How to turn on a watch on Xiaomi Mi: all ways to MIUI 12, 13 and 14

Did you buy a new Xiaomi smartphone or upgrade your firmware, but suddenly you stopped showing the clock on the lock screen or in the top notification bar? Or maybe after resetting, the time went wrong and did not sync automatically? This problem is familiar to many owners of devices based on MIUI, the Xiaomi brand shell. 80% of cases are to blame for problems in the date / time settings or disabled system widgets.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can turn on your Xiaomi Mi, Redmi and POCO, from basic settings to hidden developer settings, how to get your time back on a locked screen, status bar, and even an always-on display (AOD) and if standard methods don’t work, you’ll find solutions for complex cases, including cache resets and manual synchronization with NTP servers.

Warning: on some models (for example, Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra or Redmi Note 12 Pro+) the path to settings may slightly differ due to the versions of MIUI. But the general logic remains - watch the screenshots in the instructions and adapt the steps to your firmware.

1. Check the basic date and time settings

The first thing to do is make sure that the smartphone is automatically time synchronized, and users often accidentally turn off this option, after which the watch stops updating or displays incorrect data.

How to check:

• 📱 Open Settings (cog icon on the desktop).
• ⚙️ Go to the Additional Settings section → Date and time.
• 🔄 Make sure the switches Date and Time Auto Determination and Time Zone Auto Detection are active (blue slider).
• 🌍 If the options are disabled, turn them on and wait for sync (may take up to 1 minute).

If automatic synchronization is enabled but the clock still doesn’t work, try manually updating the time:

1. Turn off the Auto-Date and Time option.
2. Click on the Set a date and select the current date.
3. Click on the Set time field and enter the current time (within minutes).
4. Turn on automatic synchronization again.

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI (For example, the global version for POCO F3) After manually setting the time, the automatic synchronization may not turn back on.

2. Enable the clock on the lock screen

If the time is displayed in the status bar, but the clock on the locked screen is missing, the problem lies in the lock screen settings. In MIUI 13 and 14, developers have added the ability to completely hide widgets on Lock Screen - sometimes this option works after an update.

To get the clock back:

• 🔓 Unlock your smartphone and open Settings.
• 🖥️ Go to the Lock screen. → Lock screen style.
• 🎨 Choose any style that has a watch (e.g. Digital or Analog).
• ✅ Click Apply and check for changes.

If the lock screen styles are not saved, try resetting the settings:

Settings → Lock screen → Additional → Resetting settings

Selected style with watches|Autobrightness does not interfere with the display|There are no active themes that hide widgets|The problem persists after the reboot-->

3. Always on Display (AOD) setup

Owners of Xiaomi flagship models (such as the Mi 12 Pro or Redmi K50 Ultra) often experience a timepiece on Always On Display suddenly disappearing, which may be due to:

• 🔋 Savings in battery charge (AOD shut off at low charge level).
• 📱 Update MIUI, tune-out.
• 🛠️ Failure of the proximity/light sensor.

To turn on the clock on the AOD:

1. Open the Settings. → Screen. → Always On Display.
2. Activate the slider Always on Display.
3. In the Style section, select the option with the watch (e.g. Digital Watch or Minimalist Watch).
4. Set up a display schedule (you can choose Always or Schedule).

⚠️ Attention: On devices with LCD-screens (e.g. Redmi) 9A or POCO M3) Always On Display doesn't work at all, it's a hardware constraint. AOD subliterated!

4. Solving problems with time synchronization

If the Xiaomi clock is showing the wrong time or constantly getting knocked down, the problem may lie in the incorrect operation of the servers. NTP (Network Time Protocol: This is especially true after a change in time. SIM-maps, moving to another region or firmware updates.

Ways to fix:

• 🔄 Change the server. NTP: Open the Settings. → Additionally. → Date and time. Turn off date and time autodetermination. Press Select time zone and set it manually. Turn back on automatic determination.
• 📡 Check your network connection: Without internet (mobile or Wi-Fi) sync is not possible.
• 🔧 Reset network settings: Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Resetting network settings