How to turn off the left panel on the Xiaomi TV: 5 working methods

The left sidebar on Xiaomi TVs (known as the Dock Bar or Quick Access Panel) is a useful tool for quickly switching between apps, but not everyone likes it. Some find it distracting, some accidentally open it while watching movies, and some just prefer a minimalist interface without unnecessary elements. If you're in this article, you're likely annoyed by the automatic appearance of the panel when you hover over the cursor or press the remote control — and you want to turn it off completely or at least hide it.

In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to remove the left panel on Xiaomi Mi TV, Redmi Smart TV and other models with shells MIUI TV, Android TV and PatchWall. It is important to understand that the methods differ depending on the firmware version and interface type - so we will give instructions for each case, and you will learn how to return the panel back if it suddenly disappeared on its own (this happens after updates).

Why does the left panel appear on its own?

Before you go to shutdown, it's worth figuring out why the panel is activated at all without you wanting to.

• 🎮 Pressing the Home or Menu button on the remote – many Xiaomi models are programmed to show the Dock bar while holding those buttons.
• 🖱️ Mouse cursor on the left edge of the screen (relevant to the TV-Boxes and TVs with Air Mouse support).
• 🔄 Automatic firmware update - after the update, the interface settings can be reset to factory.
• 👶 Accidental inclusion by children or other users through settings.

If the panel only appears when you press the remote, the problem may be sticking buttons or malfunctioning the remote itself. Before turning off the panel, check if the TV reacts spontaneously to presses. To do this, open any application (for example, YouTube) and see if the cursor returns to the Dock bar without your actions.

Method 1: Disconnect via MIUI TV settings (for most models)

If your TV is running on the MIUI TV branded shell (relevant to most Mi TVs 4/4S/4A/4C/5 and Redmi Smart TVs), the left panel is turned off via standard interface settings.

1. Take the remote and press the Settings button.
2. Go to the Settings section → System → More.
3. Select the User Interface (or Launcher Settings in new versions).
4. Find the Quick Access Panel (or Dock Bar) option and move the slider to the Off position.
5. Save the changes and restart the TV (press the Power button on the remote for 5 seconds).

If there is no such item on the menu, then your model uses a different shell (see methods below). Also note that on some firmware, the option may be called the Sidebar or the Application Panel.

Method 2: Hiding the Android TV (Google TV)

Xiaomi Android TVs (such as Mi TV Q1/Q2 or Xiaomi TV A Pro) use a Google shell where the left panel is called Side Panel or App Drawer.

1. Open the Settings (button with a gear on the remote).
2. Go to the Apps → Special facilities.
3. Select Launcher Settings (or Home Screen).
4. Find the option to Show the appbar and turn it off.
5. If you don’t have an option, try an alternative way: hold the Home button on the remote for 3 seconds and a menu will appear where you can choose Hide the panel.

On some versions of Android TV, the panel will disappear automatically after 5 seconds of inactivity. If it continues to interfere, try resetting the launcher settings:

Settings → Applications → All applications → Launcher (Home) → Storage → Clear data

⚠️ Attention: Clearing the launcher data will reset the app layout on the home screen.Photo in advance the current icon order if it is important to you.

Method 3: Disconnect via PatchWall (for Indian and global firmware)

PatchWall is used in Xiaomi TVs for Indian and some global markets (e.g. Mi TV 4X or Redmi TV with firmware for Asia), where the left panel is integrated deeper, but it can also be removed:

1. Press the Home button on the remote for 3-5 seconds until the edit menu appears.
2. Select the panel settings (or Edit Dock).
3. At the bottom of the screen, find the Auto-hide option and turn it on.
4. Set the delay before hiding to a minimum value (1-2 seconds).
5. Save the changes and restart the TV.

If the panel still appears, try disabling it via ADB (computer required):

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.tv.launcher


adb shell pm hide com.miui.tv.launcher.dock

These commands will remove the Dock bar from the system completely, but can cause the interface to work in an unstable way. Use them only if other methods have not worked.

Method 4: Reset the launcher settings (if the panel does not disappear)

If the left panel doesn't turn off via the menu or returns after a reboot, resetting the launcher settings will help, which works for all shells, but removes personal settings of the home screen.

1. Open Settings → Applications → All applications.
2. Find an app called Launcher, Home or MIUI TV Launcher.
3. Select Warehouse → Clear the data and confirm the action.
4. Reboot the TV (Put the Power button on the remote for 10 seconds).

After reset, the panel should disappear, but you will have to reconfigure the location of the applications on the home screen. If the problem persists, try rolling back the firmware to the previous version (instruction below).

Method 5: Firmware rollback (if the panel appears after the update)

Often the left panel becomes annoying after the firmware update is automatically updated, and if you notice that the problem has recently appeared, you can return the previous version of the software.

1. Download the old firmware for your model from the official Xiaomi website (TV section).
2. Copy the.zip file to a flash drive (FAT32 format).
3. Put the flash drive in. USB-television-port.
4. Go to Settings → About TV → Software Update → Update via USB.
5. Select the downloaded file and confirm the rollback.

Once rolled back, all the settings will be reset to factory ones, including the Quick Access panel, which is radical, but it's guaranteed to remove any unwanted interface changes.

⚠️ Note: Firmware rollback may cause data loss in some applications (e.g. saved passwords in your browser or browsing history). Before the procedure, back up important files via Settings. → Xiaomi account → Cloud storage.

💡

If the TV is slower after the firmware rollback, try resetting it to factory settings: Settings → System → Reset → Reset all settings. This will delete all temporary files and speed up the system.

What if the panel is missing on its own?

Sometimes users have the opposite problem: the left panel disappears for no apparent reason.

• 🔧 Launcher failure (especially after forced closure of applications).
• 📱 Firmware updates that changed the interface settings.
• 🧹 Cleaning the cache of system applications manually or through “cleaners".

To return the panel, follow the following steps:

1. Restart the TV (hold the Power on the remote for 10 seconds).
2. If the panel does not appear, open Settings → Applications → Launcher → Storage → Clear the cache.
3. Check if the Dock bar is disabled in the interface settings (see Method 1).
4. If nothing helps, reset the launcher settings (see Method 4).

On some models, the panel returns after resetting all settings to the factory. Before you do, remember to save important data (for example, logins from streaming services).

💡

If the left panel is missing after connecting external devices (mouse, keyboard, gamepad), try to turn them off and restart the TV. Driver conflict can lead to interface failures.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the left panel on Xiaomi TV