How to permanently disable the Chinese keyboard on Xiaomi: 5 working ways

Why Xiaomi is getting a Chinese keyboard and how to fix it

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face unexpected switching of layout to Chinese — characters instead of usual letters, broken text input and the inability to type even a simple request. The problem arises for several reasons: from accidental pressing of a keyboard combination to system failures after updating MIUI. 80% of cases, the fault is the preinstalled keyboard Sogou Input or Baidu IME, which are activated when changing language settings.

The key challenge is that not all users know how to bring the Russian or English layout back. Xiaomi's official documentation is silent about the problem, and standard methods (such as resetting keyboard settings) often don't work. We tested 5 methods on devices with a high-quality, low-end system. MIUI 12-14, and they found the most reliable solutions, from simple deletion of layout to deep cleaning of system files. ADB, But most problems are solved without them.

Method 1: Remove Chinese layout through keyboard settings

The fastest method is to deactivate unnecessary layouts in the keyboard menu, which works if Chinese characters only appear when switching languages (for example, swipe over the space), but the main keyboard remains working.

Instructions:

• 📱 Open any field to enter text (such as Notes or Messages).
• 🔍 Click on the globe icon (or gear) on the keyboard → Select Settings.
• 🌐 Go to the section Input languages or Languages and layouts.
• ❌ Find the Chinese language (usually marked as or ) in the list and swipe it left or click Delete.

If you don't have a Chinese item, but the characters still appear, then the problem is deeper, in the Sogou system keyboard, and then move on to the next one.

Check the list of active layouts in the keyboard settings|Reboot the smartphone after removal|Update. MIUI last-minute|Try changing the keyboard to Gboard-->

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If after removing the Chinese layout, the keyboard disappeared completely, restart the phone - the system will automatically return the standard layout.

Method 2: Disabling the Sogou Input system keyboard

The Sogou Input (or Baidu IME) keyboard is pre-installed on many Xiaomi devices for the Chinese market, and can be activated even on global firmware after resetting or updating, and can be disabled via the app menu:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. In the search box, type Sogou or Baidu.
3. Select the app found → click Disable (if the button is inactive, click Remove Updates first).
4. Confirm the action and restart the smartphone.

Important: On some models (such as Xiaomi 12T or Redmi Note 11), the Sogou keyboard is hidden in system files and does not appear in the application list, in which case only resetting or deleting through ADB will help.

Gboard (Google)|Sogou Input|Baidu IME|other|I don't know.-->

Method 3: Reset keyboard settings to factory

If the Chinese layout appears after the MIUI update or the system languages change, resetting the keyboard settings will help, which does not affect personal data, but will return all the parameters of text input to the factory.

How to do this:

1. Open Settings → System and Device → Additional settings → Language and input.
2. Select Virtual Keyboard → Keyboard Management.
3. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner → Reset settings.
4. Confirm the action and restart the phone.

After reset, the system automatically activates the main layout (usually English or Russian, depending on the region of the firmware).If the problem persists, check if the firmware is installed for the Chinese market (China ROM).

Method 4: Remove via ADB (for power users)

If standard methods fail and the Sogou keyboard continues to interfere, it can be removed via Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which requires connecting the phone to your computer and enabling debugging mode.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone and click on MIUI Version 7 times.
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and activate Debugging over USB.
3. Connect your phone to your PC, install ADB drivers, and open the command prompt in the folder with the platform-tools.
4. Enter the commands in turn: adb devices adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.sohu.inputmethod.sogou

If the command fails, try an alternative package:

pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.baidu.input

⚠️ Note: Removing system applications through ADB This can cause your phone to run in an unstable way.

Method 5: Reflashing to the global version of MIUI

If all previous methods did not help, the reason may lie in Chinese firmware (China). ROM). Such versions MIUI They're optimized for the local market, and they often contain unnecessary services, including a forced Chinese keyboard.

Firmware options:

For flashing:

1. Download the official Global ROM for your model from Xiaomi’s website.
2. Transfer the firmware file (.zip) to the root folder of the phone.
3. Open the Updater app, click on three dots → Select a firmware file.
4. Confirm the installation and wait for the completion (the phone will restart several times).

⚠️ Attention: Firmware through Fastboot requires unlocking the bootloader, which resets all data and can void the warranty.On Xiaomi models 13/14 and the newer unlock takes up to 720 waiting-hours.

What to do if nothing helps

If the Chinese keyboard keeps popping up even after all the manipulations, check out:

• 🔄 Updates MIUI: Go to Settings. → The phone. → Update the system and install the latest version.
• 📱 Reset to factory: in Settings → The phone. → Reset settings select Erase all data (pre-do backup!).
• 🛠️ Contacting the service: if the problem is hardware (for example, sticking buttons), diagnostics are required.

On the 4PDA and XDA Developers forums, users note that on some models (Poco F3, Redmi K40), the Chinese keyboard returns after each update, in which case only a complete replacement of firmware with custom (for example, Pixel Experience or LineageOS) will help.

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If you buy a smartphone in China or on AliExpress, it is likely that it is China ROM. The only reliable solution is firmware for a global or European version of MIUI.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the Chinese keyboard on Xiaomi