How to turn off the widget tape on Xiaomi

Owners of modern Xiaomi smartphones often encounter intrusive interface elements that appear after the device is first turned on. One of the most annoying moments for many users is the automatic activation of the widget tape on the left of the main screen, a feature designed to simplify access to information, often turns into a source of unnecessary traffic and distractions.

In this article, we will take a closer look at how to remove the widget tape on Xiaomi to bring cleanliness and minimalism back to the desktop.We will look at the methods for the current versions of the shells MIUI 12, MIUI 13, MIUI 14 and the latest HyperOS. You will learn not only standard ways to disable through settings, but also methods to combat system limitations that sometimes occur in global firmware.

You don't need to have programming skills or root rights to do these things. All of the manipulations that I've described are safe and reversible. If at some point you decide you need a smart tape, you can easily get it back by doing the reverse.

⚠️ Note: Before making any changes to system settings, we strongly advise you to make sure that the battery is at least 20%.Although the risk is minimal, interruption of the setup process due to battery discharge can lead to unpredictable behavior of the interface.

Why Users Need to Turn Off Widget Ribbon

The widget tape, often referred to as Google Discover or Mi Vision, is an endless stream of news, app recommendations and weather widgets. For some users, it's a convenient monitoring tool, but for others, it's visual noise. Disabling the widget tape allows you to speed up the launcher, since the system does not need to constantly update content in the background.

And there's a lot of users who value minimalism, and the empty space on the left of the first page of the desktop breaks the symmetry and swipe navigation, and by removing that, you get rid of random transitions to the news feed, which is especially true for people who use their phones on the go.

Another important aspect is privacy: The tape often collects data about your interests, location and search queries to personalize the results. By opting out of this feature, you limit the collection of telemetry by Google and Xiaomi.

Disabling Widget Ribbon in MIUI 12, 13 and 14

In most versions of the MIUI branded shell, the process of deactivating the embedded tape is quite simple and does not require third-party software. You will need access to the desktop settings menu. First, unlock the smartphone screen and go to the main screen.

Push two fingers across the screen (put your fingers together) to call the edit menu. At the bottom of the screen, a toolbar will appear. Press the Settings button (the gear icon) and the launcher menu will open, where you need to find the "Additional" option or see the tape switch immediately.

Look for a line called "Widget Ribbon" or "Google Discover." If you have a European version of the firmware installed, there may be two options: "Mi Vision" and "Google Discover." You need to move the slider to the "Off" position for both items, if they are active.

When you change the settings, the menu will close automatically. Try swiping the screen to the right of the first page. If you see empty space or just clicking on the previous page (cyclical navigation), then the operation was successful.

Features of settings in the shell of HyperOS

With the release of the HyperOS operating system, Xiaomi has changed the structure of the menu and the logic of widgets. In the new shell, the widget tape has become more integrated into the system, but the ability to disable it has remained.

Go to Settings on your smartphone, then select Desktop, which may not have a direct switch like the older versions, so go back to your desktop, pinch your fingers, and select Settings in the lower right corner.

HyperOS often has a split between “Widget Ribbon” ( Xiaomi’s own format) and “Google Discover.” If you want to completely clear the left edge of the screen, turn off both items. It’s also worth checking the settings of the weather widget, which sometimes duplicates the features of the tape.

⚠️ Note: In some regions (such as Indonesia or Russia at certain times), HyperOS may not have a direct Google Discover switch in the launcher menu, in which case additional actions are required, described in the section on hidden settings.

Remove Google Discover if there is no switch

Often, users are faced with a situation where there is no item in the launcher menu to turn off Google feed, which is typical for global firmware, where Google services are tightly integrated, in which case the standard path through the settings will not help, and you will have to resort to cleaning the application data.

You'll need to go to Settings → Apps → All apps. In the list, find the Google app (not Chrome, but the G app). Go to it and select Memory.

Press the Clean button. → Clean everything. Then go to the settings of the Google app itself (through three dots in the corner or in the general settings menu of the phone in the accounts section» → «General» → «Discover and turn it off.

Settings → Applications → All apps → Google → Memory → Clean everything

Once you've done this, go back to your desktop. The tape may disappear immediately or after you reboot your device. If the switch in the launcher appears after you cleaned the data, be sure to turn it off there too to prevent it from being activated again.

Comparison of disabling methods in different versions of the software

Different versions of Android and MIUI shells offer different levels of control over the interface. Understanding the differences helps you choose the right method to solve the problem. Below is a table comparing the availability of features in different versions.

As you can see from the table, in Russian versions of firmware, the integration of Yandex services instead of Google is often found. The principle of disconnection is similar: look for the item associated with the Tape or Slider in the launcher settings and turn it off.

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If after turning off the tape, the screen began to “twitch” when swiping to the left, try restarting the smartphone. This will restart the system process of the launcher and apply the changes correctly.

Hidden settings and ADB-team-up

In rare cases, when software bugs or specific firmware versions block standard methods, you can use ADB debugging. This method requires connecting the smartphone to the computer and installing ADB drivers. It allows you to forcibly hide the tape component.

To start, activate Developer Mode by tapping the build number seven times in the About Phone menu. Then turn on USB Debugging in the developer menu. Connect the phone to your PC and start the command prompt.

Use the following command to hide the Google Discover component (the path may vary depending on the version):

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox

A safer option is to disable only the widget without removing the entire search. MIUI and HyperOS often have a team resetting the launcher settings, but this will result in the loss of the location of the icons.

⚠️ Attention: Use ADB-Disabling system packages such as com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox can cause the voice assistant and the desktop search widget to work in an unstable way.

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Using ADB is a last resort: In 95% of cases, standard launcher settings or Google app data cleaning are enough to fix the problem.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)