How to completely turn off live wallpaper on Xiaomi: 5 working ways

Live wallpaper on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones looks spectacular, but often causes accelerated battery drain, device overheating or even interface slowdowns, especially on budget models with limited resources — for example, the Redmi Note 10 or POCO M4 Pro, where background animation can eat up to 15-20% of charge per hour of active use. Even if you switch to static wallpaper through standard settings, the system sometimes returns animation after a MIUI update or reboot.

In this article, we’ll look at all the possible ways to turn off live wallpaper, from basic settings to hidden engineering menu features, how to remove embedded animation themes, block them from automatically turning on, and even limit the background processes that play them. Separately, we’ll look at the nuances for different versions of MIUI (12 to 14) and popular models where the problem manifests most often.

Why live wallpaper is harmful to the smartphone Xiaomi

Animated background images are not just a picture, but a full-fledged application that is constantly running in the background. Unlike static wallpaper, they are:

• 🔋 Battery discharge – even in standby mode, animation can consume up to 5-7% Charge per hour (according to Xiaomi Community tests on Mi) 11 Lite).
• 🔥 CPU loads – especially on Snapdragon devices 6xx or Helio G, where GPU Not optimized for continuous rendering.
• 🐢 Slow down the interface due to conflicts with miui.system and com.miui.home, which are responsible for displaying the desktop.
• 📱 Reset after updates — MIUI Often returns factory theme settings when installing new versions.

According to internal tests Xiaomi, on devices with AMOLED-screens (for example, Xiaomi 12 Pro or Redmi) K50) Live wallpaper can reduce battery life by up to 30% due to the constant illumination of pixels, while in the battery settings they disguise themselves as the system process of the Android System, making them difficult to detect.

⚠️ Note: On some models (e.g, POCO X3 Pro) live wallpaper from com.android.themes cannot be removed by standard means, but must be deactivated by ADB or roll back.

Method 1: Disconnect via standard MIUI settings

The easiest method is to use built-in MIUI tools. It is suitable for most devices, but may not work on custom firmware or if the wallpaper was installed through third-party launchers (for example, Nova Launcher).

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Wallpaper (or Personalization → Wallpaper in MIUI 14).
2. Select the Static tab or My Wallpaper tab.
3. Slip on any unanimated image and apply it to the Lock Screen and the Main Screen.
4. Restart the device (required!) to make the changes effective.

If the live wallpaper returned after the reboot:

• 🔄 Try repeating the steps, but select wallpaper from the gallery (your photos).
• 📁 Check the folder. MIUI/Theme In the internal memory – sometimes there are cached animation files.

Make sure in Settings → Battery → No Live Wallpaper Picker | No animation when unlocked | Wallpaper does not change when scrolling | In Settings → Wallpaper is active tab "Static"

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On some devices (e.g. Redmi Note 11) after these actions, the animation can remain on the lock screen. In this case, go to Settings → Lock screen → Wallpaper style and select the option No animation.

Method 2: Remove themes with live wallpaper through MIUI Themes

Many live wallpapers are installed along with themes from the official MIUI Themes store. Even if you've changed the wallpaper manually, the background themes processes can continue to work.

Steps:

1. Open the Themes app (icon with brush).
2. Go to Mine. → Established themes.
3. Find themes marked Live Wallpaper or Dynamic in the title.
4. Slip on three points next to the topic → Delete.
5. Repeat for all suspicious topics, even if they are inactive.

⚠️ Attention: MIUI 14 Some system themes (e.g. Mi Space) cannot be deleted – they can only be deactivated via the ADB (see method 4).

After removing themes, be sure to clean the cache:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find themes and wallpaper, select Warehouse → Clear cache.

I like the wallpaper (despite battery consumption)|Static wallpaper (chosen by himself)|Standard wallpaper MIUI|Topics from MIUI Themes|Other (write in the comments)-->

Method 3: Disconnect via the Engineering Menu (for advanced)

If standard methods don’t work, you can block live wallpaper at the system level through the engineering menu (#4636##), which is suitable for devices on MIUI 12-14, but requires caution – incorrect settings can lead to failures.

Instructions:

1. Open the Phone app and enter the code ##4636## (some models may require code ##36446337##).
2. Select Battery Information (or Usage Statistics in English firmware).
3. Scroll down to the Running section and find the processes: com.android.wallpaper.livepicker com.miui.livewallpaper com.android.themes

Stop

Quick setups

Quick settings

Live Wallpaper

turn off

After these actions:

• 🔄 Reset the device.
• 📵 Check what's in the Settings → Applications live wallpaper processes are not active.

⚠️ Note: On devices with HyperOS (new firmware from Xiaomi), the engineering menu may not be available. ADB tilt MIUI 14.

Method 4: Deactivation via ADB (for all versions of MIUI)

If the live wallpaper returns after each update or reboot, it can be completely blocked via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), a method that works on all Xiaomi devices but requires a PC connection.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on the MIUI version until the notification appears You became a developer.

USB debugging

• Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
• Turn on USB debugging and confirm the permission.
• Connect your smartphone to your PC and open Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (Mac/Linux).
• Enter the commands in turn: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.wallpaper.livepicker pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.livewallpaper pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.themes
• Reset the device.

Warnings:

• 📱 After reset, all widgets and folders on the main screen will disappear.
• 🔄 You may have to re-set the gestures and animations of transitions.

💡

Resetting the launcher is a last resort, and try all other methods before you do this, as after cleaning the data, some functions (such as App Vault) may not work properly.

How to prevent automatic inclusion of live wallpaper

Even after a successful shutdown, MIUI can re-activate animation after:

• 🔄 Firmware updates.
• 📥 Installation of new topics MIUI Themes.
• 🔋 Resetting to factory settings.

To avoid this:

1. Turn off auto-update themes: Go to Topics → Settings → Auto-update. Turn off Auto-loading themes.
2. Block background activity: In Settings → Battery → Battery Optimization, find Wallpaper and Themes. Select Limit background activity.

Use a third-party launcher:

• Install Nova Launcher or Lawnchair from Google Play.
• In the launcher settings, turn off animations and live wallpaper.

Through Task Manager:

• Open Settings → Applications → Running (or Battery Use).
• Check if there are Live Wallpaper or com.miui.livewallpaper processes on the list.