Keyboard on Xiaomi became small: reasons and 8 working ways to fix

Have you opened a message or are trying to write a comment, but instead of the usual keyboard, Xiaomi has a tiny bar with buttons that you can not press without a magnifier? This problem occurs on Redmi, POCO and Mi smartphones, regardless of the version of MIUI - from 12 to 14. The reasons can be due to a failure of system settings, and errors of third-party keyboards like Gboard or SwiftKey.

In this article, we’ll look at all possible scenarios, from the banal random zooming to deep screen resolution and pixel density (DPI) settings, how to return the keyboard to its normal size in 2 minutes — or what to do if the problem returns after a reboot, and why on some models (such as the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ or POCO F5), the keyboard can “compress” on its own when connected to an external display.

1. Check the scale of the keyboard in the MIUI settings

The most common reason is to accidentally resize the keyboard through gestures, and in MIUI, you can do this by putting two fingers together on the keyboard (as in a smaller photo) to get it back.

1. Open any field to enter text (such as notes or a message).
2. Touch the gear badge (⚙️) keyboard.
3. Select Size and layout (or Appearance in English).
4. Move the slider The size of the keyboard to the right to a convenient value.

If you don't have a slider, your keyboard is not a standard MIUI Keyboard, but a third-party one (see Section 3). Also check if One Hand mode is activated, it automatically reduces the keyboard for convenience on larger screens.

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On some Xiaomi firmware, the scale of the keyboard is reset after the update. If the problem appears after the MIUI update, try clearing the keyboard cache in the app settings.

2. Resetting the default keyboard settings

If manually resizing doesn't help, reset your keyboard settings to factory settings.

• 📱 Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management.
• 🔍 In the search, enter the name of your keyboard (for example, MIUI Keyboard or Gboard).
• 🗑️ Press Warehouse. → Clear the data (no cache!).
• 🔄 Reboot the phone.

Attention! This method will remove all saved words from the keyboard dictionary and personal settings (themes, gestures). If you use Gboard, pre-synchronize the data with your Google account:

Gboard settings → Dictionary → Synchronization of the dictionary

After resetting, the keyboard will return to its standard size, but you will have to reconfigure the auto-replacement and add frequently used words.

3. setting up third-party keyboards (Gboard, SwiftKey, etc.)

The side of the keyboard often has its own zoom algorithms that can conflict with MIUI settings. For example, Gboard automatically reduces the size on high-resolution screens (for example, Xiaomi 13 Ultra with 3200×1440).

For Gboard:

• 🎨 Open the Gboard Settings → Topics.
• 📏 Select the size of the keyboard and move the slider to a large or very large one.
• 🔄 In the section Additional → One hand settings turn off the Automatic Decrease option.

For SwiftKey:

• 🖼️ Go to Settings. → Scale and layout.
• 📱 Set the keyboard height to High.
• 🔍 Check the Corrections section → Autoscale and turn it off.

On the POCO F4 GT and Redmi K50 Gaming, the keyboard may be reduced due to the performance mode, which optimizes the display for games. Disable it in Settings → Special Features → Mode for games.

Update the keyboard in Google Play|Turn off auto-scale|Check the theme settings|Reset the application settings|Reboot the phone-->

4.Reduction of pixel density (DPI) – for power users

If the keyboard became small after updating MIUI or changing the firmware, the problem may be in the wrong pixel density (DPI).This is a parameter that determines how many pixels fit per inch of the screen. At a low DPI, all interface elements (including the keyboard) decrease.

To check and change the DPI:

1. Enable Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times)
2. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
3. Find Minimum Width (Dp) or Screen Density.
4. Set the value 440 or 480 (standard for most Xiaomis).
5. Reboot the phone.

⚠️ Attention: Inept change DPI If the application screens become trimmed or elements overlap after the change, return the standard value (usually 440) and restart the phone.

5. Conflict with special features settings

MIUI has hidden features for users with vision problems that can affect keyboard size, such as the option to zoom in or large text sometimes knocks down the scale of system elements.

To check:

• 👁️ Go to Settings. → Special facilities → Increase.
• 🔍 Disable options: Triple-click enlargement Auto-scaling text Large pointer
• 📱 In the section Text size set the slider to Standard.

If the keyboard is back to normal size but the text on the menu is too small, try to find a balance: increase the font size in the display settings (Settings → Screen → Text Size), but leave the auto-scale options off.

6.Update MIUI and keyboard

Some versions of MIUI 13 and MIUI 14 had a bug that compressed the keyboard after locking the screen or going into power saving mode. Xiaomi fixed this bug in the updates, so:

1. Check out the current version of MIUI: Settings → About Phone → MIUI version
2. If the version is older than 6 months, update the system: Settings → System Update → Check for updates
3. Update the keyboard: For MIUI Keyboard: through Settings → Applications → MIUI Keyboard → Update. For Gboard: on Google Play.

If there are no updates but the problem remains, try manually installing the latest version of the keyboard via APK. For MIUI Keyboard, download files only from official sources (such as APKCombo), as fake versions may contain viruses.

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Before updating via APK, be sure to back up keyboard data (if there is such an option) - some versions reset settings after manual installation.

7.Reset all settings (last chance)

If none of these things work, the radical solution is to reset the phone to the factory settings, which will delete all the data, but return the keyboard to its original state.

• 📱 Make a backup copy: Settings → The phone. → Backup
• 🔐 Make sure to remember the password from your Mi Account (required to unlock after resetting).
• 📡 Connect to Wi-Fi – After reset, the phone will require you to download updates.

For discharge:

Settings → About the phone → Reset settings → Erase all data

⚠️ Warning: On phones with bootloader unlocked, a reset can result in a device lock if the Factory Protection option in Settings is not disabled → Additionally. → For developers. Check this out in advance!

8 Hardware reasons: when it is not the software to blame

If the keyboard became small after the phone fell, moisture hit or the screen was replaced, the problem could be hardware.

• 🔧 Display plume damage: If the phone is unassembled carelessly, the plume connecting the screen to the motherboard can be damaged, leading to incorrect screen resolution determination and, as a result, to a decrease in interface elements.
• 💧 Contact oxidation: Once moisture is injected, the contacts on the board or plume oxidize, causing the display to malfunction.
• 🔋 Failure of the graphics chip: On older models (Redmi) 4X, Mi A1) wear of the graphics processor may lead to distortion of the display.

How to diagnose:

1. Connect your phone to an external monitor via USB-C → HDMI. If the external screen displays the keyboard normally, the problem is in the phone’s display or plume.
2. Run the screen test via the engineering menu: ##6484## or #284## (some models may not work).
3. Check if the scale does not “float” when tilting the phone is a sign of poor contact plume.

If you suspect a hardware malfunction, do not try to repair the phone yourself - contact the service center.The cost of replacing the plume on Xiaomi starts from 1,500 rubles, but trying to do this without experience can lead to a complete failure of the display.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the small keyboard on Xiaomi