How to completely remove the Smart Album on Xiaomi Redmi 9T: from simple disconnection to radical methods

The Xiaomi Redmi 9T Smart Album is an automatically generated folder in the standard MIUI gallery that groups photos by date, location or event. For some users, it’s a handy media file organization tool, for others, an annoying clutter that duplicates real folders and takes up space in the interface. Especially problematic when the system persistently restores the album after each update or sync with the Mi Cloud.

In this article, we’ll look at all the possible ways to delete a Smart Album on Redmi 9T, from basic gallery settings to deep changes to system files. It’s important to understand that some methods require superuser rights (root), while others can affect other MIUI features. We’ll also analyze why the album returns after deletion and how to avoid it.

If you're ready to get rid of the compulsive sorting of photos once and for all, read on. First, identify what type of Smart Album you're concerned about: it could be a standard folder by date, geolocation albums (Places), or automatic collections from Mi Cloud, which depends on the choice of method.

1. Disable Smart Album via MIUI Gallery Settings

The easiest and safest way to do this is to use the built-in options of the standard Gallery app, which does not require root rights and is suitable for most Redmi 9T users on any version of MIUI 12/13/14.

Instructions:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app on your smartphone.
• 🔍 Slap the icon. ⋮ (three points) in upper right corner → Select Settings.
• 📁 Go to Albums or Album Management (the title may vary depending on the firmware version).
• 🔄 Find the Smart Albums or Automatic Sort option and turn off the slider.
• 🗑️ Go back to the main gallery menu and check if the folders are gone. If they are not, reboot the device.

⚠️ Note: On some versions MIUI After switching off Smart Albums, there may be "ghost" folders that disappear only after cleaning the gallery cache. → Annexes → Application management → gallery → Warehouse → Clear the cache.

If the albums continue to appear after these manipulations, the problem may be synchronization with the Mi Cloud, which is discussed in the next section.

2.Severing ties with Mi Cloud: why albums are coming back

Many Redmi 9T users experience a situation where Smart Albums are deleted but reappear after a few hours or after a reboot, due to background synchronization with the Mi Cloud service, which automatically restores the folder structure.

To stop this, it is necessary:

1. Disable gallery sync in Mi Cloud: 🌐 Go to Settings. → Accounts. → Mi Cloud. 📱 Find the Sync section and turn off the slider opposite the Gallery. 🔄 Confirm the action by clicking Disconnect in the dialog box.

• 🗑️ In the same gallery, go to the albums. → Mi Cloud.
• 🔍 Select all folders (or only unnecessary Smart Albums) and click Delete.
• ⚠️ This will only delete files from the cloud, but they will remain on the device.

If you don’t want to give up Mi Cloud altogether, but you only want to remove albums, try this method: create an empty folder called.nomedia in the root directory of internal memory, which will block the system from scanning media files, but can affect the operation of other applications.

3. Radical method: reset gallery settings

When standard methods don’t work, you can try resetting the Gallery app to factory settings, which will remove all user preferences, including hidden albums and cached data, but will not affect the photos themselves.

Step-by-step:

• ⚙️ Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management.
• 🔍 Find the gallery in the list and tap it.
• 📲 Select Warehouse. → Management of space.
• 🗑️ Click Clear All Data (not to be confused with Clear Cache"!).
• 🔄 Confirm the action and restart the smartphone.

⚠️ Note: After resetting, the gallery can re-scan all media files, which will take a few minutes, during which time do not interrupt the process or open other applications that work with photos (for example, Google Photos or Instagram).

If none of these methods worked, you will have to resort to more complex technical solutions, which will be discussed later.

4. Delete Smart Album via ADB (without root)

For advanced users who are ready to work with Android Debug Bridge (ADB), there is a method of removing Smart Albums through the command line, which does not require superuser rights, but requires basic knowledge about working with ADB.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed Xiaomi drivers and package ADB Tools.
• 📱 Included debugging by USB on the Redmi 9T (Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times tap to unlock Developer Settings, then turn on Debugging by USB).
• 🔌 USB-cable.

Instructions:

1. Connect Redmi 9T to your computer and confirm the debugging permission on your phone.
2. Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) and type:

adb shell pm clear com.miui.gallery

1. Reset the device.

This command will completely reset the gallery settings, which often helps to remove Smart Albums. If the problem persists, try a more targeted command:

adb shell settings put global smart_album_enable 0

⚠️ Attention: Misuse of the right ADB If you are not sure about your actions, it is better to consult other methods or consult a specialist.

💡

Before working with ADB, back up all important data. You can use the built-in MIUI: Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset → Local Backup

5. editing system files (root only)

If you have a superuser (root) rights to Redmi 9T, you can manually delete the files responsible for creating Smart Albums. This method gives 100% result, but requires caution - improper actions can lead to the failure of the gallery or even the entire system.

Step-by-step:

• 📱 Install any root-enabled file manager (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
• 🔍 Cross the path: /data/data/com.miui.gallery/shared_prefs/
• 📄 Find the file. com.miui.gallery_preferences.xml Open it in the text editor.
• 🔧 Find the line with the parameter smart_album_enable and change the meaning from true to false.
• 💾 Save the changes, restart the device.

Alternative path (for MIUI 13+):

• 📁 Move to the /system/priv-app/MiuiGallery/.
• 📄 Open the file. miui_gallery_config.xml.
• 🔧 Find the block. <smart-album> and replace enabled="true"="false".

⚠️ Note: After editing the system files, you may need to clean the gallery cache and restart. If the gallery stops opening after changes, restore the file backup or reinstall the application through the ADB:

adb install -r com.miui.gallery.apk

Alternative galleries: a workaround

If all attempts to remove Smart Albums have failed, consider using third-party galleries. Many alternative applications do not support automatic date/place sorting or disable it.

The best options for the Redmi 9T are:

• 🖼️ Google Photos – No obtrusive albums, but requires a Google account and can sync data to the cloud.
• 📂 Simple Gallery Pro is an open source, lightweight gallery with no ads and automatic sorting.
• 🔍 A+ Gallery – Supports hidden folders and manual organization of media files.
• 🛡️ F-Stop Gallery – Advanced display settings, including tag filtering.

To make an alternative gallery the default app:

1. Install the selected gallery from Google Play.
2. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → Gallery → Open by default.
3. Click Clear the default settings.
4. When you next open the photo, select a new gallery and confirm it as the default app.

💡

Using a third-party gallery not only solves the Smart Album problem, but it can also improve smartphone performance – many alternative apps run faster than the standard MIUI Gallery.

7.If nothing helps: reset to factory settings

In the extreme case, when Smart Albums persistently return after all attempts, there is a complete reset of the device, which is guaranteed to delete all system settings, including obsessive albums, but also erase all user data.

How to do the reset correctly:

1. 📱 Go to Settings. → Additionally. → Backup and reset → Resetting settings.
2. 🔄 Select to erase all data (including internal memory).
3. 🔐 Enter a password (if required) and confirm the action.
4. ⏳ Wait for the process to be completed (it will take 5-10 minutes).

⚠️ Attention: After discharge:

• 📲 Do not restore data from the backup of Mi Cloud – it can return Smart Albums.
• 🔧 Don’t connect your Mi Cloud account immediately after setting up – check if the albums have disappeared first.
• 📁 Transfer photos to the device manually, bypassing automatic synchronization.

If you decide to do this, save all important files to your computer or external drive in advance, and resetting is a nuclear method that should only be used when all other options are exhausted.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Redmi 9T smart albums