How to return the clock to the main screen of Xiaomi: the full guide

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a situation where, after a system update or accidental action, the usual widget of the watch disappears from the desktop. This can be a standard MIUI widget, a digital watch or an element of Always On Display that no longer displays correctly. The absence of this element significantly reduces the usability of the device, since time is one of the most popular features on the lock screen and home screen.

There are several reasons why the watch widget may be missing: it could be a launcher malfunction, changing the theme of the design, or even accidentally removing the system component. In this article, we will detail all possible ways to restore time, from simple interface settings to deeper system settings, you will learn how to customize widgets, change themes and eliminate software conflicts.

Before you start to do complex things, check the basic lock screen settings. Often users simply change the style of the design without noticing that they have switched to minimalist mode without a dial. It takes only a couple of minutes to restore functionality if you correctly identify the source of the problem in the HyperOS shell or MIUI.

Checking the settings of widgets on the desktop

The most obvious but often ignored step is to check the widget library. Xiaomi shells have a separate menu where all available system and third-party elements are stored. If the watch is missing from the home screen, it may have just been removed from the page, but remained available for re-addition.

Swipe to the left of the screen, or pinch the screen with two fingers to go into edit mode. At the bottom of the interface, you'll see the "Widgets" or "Widgets" button. Click on it to open the full list of available items. You'll need to find the "System widgets" or "Clocks" section.

You'll find different time display options on the list: analog, digital, date or weather. Choose the style you want and drag it to the free desktop space. If the standard MIUI widget is missing, try an alternative from Google or third-party apps.

Note that some themes may hide standard system widgets, replacing them with your own. If you can’t find the right watch on the list, try temporarily switching to the standard theme in the design settings.

Setting up the lock screen style and Always On Display

Often, the term “home screen clock” is used to refer to the time displayed on a locked device, and on Xiaomi smartphones, the Always On Display (AOD) or standard lock screen is responsible for this, and if the time is not on the screen, the problem is with the energy saving settings or the style you choose.

To check, go to the settings menu and select "Lock Screen" section. Here is the "Clock Format" option, which allows you to select the location of the dial. Make sure you choose one of the visual styles instead of "Hide" mode. It's also worth checking the AOD settings if your display supports AMOLED technology.

⚠️ Attention: Always on Display increases battery consumption significantly. If the time on the screen is not critical, it is better to use Scheduled mode or activation by touch.

Newer versions of the HyperOS shell offer the ability to customize the lock screen deeper, so you can add weather, pedometer and calendar widgets directly to the lock screen, making the time display more informative. Just click on the "Tune the screen" button in the same settings menu.

If you never set your time after you change your settings, you may have activated Do Not Disturb or Sleep mode, which forces the screen to go out. Check these settings in the notification curtain.

Impact of design themes on display of hours

One of the most common reasons for the disappearance of watches is the installation of a third-party theme from the MIUI Themes store. Theme writers often create their own watch widgets, which may conflict with the system or simply do not fit your screen resolution, as a result of which the standard widget is replaced or hidden.

To check this, go to the Themes app and open a user profile. In My Themes, select the standard Classic or Defult theme. Using a classic theme will return all system widgets to their original state, which is the fastest way to know if the design is to blame.

• 🎨 Open the "Themes" app on the desktop.
• 👤 Click on the profile icon in the lower right corner.
• 📂 Go to the section "My topics".
• ✅ Select the theme "Classic" and click "Apply".

If you go back to the classics, the clock came back, it was the third-party theme code that was the problem, so you can try to find another theme or update the problem one through the app store, and sometimes developers release patches that fix bugs with widgets.

It is worth noting that some “heavy” themes can slow down the launcher, which may cause widgets to not have time to boot when the system starts, in which case cleaning the theme cache in the application settings helps.

Resetting launcher settings and system applications

If simple methods didn’t work, the launcher itself, the desktop application in Xiaomi’s shell, may have malfunctioned, a process called com.miui.home, and resetting it won’t delete your personal data, but will return the icons and widgets to factory status.

To do this, open the Settings of your smartphone and search for the Apps section. Then select All Apps and find Louncher or System Launcher in the list. In the menu that opens, click Clear and select Reset (do not confuse deleting data if you want to keep the folder structure, although this is often necessary for widgets).

Settings → Applications → All Applications → Launcher → Clean → Resetting Settings

Once reset is done, the phone can briefly reboot the interface. The desktop will return to the out-of-the-box view, and the standard clock should appear automatically. If the widget does not appear on its own, add it manually through the widget menu, as described in the first section.

💡

Before resetting the launcher, take a screenshot of the current location of the icons, then quickly restore the usual structure of the desktop.

This method is especially effective if the problem occurred after a failed firmware update, when the interface configuration files could get corrupted.

Use of Google widgets and third-party apps

Standard MIUI tools don't always suit users, especially if they want to see seconds, moon phases, or world time, and in this case, Google widgets or specialty apps from the Play Market come to the rescue, and they often work more stable and have more customizations.

Press and hold your finger on the empty desktop, then select "Widgets." Search the "Hours" list (Google icon). There's a world watch, digital and analogue options available. Just drag and drop them on the screen. These widgets are integrated into the Android system and rarely disappear on their own.

If you want advanced functionality, consider installing apps like HD Widgets or Overdrop, which let you create your own watch designs, change fonts, colors, and add weather data, and once you install it, its widget will appear in the system’s general widget list.

⚠️ Warning: Third-party widgets may consume more RAM.If you have a budget smartphone model with a 3-4 GB RAM, use native widgets MIUI for better productivity.

To install a widget from a third-party app, you first need to install the app itself from Google Play. After installation and initial configuration, return to the desktop, open the widget menu and find the name of the installed application in the list.

Solving problems after updating the firmware

Updating the operating system is a process that often changes the structure of the interface. Once you switch from MIUI 14 to HyperOS or even within versions of the same shell, the path to the widgets or their name may change, sometimes old widgets become incompatible and are automatically removed by the system.

In such cases, you need to re-add the time widget. Go to the widget menu and look closely at the top of the list, which often includes new, updated versions of the watch labeled "New" or "Recommended." Old widgets can be hidden in the "Other" category.

If the watch is gone completely after the update and is not added, the system interface cache may be damaged. Try cleaning the cache through Recovery mode or simply restarting the device in Safe Mode to eliminate the impact of third-party applications.

💡

After major firmware updates, always check for new versions of system widgets in the add-on menu, as old ones can be removed by developers.

Also worth checking is that permissions for system applications are disabled. In rare cases, the update resets the widgets' access rights to the network or geolocation, which prevents them from displaying current time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)