How to return the old wallpaper to the Xiaomi phone: all ways to restore

Why did Xiaomi’s wallpaper disappear and can it be returned?

Have you upgraded MIUI to a new version, reset your settings to factory or accidentally deleted your favorite wallpaper - and now the lock screen displays a standard background? This problem is familiar to many owners of Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO and Black Shark. Fortunately, you can return the old wallpaper in 80% of cases - even if you did not back up.

The reasons for the disappearance of wallpaper usually boil down to three scenarios: automatic update. MIUI (The system resets the background when you upgrade to the new version, manually resets the settings through the recovery menu, or an error in the Themes app, which is responsible for managing the backgrounds. /data/system/users/0/wallpaper_info.xml — file where data on current wallpaper is stored.

It's important to understand that if you downloaded the wallpaper from the Internet (for example, through the Themes app), it will take no more than 5 minutes to restore it. If it was a personal photo from a gallery that you installed manually, you will have to search for the original in backups or cloud storage.

Method 1: Recovery through the "Themes" app

The fastest method is to check the history of downloaded themes in the standard Themes app, which automatically saves the last 5-10 used wallpapers, even if you did not add them to your favorites.

Instructions:

• 📱 Open the “Themes” app (icon with a brush on your desktop).
• 🔍 Go to Wallpaper section. → My Wallpapers (or My Wallpapers in the global version).
• ⏳ Scroll down the list – here are the last used backgrounds, including the deleted ones.
• 📲 Click on the desired wallpaper and select Apply on the main screen / lock screen.

If the wallpaper was installed from the MIUI collection but is not displayed in the history, try:

1. Back to the main menu "Themes".
2. In the search bar, enter the name of the wallpaper (for example, "mountains" or "abstraction").
3. Download them again - the system will offer to apply the background immediately after downloading.

💡

If the Themes app doesn’t open or gives an error, clear its cache in Settings → Applications → Application Management → Topics → Storage → Clear the cache.

Method 2: Search in the folder with MIUI wallpaper

All wallpapers downloaded through the Themes app are stored in a hidden folder, accessed through any root file manager or built-in MI File Manager (if hidden files are enabled).

Path to the folder:

/storage/emulated/0/MIUI/theme/.data/


or




/data/user/0/com.android.themes/cache/

Inside you will find folders with the titles of the topics (for example, wallpaper_1080_2400 Files have an extension of.jpg or.png. To apply them:

• 📁 Copy the file to a convenient location (for example, in a folder). DCIM/Wallpapers).
• 🖼️ Open the gallery, find the copied file.
• 🔧 Press More. → Set up how → Wallpaper.

⚠️ Attention: If you have MIUI 14+, The path to the folder may have changed: /Android/data/com.android.themes/files/. Access is possible only through root or ADB.

Method 3: Restore from MIUI backup

If you've ever backed up through Mi Cloud or locally (in Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset), the wallpaper could have been archived. Here's how to extract it:

An important nuance: in MIUI backups, wallpaper is only saved if you explicitly enabled the option "Save theme settings" when creating the backup. If this tick was not there, there are no backgrounds in the archive.

If the local backup is damaged (file won’t open), try:

• 🔄 Rename the extension from.bak to.zip and unpack the archiver.
• 🔍 Search inside the folder. theme/wallpaper.

Method 4: Using ADB for manual recovery

For advanced users who are ready to work with Android Debug Bridge (ADB), there is a way to extract wallpaper directly from system files.

• 🔧 Wallpaper was installed through system settings (not from "Tem").
• 📱 You have access to adb shell (you need enabled debugging on the board) USB).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: adb shell su cp /data/system/users/0/wallpaper_info.xml /sdcard/
2. Copy the file. wallpaper_info.xml phone-to-computer.
3. Open it in a text editor (like Notepad++).
4. Find the lines with the wallpaper paths (look for the <wallpaper> or <lockwallpaper> tags).
5. Copy files using the specified paths (e.g. /data/data/com.android.settings/files/wallpaper.jpg).

⚠️ Attention: Working with ADB requires root rights or unlocked bootloader. MIUI 13+ And if you have a locked bootloader, it won't work. wallpaper_info.xml manually – this can lead to a failure in the launcher.

Install Xiaomi drivers on PC

Enable USB debugging in Developer Settings

Download ADB Tools (platform-tools)

Connect your phone to the original cable

Check the connection with the adb device command-->

Method 5: Recover from the cache of a gallery or cloud services

If the wallpaper was installed from a personal photo, check the following sources:

• 📸 Cash galleries: Folder DCIM/.thumbnails It can contain thumbnails of deleted photos. Use applications like DiskDigger to recover.
• ☁️ Cloud storage: 📱 Mi Cloud (Section Photo) → Recycle Bin - Files are stored 30 days). 📁 Google Photos (Folder Archive or Cart). 💾 Yandex Disc./Dropbox (automatic backup of the gallery).
• 🔄 Backup Chats: If Wallpaper was sent to Telegram or WhatsApp, check media files in conversations.

To recover from Google Photos:

1. Open the Google Photos app.
2. Go to the Library. → Basket.
3. Find the image you want and click Restore.
4. After recovery, install it as wallpaper through the Gallery → More → Install as.

💡

If the wallpaper has been synced to Mi Cloud but is not displayed in the gallery, try logging in to Xiaomi account on another device - sometimes files are only visible through the web version of cloud.xiaomi.com.

What if none of the methods worked?

If all of these methods fail, there are three options:

1. Find similar wallpaper on the Internet. 🔍 Use Google Images or Yandex.Images to search by snippet (if you remember what the background looked like). 🎨 Download similar wallpapers from collections: Official Xiaomi WallpapersCraft themes (quality smartphone backgrounds)

Reset the launcher settings.

Sometimes a MIUI Launcher malfunction causes the wallpaper to be lost.

Settings → Applications → Application Management → Launcher → Storage → Clear data

⚠️ Warning: This will remove all widgets and icon layouts on the desktop!

Call for Xiaomi support.

If the wallpaper disappeared after the MIUI update and was part of the official theme, write to the support chat (Settings → About Phone → Review) indicating:

• Phone models.
• MIUI versions before and after the update.
• The title of the topic (if you remember).

FAQ: Frequent questions about wallpaper restoration on Xiaomi