How to turn on the watch on Xiaomi Mi 6: all ways and solutions to problems

The Xiaomi Mi 6, launched in 2017, is still popular with users due to its reliability and performance, but even such a time-tested device may have questions about basic settings — such as how to properly turn on the display of the clock on the lock screen or desktop. Unlike current models with MIUI 14, the interface and the location of options are different, which often causes confusion.

In this article, we’ll go into all the ways you can activate your Mi 6 watch, from standard settings to hidden features, and look at typical issues that may cause time to fail. If you’ve recently updated your firmware or reset your phone to factory settings, this guide will help you get back to your screen in a few minutes.

Why Xiaomi Mi 6 can not work with a watch?

Before we get into the settings, it’s important to understand why the watch can disappear from the screen at all. On the Mi 6, this is usually due to one of the following reasons:

• 🔄 Resetting – After returning to factory settings, many widgets, including watches, are automatically disabled.
• 📱 Update MIUI — Switching to a new version of the firmware (for example, with MIUI 9 MIUI 12) may reset the time display.
• 🔋 Battery savings – in ultra-low consumption mode, some interface elements are hidden.
• 🛠️ System application errors – failures in com.android.systemui or MiuiSystemUI cause the clock to disappear.
• 🎨 Third-party themes or launchers – installing custom themes from the Mi Theme Store sometimes breaks the display of standard widgets.

If a clock is lost after one of these events, there are usually two problems: either it is hidden in the settings, or you need to restart the system processes.

Method 1: Enabling the clock on the lock screen

On the Xiaomi Mi 6, the lock screen clock is controlled separately from the desktop to activate:

1. Open the settings (cog icon on the desktop).
2. Go to Lock Screen and Password (older versions of MIUI may call it Lock and Protection).
3. Select Lock Style or Lock screen settings.
4. Activate the Show Clock (if any) switch or select the time display style (e.g. Digital or Analog).

In some firmware, the option may be hidden deeper. For example, in MIUI 10 for Mi 6, the path is: Settings → Lock screen → Additional settings → Widgets on the lock screen. If the watch is not in the list of available widgets, try resetting the lock screen settings (more on this below).

Make sure the phone has the correct time set in the date and time settings

Check if the Do Not Disturb mode is activated (it can hide widgets)

Restart your phone if the clock doesn’t show up after the changes-->

Method 2: Adding a clock to your desktop (widget)

If the watch is missing from the home screen, you can return it by adding a widget. On the Mi 6, it's done like this:

1. Touch and hold any free space on your desktop with your finger.
2. In the menu that appears, select Widgets (or Widgets in English firmware).
3. Scroll through the list to the Watch section (usually Clock or MiuiClock).
4. Choose the appropriate style (like Analog 4×2 or Digital 2×1) and drag it to your desktop.

If there is no clock in the widget list, it can mean:

• 🔄 The system application of the clock is disabled (check in Settings) → Annexes → Application management).
• 📦 Widget removed from the system (relevant for custom firmware).
• 🎨 A third-party theme that does not support standard widgets is installed.

💡

If the watch widget doesn't appear in the list, try resetting the launcher settings. Go to Settings → Applications → Launcher (or Mi Home) and press Storage → Clear Data. After the reboot, the widgets should return.

Method 3: Configure the time display in the status bar

On the Xiaomi Mi 6, the clock in the top bar (status bar) can disappear due to charge saving settings or interface errors.

1. Open Settings → Battery and Performance.
2. Go to Battery Mode and select Balanced or Performance (in Charge Saving Mode, the watch in the status bar is often hidden).
3. Return to the basic settings and open Notifications and Status bar.
4. Make sure the Show Clock (or Time in the Status Bar) switch is on.

If the clock never came to the status bar, try restarting the system interface.

Settings → Applications → Application Management → Three points (menu) → Show system → Find “MiuiSystemUI” → Stop

After that, the phone will restart and the clock will have to return, which only works on MIUI 9-12, and newer versions may require a full reboot.

Method 4: Reset the lock screen settings

If the watch doesn't appear on any of the screens, all settings are enabled, resetting the lock screen configuration will help, and it doesn't affect personal data, but it will return the standard lock type:

1. Open Settings → Lock screen and password.
2. Select Lock Style and click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
3. Click Reset settings (or Restore by default).
4. Confirm the action and wait for the changes to be applied.

After reset, the watch should appear as standard, and if this does not happen, check if the set theme is in conflict with the system:

• 🎨 Go to Settings. → Select a standard theme (Default or Default) MIUI).
• 🔄 Reboot the phone.

Solving the clock problems after the MIUI update

Updating the firmware on Xiaomi Mi 6 often breaks the time display, which is because newer versions of MIUI may conflict with the old settings.

1. Check out MIUI version: Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version. If the version is older than MIUI 12.5, it is recommended to update (but keep in mind that the official support for the Mi 6 has ended, so updates can only be through custom firmware).
2. Clean the cache: After updating, clear the cache of system applications: Settings → Storage → Clear the cache.
3. Reset Time Settings: Sometimes it helps to disable and re-enable automatic time: Settings → Additional → Date and Time → Disable Autodetermination, then turn it back on.

If the problem occurs after upgrading to MIUI 11 or later, it may be your firmware is custom (e.g. xiaomi.eu or LineageOS).In this case, the watch may not work due to the lack of proprietary Xiaomi libraries.

💡

If the watch is missing after the update, try to clear the cache of system applications first, and 80% of the time, this solves the problem without additional actions.

Xiaomi Mi 6 Watches Don’t Show Right Time: What to Do

Sometimes the clock is displayed, but it shows the wrong time.

• ⏰ Incorrect time settings – the phone does not sync with servers NTP.
• 🌍 Wrong time zone – especially important when traveling.
• 📡 Network problems – without the Internet, automatic time synchronization does not work.

To fix this:

1. Open Settings → Additional → Date and time.
2. Make sure that options are included: 🔄 Autodetermining date and time 🌐 Time zone autodetermination

If the time is still incorrect, turn off automatic determination, set the time manually, then turn on autosynchronization again.

If the problem persists, check your internet connection or try to connect to another network (like 4G to Wi-Fi), and it rarely helps to change the time server through apps like ClockSync (available on Google Play).

💡

If the Xiaomi Mi 6 watch is constantly knocked down after rebooting, this may indicate a discharged CMOS battery (non-energy memory), in which case you need to replace the battery or repair the board.

Comparison of ways to include the watch on Xiaomi Mi 6

As you can see from the table, the simplest methods (locking settings and widgets) give the maximum result with minimal effort. More complex methods (cache reset, firmware update) are worth trying only if the basic ones do not work.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the Xiaomi Mi watch 6