How to find out what theme is installed on Xiaomi phone: all the ways from simple to hidden

Why it’s important to know the current topic on Xiaomi and where this information is hidden in MIUI

Have you ever tried to recall a theme name on your Xiaomi but failed? or after the MIUI update, you noticed that the design was lost and you can’t get it back? This is a situation that many owners of Redmi, POCO or Mi smartphones know. The fact is that MIUI stores information about the current topic in several places — from obvious to hidden from the user.

In this article, we’ll look at 7 working ways to find out what the theme is on any Xiaomi phone, from standard settings to development teams. You’ll learn where MIUI hides this information, how to distinguish system themes from those downloaded from Mi Theme Store, and what to do if the theme name is not displayed correctly. And for advanced users, we’ve prepared methods using ADB and a file manager.

Important: Some methods require an unlocked bootloader or root rights. If you're a beginner, start with the first three methods -- they work without any additional manipulation of the system.

Method 1: through standard MIUI settings (the simplest)

Let's start with the most obvious path, which works on all versions of MIUI 12 to 15, and it doesn't require any additional knowledge, just a few taps across the screen.

Open the Themes app (an icon with a brush and palette) and at the top of the screen you'll see an active theme marked "Current."

• 🎨 Title of the topic (e.g, "MIUI Default or Dark Mode V12")
• 🖼️ Preview of wallpaper and icons
• 📅 Date of last use (in some versions) MIUI)

If the theme name doesn't show up or if it's "User" instead, you're using a combination of elements from different themes, so move on to the next one.

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Click on the three dots in the top right corner of the Topics app → My Topics → here is a history of all the topics applied over the past 30 days.

Method 2: via lock screen settings (for MIUI 14+)

In the latest versions of MIUI, theme information is duplicated in the lock screen settings, which is especially useful if you have a POCO F5, Redmi Note 12 or other new models where the Themes app interface has been simplified.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings → Lock screen
2. Scroll down to the "Style of the Lock Screen" block
3. Click on Topics in this section
4. At the top of the screen will be the name of the active theme.

This method also shows which theme elements have been manually changed (for example, if you only changed the wallpaper but left standard icons).

Method 3: Through the File System (for experienced users)

If standard methods fail, you can look directly into system files where MIUI stores information about the current topic, which requires a file manager with root access (such as MiXplorer or Solid Explorer) or an ADB connection.

The path to the file with the information about the topic:

/data/system/theme/current_theme.xml

In this file you will find lines of the form:

<theme name="com.android.theme.default" packageName="com.android.theme.icon.miui" />

Where:

• name - the internal name of the topic
• packageName – application package to which the topic relates

For convenience, we have compiled the correspondence of internal names to popular topics:

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If the file says “com.theme.custom”, it means that you are using a combination of elements from different topics, and you can only restore the original theme through resetting the theme settings.

Method 4: through ADB-teams (for developers)

This method is suitable for those who are familiar with ADB and are ready to connect the phone to the computer, it gives the most complete information about the current topic, including hidden parameters.

Instructions:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and enable USB debugging in the developer settings
2. Open the command line and enter:

adb shell dumpsys activity service com.miui.home/.launcher.Launcher

In the conclusion, find the section "mThemeManager." There will be lines of the form:

mCurrentThemePkg=com.android.theme.default


mCurrentIconPkg=com.android.theme.icon.miui




mCurrentWallpaperPkg=com.android.wallpaper.livepicker

These parameters show:

• 📱 mCurrentThemePkg – the main theme of the interface
• 🖼️ mCurrentIconPkg - package of icons
• 🌄 mCurrentWallpaperPkg – source of wallpaper

Install ADB drivers on PC

Enable debugging over USB on your phone

Connect your phone to the original cable

Allow debugging on the phone screen-->

For more detailed information, you can use the command:

adb shell settings list global | grep theme

It will display all global settings related to the topics, including the history of changes.

Method 5: through the developer settings (hidden method)

Few people know, but the MIUI developer settings have detailed information about the current design, which works without root and ADB, but requires the developer mode to be enabled.

How to include and find information:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times)
2. Go back to the main settings and open additional →
3. Scroll to the Debugging section and find the item Show information about the topic
4. Click on it and a window with detailed information will open.

Here you'll see:

• 📌 Main package of the topic (theme_pkg_name)
• 🎨 Package of icons (icon_pkg_name)
• 🖥️ Wallpaper bag (wallpaper_pkg_name)
• 🔄 History of the last 5 applied topics

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If there is no “Show information about the topic” option, upgrade MIUI to the latest version or use the method with ADB.

Method 6: Through Third Party Apps (for Lazy)

If you don't want to go through the settings, you can use third-party utilities that pull information about the topic automatically. We tested the 3 most reliable apps:

The most convenient one is MIUI Theme Manager, which not only shows the current theme, but also allows you to:

• 🔍 View the history of applied topics over the past month
• 📥 Export theme settings to the file
• 🔄 Quickly switch between the latest topics
• 🛠️ Correcting failures in the display of those

When you first start the application will request access to the system settings – be sure to provide it, otherwise the information will be incomplete.

Method 7: Reset theme settings (extreme case)

If none of the methods worked, and you see characters or the words "Unknown" instead of the title of the topic, it could mean a failure in the system settings, in which case resetting the theme settings to standard will help.

Resetting instructions:

1. Open Settings → Themes
2. Click on three dots in the upper right corner
3. Select Reset theme settings
4. Confirm the action.

Once reset, the standard MIUI Default theme will be applied, and all custom design settings will be reset, which also helps if:

• 🔄 Theme gets lost after update MIUI
• 🖼️ Wallpaper or icons are displayed incorrectly
• 📱 Interface elements overlap with each other

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Before reset, take screenshots of the current design - this will help restore your favorite settings after the procedure.

⚠️ Warning: Resetting theme settings does not affect user data, but will return all visual elements to factory settings. If you used custom fonts or animations, they will have to be reinstalled.

Frequent problems and their solutions

When working with themes on Xiaomi, users often face typical problems, and we have collected the most common ways to solve them:

Problem 1: The title of the subject is displayed as "Unknown" or in hieroglyphics.

Solution: This means that the theme has been removed from the system, but its settings remain: Reset the theme to standard (method 7) or restore the deleted theme through the Mi Theme Store.

Problem 2: After the MIUI update, the theme went down to standard.

Solution: Updates often reset custom themes. Try re-applying your theme through the Topics app. If the theme isn't on the list, check for compatibility with the new version of MIUI.

Problem 3: One theme is displayed in the settings and another is applied.

Solution: This is a MIUI bug related to theme caching. Restart your phone or clear the Themes app cache (Settings → Apps → Topics → Storage → Clear cache).

⚠️ Note: If you use custom firmware (e.g. xiaomi.eu or PixelExperience), standard methods for defining a theme may not work. ADB Check the files manually (Type 3).

FAQ: Answers to popular questions