How to return icons on the Xiaomi desktop to the original state: from reset to manual settings

Disappearance of icons from the Xiaomi desktop is a problem that users face after updating MIUI, accidentally pressing or crashing in the launcher. Unlike iPhone or Samsung, where recovery takes a couple of clicks, on Redmi, POCO or Mi smartphones, the process can be complicated due to the features of the shell. In 80% of cases, it is not the user who is to blame, but the bugs in the work of com.miui.home, a standard launcher that sometimes “forgets” the saved screen configuration.

In this article, we’ll look at all the working methods for returning icons, from simply restarting the launcher to deep resetting the MIUI settings, which is guaranteed to return the original state. Importantly, if you’ve recently updated your firmware (for example, from MIUI 13 to MIUI 14), first check the section on automatic recovery after the update, which will save time. For owners of POCO F5, Redmi Note 12 and other new models, all the methods are relevant except manual editing configs (see the compatibility table below).

If the icons are missing after installing a third-party launcher (like Nova Launcher or Hyperion), first go back to the standard com.miui.home via the default settings. Otherwise, some methods will not work.

1. Restart the launcher: the fastest way (works in 60% of cases)

The first thing to try is to force the launcher to stop and restart, a method that doesn’t require root rights and works even on locked bootloaders, and is suitable for all Xiaomi models, including the Redmi 10C, POCO X5 Pro and Mi 11 Lite.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. In the search box, type com.miui.home (or simply "launcher").
3. Select the application, click "Forced Stop".
4. Confirm the action and restart the smartphone.

After the reboot, the icons should return to their places. If this does not happen, check if the Light Desktop mode (relevant to MIUI 14) is turned on:

⚠️ Note: Some firmware after the forced stop of the launcher may appear black screen on 10-20 Don't panic, that's okay. If the screen doesn't recover in a minute, move on to the next method.

2. Restore via MIUI backup (if synchronization was enabled)

If you previously activated cloud sync (Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud → Synchronization), the system could automatically save the desktop configuration, which is suitable for users who have updated firmware or reset settings to factory.

How to restore:

• 📱 Open the Settings. → The phone. → Backup and reset.
• 🔄 Select "Restore from backup".
• ☁️ Specify your Mi Account and select the most recent copy marked “Desktop".
• ✅ Confirm recovery and wait until completion (may take up to 5 minutes).

If there is no backup, try an alternative method through Local Backup:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and copy the MIUI/backup/AllBackup folder from your internal memory.
2. Find a file with the.mbk extension (for example, 20231015_123456.mbk).
3. Return to the recovery menu and select Local Backup.

3. Resetting the launcher settings to factory (without data loss)

This method only resets the desktop configuration without affecting apps, photos or other user data.Suitable for MIUI 12-14 and all Xiaomi models except Android One devices (such as the Mi A3).

Step-by-step:

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management → All applications.
2. Find com.miui.home and select "Storage".
3. Click on "Clear Data" and "Clear Cache".
4. Reset the device.

After restarting, the desktop will return to the “out of the box” state:

• 📱 Standard icons (Phone, Messages, Camera) will appear at the bottom of the screen.
• 📁 Folders and widgets will be deleted.
• 🔄 Installed apps will remain on the menu, but they will have to be added to the screen again.

⚠️ Note: Some firmware may not be able to resize icons after resetting the launcher. To return the function, go to Settings → Desktop → Size of icons and select "Mediocre" or "Large".

4. Manual file editing desktop_backup.xml (advanced)

If previous methods failed, you can manually edit the launcher configuration file, which requires access to the file system through root Explorer or ADB. This is suitable for users who have previously backed up or are willing to manually restore the structure.

Instructions via ADB:

adb shell


su




cp /data/data/com.miui.home/shared_prefs/desktop_backup.xml /sdcard/

You can open a copied file in any text editor (like Notepad++).

<item screen="0" x="1" y="2" spanX="1" spanY="1">


<intent package="com.android.contacts" />




</item>

Where:

• screen="0" is the desktop number (starts with 0).
• x="1" y="2" are the coordinates of the icon.
• package="com.android.contacts" is the application identifier.

After editing, return the file back:

adb push desktop_backup.xml /data/data/com.miui.home/shared_prefs/


adb shell chmod 644 /data/data/com.miui.home/shared_prefs/desktop_backup.xml

💡

Before editing desktop_backup.xml A syntax error can lead to a launcher reboot cycle.

5. Reinstall the MIUI launcher via ADB (if the file is corrupted)

If the launcher configuration file is damaged or missing, you can reinstall the com.miui.home app itself without completely resetting your phone.The method requires an ADB debugging bridge and works on all Xiaomi models except for devices with a locked bootloader (for example, the new Redmi from China).

Steps:

1. Download the original APK launcher for your version of MIUI (for example, from the MIUI ApkArchive website).
2. Connect your phone to your PC and execute commands: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.home adb install miui-home.apk
3. Reset the device.

Once reinstalled, the desktop will return to factory settings, and all custom icons and folders will have to be reconfigured.

⚠️ Attention: Some firmware may lose the animation of transitions between screens after reinstalling the launcher. To return it, go to Settings → Additionally. → System animation and select "Standard".

6. Complete reset to factory settings (extreme case)

If none of these methods work, the last option is hard reset, which erases all data from your phone, including apps, photos and settings, so use it as a last resort. It works for all Xiaomi models, but requires prior backup.

How to reset:

• 🔄 Go to Settings. → The phone. → Resetting settings.
• 📱 Select "Erase all data".
• 🔐 Enter the password (if installed) and confirm the action.
• ⏳ Wait until it's finished (taken). 5-10 minute).

Once reset, the phone will boot up in a store-like state to return the icons:

1. Pass the initial setup.
2. Sign in to your Mi Account (if Mi Cloud was enabled, the icons can be restored automatically).
3. Manually add the missing icons from the app menu.

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Before resetting, be sure to remove SIM-card and memory card! on some models (e.g. Redmi) 9A) formatted and external storage.

FAQ: Frequent questions about badge restoration on Xiaomi