Xiaomi smartphones and TVs come with a wide range of special features — features designed to help users with visual, hearing or motor disabilities. However, not everyone needs a voice assistant, a font increase of up to 200%, or constant hints about screen contrast — these tools are often activated accidentally (for example, when you triple the power button) or remain on after testing the device in the store.
The problem is that turning off special features on Xiaomi is not as easy as it seems. Some features are hidden in the depths of the MIUI or PatchWall menu (for TV), others block standard gestures, and others, such as TalkBack, can completely paralyze the device if you do not know how to deactivate them. In this article, we will discuss all the ways to disable, including hidden button combinations and reset via ADB for running cases.
Why to turn off special features on Xiaomi
Most users are faced with the need to deactivate these features for three reasons:
- 🔄 Accidental activation: Triple pressing of the power button or squeezing two fingers on the screen can turn on TalkBack or zoom in, after which the device behaves unpredictablely.
- 📱 Application conflict: Some features (such as Color Correction) distort colors in games or photos, making them unsuitable for professional use.
- 🔋 Higher battery consumption: background processes like voice assistant or Availability gestures can eat up to 15% of your charge per day.
According to Xiaomi Community, up to 30% of support calls are due to problems after accidentally turning on the visually impaired mode, especially on Redmi Note and POCO models, where the sensor sensitivity is higher than on Xiaomi 13/14 flagships.
How to disable TalkBack (voice assistant) on Xiaomi smartphones
TalkBack is the most annoying feature that reads out all the actions on the screen, and when it is accidentally turned on, standard gestures stop working (for example, one touch becomes double, and swipes are interpreted differently) to turn it off:
- Press the two volume buttons for 3 seconds – this is a versatile combination for calling the special features menu.
- In the window that appears, find the TalkBack icon (the icon with a man and a speech bubble) and tap it twice (a single touch in this mode does not work!).
- Transfer the slider to the off position, then confirm the action with another double tap.
If the screen is not responsive to touch because of TalkBack, try an alternative method:
1. Connect the device to the PC via USB (in file transfer mode).
2. Enable USB debugging in Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (stamp 7 times according to version).
3. Enter in the command line:
adb shell settings put secure enabled_accessibility_services com.google.android.marvin.talkback/.TalkBackService:com.google.android.accessibility.soundback/.SoundBackService
adb shell settings put secure accessibility_enabled 0💡
If TalkBack is turned on on on a locked screen, unlock your phone with a fingerprint or PIN-Keeping your finger on the scanner longer than usual (2-3 seconds).
Disabling the screen and magnifier enlargement
The zoom function (or magnifier) can be activated by a triple tap across the screen or through settings, and it zooms the interface to 200 to 500%, making it impossible to use the smartphone normally, to get everything back to normal.
- 🔍 Go to Settings. → Special facilities → Increase.
- 📱 Turn off the slider Short zoom (this cancels the triple tap).
- 🔄 In the Full Screen zoom section, select No.
- 🔧 If the screen is already enlarged, do a pinch movement (put two fingers together) to return to normal scale.
On some models (such as Xiaomi 12T or POCO F5), the magnification may conflict with navigation gestures. If the swipe functionality stops working after the switch is turned off, reboot the device.
What to do if the increase is included in the application?
Deactivation of color correction and screen filters
Functions like Color-Blindness Correction or Night Mode change the color gamut of the screen, which can be critical for photographers, designers or gamers, such as activating the Protanopia filter (red-green blindness) distorts colors in games like PUBG Mobile or Genshin Impact.
To bring back the natural colors:
- Open the Settings → Screen → Color mode.
- Choose Standard (or Saturated if you like bright tones).
- Return to Settings → Special Options → Color correction and turn off all filters.
| Function | What distorts | How to turn off |
|---|---|---|
| Correction of colorblindness | Red/green | Settings → Special. capabilities → Color correction → Off. |
| Night light | The yellow tint of the screen | Settings → Screen → Night mode → Off. |
| High contrast | Black and white interface | Settings → Special. capabilities → Contrast colors → Off. |
| Color inversion | Negative image | Triple press of the power button → Inversion of colors |
On Xiaomi Mi TVs, color correction can be tied to a user profile. To reset it, go to Settings → Accounts & Security → Delete profile and create a new one.
Disabling gestures and support functions
Xiaomi offers several accessibility gestures that can interfere with normal operation:
- 👆 Scrolling with one finger (includes scrolling when touching any area of the screen).
- ⏸️ Pause with double pressing (stops scrolling lists).
- 🔄 Automatic rotation (changes the orientation of the screen when the device is tilted).
To deactivate them:
- Go to Settings → Special features → Gestures.
- Turn off the sliders in front of unnecessary functions.
- To reset all gestures, click Reset gesture settings (not available on all models).
☑️ Checking for deactivation of gestures
On Xiaomi TVs, similar features are hidden in the Settings → Utility → Remote Gestures. For example, if the remote accidentally activates voice search when holding the OK button, turn off the option Voice commands from the remote.
Resetting all special features to factory settings
If manual shutdown doesn't work or the device is unstable, perform a full reset of special features settings, which will return all settings to the "out of the box" state, but will not affect personal data.
Method 1: Through the settings menu
1. Open Settings → Special Opportunities.
2. Slip on the three points in the upper right corner (or Additional).
3. Select Resetting Availability Settings.
4. Confirm action.Method 2: ADB (if the screen is unresponsive)
adb shell pm clear com.android.settings
adb shell settings reset accessibility💡
Resetting via ADB requires USB debugging enabled, and if you didn’t turn it on in advance, it won’t work—you’ll have to use physical buttons (see TalkBack).
On Xiaomi TVs, the reset is performed through:
Settings → Convenience → Resetting availability settings⚠️ Note: On some Redmi models, resetting special features may also return font size and interface animation to factory settings. → Screen.
Hidden features and developers: what else can you turn off
In addition to the standard tools, the MIUI and PatchWall (for TV) have hidden features that are not displayed in the main menu. ADB.
Examples of hidden functions:
- 🔊 Monosound (combines stereo sound into one channel) – disables in Settings → Sound. → monosound.
- 📡 Network hints (weak Wi-Fi signal notifications) – shuts down via ADB: adb shell settings put global accessibility_display_daltonizer_enabled 0
- 🖥️ Demonstration mode (shows touch hints) – disables in Settings → System system → Demonstration regime.
For Xiaomi TVs, there is an undocumented command to reset all convenience settings:
adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MASTER_CLEAR⚠️ Attention: Use ADB This can cause the device to work unstable if the wrong commands are entered. → Additionally. → Backup.