Why Xiaomi quickly goes out the screen: all the reasons and ways to solve

You took Xiaomi in your hands to check notifications or read a message, but the screen goes out in just a few seconds - barely having time to blink? This problem is familiar to many owners of the brand's smartphones, from budget Redmi to flagship Mi or POCO. Quickly turning off the display is annoying, interferes with comfortable use and makes it constantly unlock the device. But why is this happening?

The reasons can be in basic system settings, software failures or even hardware malfunctions. In this article, we will examine all the possible factors that cause Xiaomi’s screen to go out too quickly, from a banal lock timeout to firmware errors. You will learn how to diagnose the problem and return the normal display time without unnecessary unlocks.

1. screen lock timeout: the most obvious reason

The first thing to check is the screen lock time in settings. Xiaomi’s default is often set to a minimum of 15 to 30 seconds, which many users don’t think is enough, especially when reading long articles or viewing photos when the screen goes out before you can scrolle the page.

To change the timeout:

• 📱 Open the Settings. → Display.
• ⏱️ Find the Sleep option after (or Lock the screen in older versions) MIUI).
• 🔢 Choose the appropriate value: 15 seconds to 10 minutes (or Never, if you want to turn off auto-switching completely).

Note that if this menu has a 15-second value, but the screen goes out even faster (for example, after 5-10 seconds), the problem lies deeper, perhaps an additional energy saving timer has worked or a software failure has occurred.

2. Energy saving mode and battery optimization

Xiaomi is known for its aggressive energy saving policy, especially in budget models (Redmi 9A, POCO M3, etc.) The system can force the screen to extinguish before the set time if the battery saving mode is activated or Ultra-battery saving is enabled.

How to check and disable:

• 🔋 Go to Settings. → Battery and performance.
• 🔄 See if it's Power Saving or Ultra Mode on. Turn it off if it's active.
• ⚡ In Battery Optimization, find applications that can be set to a background limit (such as launcher or system services.

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If the screen still goes off quickly after the power saving is turned off, try restarting the phone, and sometimes the battery optimizer continues to work in the background even after the settings change.

Also worth paying attention to adaptive brightness. In some MIUI firmware, it can automatically reduce backlight to a minimum and turn off the screen when the charge level is low (for example, below 15%).

3. Failures in the operation of the proximity or illumination sensor

If the screen goes out only when you're making calls or when you're holding the phone to your ear, it's probably the proximity sensor that's responsible for turning off the display during a conversation to avoid accidental taps, but if the sensor is contaminated, damaged, or miscalibrated, it can go off at the wrong moments.

How to diagnose and correct:

1. 📞 Call someone and see if the screen goes out when you hold your hand to the top of the phone (where the sensor is located).
2. 🔍 Clean the sensor area of dust and dirt with a soft napkin.
3. 🛠️ Go to Settings. → The phone. → Version. MIUI and click on the kernel version several times to open the test menu. Select Sensor Check and check the proximity sensor.

If the problem only manifests itself in certain applications (such as WhatsApp or Telegram during calls), try to clear the cache of these programs or reinstall them.

4. Software errors and MIUI failures

MIUI is a heavily customized Android-based shell, and it often has display-related bugs, and if the screen starts to go out suddenly (for example, after a system update), it is likely that a software failure is to blame.

What can be done:

• 🔄 Reboot your phone – it helps 30% of the time.
• 🗑️ Clear the system cache: go to Settings → Memory. → Clean and select Clear Cache.
• 📲 Reset the display settings to standard: Settings → Display. → Additionally. → Resetting settings.
• 🔧 If the problem has occurred after the update, try to roll back to the previous version. MIUI (guideline).

Make sure to back up your data |Write down your account logins and passwords |Verify that your phone is at least 50% charged |Disable two-factor authentication in Mi Account (if any)

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For firmware rollback:

1. Download the desired version of MIUI from the official Xiaomi website.
2. Rename the file to update.zip and place it in the root folder of the phone.
3. Go to Settings → About Phone → System Update, click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Select a firmware file.

⚠️ Note: Firmware rollbacks can cause data loss if you don’t back up. Also, after rollbacks, some features (such as new gestures or camera modes) may stop working.

5. Conflicts with third-party applications

Some applications, especially those with administrator rights or access to special features, may interfere with the screen.

• 🔒 Screen locking applications (such as Lock Screen or Smart Lock).
• 🛡️ Antiviruses and optimizers (Clean Master, Avast) that aggressively close the background processes.
• 🎮 Game utilities (Game Turbo), which can change the display settings to save charge.

How to find and resolve conflict:

1. Run your phone in Safe Mode (press the power button → long tap on Turn off → Safe Mode) If this mode does not go out, one of the installed applications is to blame.
2. Remove suspicious programs, starting with the last ones installed.
3. Check Administrator Rights: Settings → Passwords and Security → Device Administrators.

Pay particular attention to applications that have requested permission to Overlay on top of other windows or Change System Settings. These can be found in Settings → Apps → Permissions.

Hardware problems: battery, plume, display

If all software methods have been tried, but the screen still goes out too quickly (or even immediately after turning on), the cause may be a hardware malfunction.

To diagnose hardware problems:

• 🔋 Check the status of the battery in the settings → Battery. → Battery status. If the capacity is below 80% of the nominal capacity, it's time to change the battery.
• 🔍 Examine the phone for physical damage (cracks, dents, traces of oxidation under the lid).
• 📊 Use iron testing applications, for example CPU-Z or AIDA64, Check the battery voltage and processor temperature.

⚠️ Warning: If the phone was in high humidity or fell into the water (even if it worked normally afterward), corrosion could damage the contacts of the display or battery.

7. Features of specific Xiaomi models

Some Xiaomi models have unique screen problems related to their design or firmware, and these are the most common cases:

• 📱 Redmi Note 8/9 Pro: Frequent proximity sensor failures due to poor quality plume, the solution is to replace the plume or turn off the sensor in the engineering menu (##6484##).
• 📱 POCO X3/X3 Pro: Bug with fast screen lock when using 120 Hz. Corrected by disabling the adaptive refresh rate.
• 📱 Mi 11/12 Series: Display problems after upgrading to MIUI 14. The solution is a rollback MIUI 13 or waiting for a patch.
• 📱 Redmi 7A/8A: The screen goes out because of overheating of the processor, helps with dust cleaning and replacing the heat paste.

For accurate diagnosis:

1. Find out the exact model of your phone in Settings → About Phone → Model.
2. Look for information about known bugs for your model on forums (e.g. 4PDA or Mi Community).
3. If the problem is massive, Xiaomi may have already released a patch. Check for updates in Settings → System Update.

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If your Xiaomi model was released less than a year ago, it is likely a software problem: For devices older than 2-3 years, there is a high probability of hardware wear (battery, plumes).

FAQ: Frequent questions about fast screen shutdown