in the developer menu. Moreover, the wrong settings can speed up battery life by 15-20%, this is often not mentioned in standard instructions. In this guide, we will analyze all the available methods, including hidden MIUI 14/15 chips, and explain how to avoid typical errors.

Before you change your settings, check the current firmware version: go to Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI. It's the availability of some menu items. AMOLED-screens (for example, Xiaomi 13 Pro or POCO F5) Long-term display operation without locking can lead to burn-in (pixel burnout).

1. Standard method: screen settings in MIUI

The easiest method is to use built-in system options, which is suitable for most MIUI 12-15 devices, including budget models like the Redmi 10A or POCO M5.

Open Settings → Display. Depending on the firmware version, you need to find one of the following items:

• 🔄 Sleep after (MIUI 14/15)
• ⏱️ Screen timeout (MIUI 12/13)
• 📱 Auto-blocking (older versions)

Click on the selected item and set the desired time from the proposed options.

• 🕒 15 seconds.
• 🕓 30 seconds
• 🕔 1 minute
• 🕕 2 minutes.
• 🕖 5 minutes.
• 🚫 Never (not recommended for permanent use)

If you don't have a "Never" option on your menu, it means the manufacturer has limited the maximum lock time to save charge, so move on to the next one.

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On some models (for example, Xiaomi 12T) after the time is selected, a warning about increased power consumption will appear.

2. Hidden settings: Developer mode

For advanced users who need to adjust their timeouts more accurately or bypass the limitations of MIUI, a developer menu will suit them, which allows you to set an arbitrary lock time up to 30 minutes, and also turn off the autorotation of the screen while charging.

To activate the developer mode:

1. Go to Settings. → The phone.
2. Find the MIUI version and tap it 7 times in a row, and the notification will appear: "You became a developer!".
3. Return to the main settings menu and open a new section → For developers.

In the developer menu, scroll down to the Display block and find:

• 🔍 Screen timeout in case of inactivity - here you can select values up to 30 minutes or disable autolock completely.
• 🔄 Staying active while charging is useful for using your smartphone as a media player or navigator.

Activate Developer Mode (7 taps according to MIUI)

Check the battery power (recommended >50%)

Backup important data (settings → Additional → Backup)

Remember the current screen settings for rollback-->

⚠️ Note: Setting a “Never” value on the developer menu can cause the processor to overheat when the screen is running for a long time. On devices with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (for example, Xiaomi 13 Ultra), this is especially critical - monitor the temperature through the application CPU Monitor.

3. Configure via ADB (for power users)

If standard methods do not work (for example, on custom firmware or in corporate devices), you can change the lock timeout via Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which requires connecting the smartphone to a PC and basic command line knowledge.

First, prepare the device:

1. Enable USB debugging in the developer menu (Settings → Additional → Developers → USB debugging).
2. Connect your smartphone to your computer and confirm your trust in the PC.
3. Install ADB Tools on your computer.

Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) and type:

adb shell settings put global screen_off_timeout 1800000

Where 1800000 is the time in milliseconds (30 minutes is set here).

• 300,000 - 5 minutes
• 600,000 - 10 minutes
• 3.6 million – 1 hour (not recommended)

To return the standard settings, use:

adb shell settings delete global screen_off_timeout

4. Screen control applications

If you don't want to dig into the settings, you can use third-party utilities that offer flexible lock scenarios, such as turning off timeouts for specific applications (YouTube, Google Maps) or on a schedule.

Top.-3 tested applications:

⚠️ Note: Screen control applications require “overlay over other applications” permissions and may conflict with MIUI If after installing the utility, the screen starts to flash or lock spontaneously, turn off optimization in the battery settings (Settings) → Battery → Optimization MIUI → Turn it off).

5. Features for different Xiaomi models

The manufacturer imposes lock timeout restrictions depending on the segment of the device, and here are the key differences:

Budget models (Redmi A1, POCO C50):

• 🔋 Maximum time in standard settings – 5 minutes.
• 🛠️ Developer mode allows you to increase up to 10 minutes.
• ⚡ When choosing a value >5 minutes warning of overheating risk.

Mid-segment (Xiaomi 11 Lite, Redmi Note 12 Pro):

• ⏱️ Up to 30 minutes is available through the developer menu.
• 🔄 The “Stay Active” option is stable.

Flagships (Xiaomi 13 Ultra, POCO F5 Pro):

• 🎛️ Free to use the option, including “Never».
• 🔥 Risk of burn-in on AMOLED-screens for long periods of time without locking.

On devices with MIUI for Russia (e.g. Redmi 10 2022), some options may be hidden due to local restrictions, in which case, resetting the firmware region via fastboot or installing a global version of MIUI will help.

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On flagship models (Xiaomi 13T, POCO F4 GT) when choosing a timeout >10 minutes, the system automatically activates the Adaptive Brightness mode to reduce battery load.

6.How to save battery power with an increased timeout

Increasing the lock time inevitably leads to increased power consumption, but there are ways to minimize the loss:

Optimizing the brightness and updating of the screen:

• ☀️ Set adaptive brightness or manual value not higher than 60%.
• 🔄 Enable the refresh rate 60 Hz instead 90/120 Hz (Settings) → Display. → Frequency of update).
• 🌙 Use a dark theme on AMOLED-Screens (saves up to 30% of charge).

Additional settings:

• 📵 Turn off the constant search network in the settings SIM-map.
• 📡 Reduce the timeout Wi-Fi/Bluetooth standby (Settings) → Connections → Additionally).
• 🔋 Activate the energy saving mode for background processes.

For maximum savings, use automation through the MacroDroid app:

1. Create a rule: “If the battery is <20%, set a screen timeout = 15 seconds.”
2. Add an exception for navigation applications (Google Maps, Yandex.Navigator).

7. Frequent errors and their solutions

Problem 1: No screen timeout item in the settings

🔹 Solution: Update the firmware to the latest version MIUI. If the problem persists, use it. ADB third-party.

Problem 2: The screen is locked despite the settings

🔹 Solution: Check if the power saving mode is activated (Settings) → Battery → Power saving mode. It resets a timeout of up to 15 seconds.

Problem 3: After the MIUI update, the settings were reset

🔹 Solution: Restore settings through Settings → Additionally. → Backup or set up a timeout again.

Problem 4: The screen control app is not working

🔹 Solution: Give it all the necessary permissions (Settings) → Annexes → Permissions) and disable battery optimization for this app.

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If the timeout changes through ADB, do not save the settings, follow the command adb shell settings list global and check if the system overwrites another application (for example, Security from Xiaomi).

FAQ: Answers to popular questions