How to completely remove a downloaded theme on Xiaomi: all ways to MIUI 12-14

Downloaded themes on Xiaomi smartphones are precious in memory, even if you haven’t used them for a long time. MIUI doesn’t always offer an obvious way to remove them — especially if the theme was installed through third-party sources or manually. In this article, we’ll look at all the current methods, from standard settings to working with the file system through ADB.

The problem is that many users simply turn off a theme in the personalization menu without deleting its files. That doesn't free up memory -- the theme stays on the system and can conflict with new designs, and we'll show you how to find and delete even those that aren't on the installed list.

Instructions are suitable for all modern Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices on MIUI 12, 13 and 14, including Mi 11/12/13/14, Redmi Note 10/11/12 and POCO F3/F4/F5. If your firmware is modified (for example, Xiaomi.EU), some menu items may differ - we will warn you about this separately.

1. Remove theme through standard MIUI settings

The easiest way is to use the built-in theme menu, which works for most official themes downloaded through Themes.

1. Open the Themes app (the icon with a brush on your desktop).
2. Go to My Themes (or Installed in older versions of MIUI).
3. Find an unnecessary topic and click on it. In the window that opens, tap the Remove button (basket icon).
4. Confirm the action in the dialog window.

⚠️ Note: If the Remove button is inactive or absent, the theme is system (e.g., Default or Default). MIUI Classic. You can't delete themes like that -- you can just reset them to factory settings.

What if the theme doesn't appear in the installed list? It may have been installed manually through an.mtz file, in which case you move on to the next one.

2. Manually remove themes through file manager

The themes in MIUI are stored as archives with the.mtz extension in a special folder to manually delete them:

1. Open any file manager with access to root folders (such as Mi File Manager or Solid Explorer).
2. Go to /sdcard/MIUI/theme/.data/ or (for older versions of MIUI): /sdcard/MIUI/theme/
3. Find a folder with the name of an unnecessary theme (e.g. com.example.theme.name) and delete it.
4. Also check the /sdcard/MIUI/theme/.cache/ folder – temporary theme files may remain here.

🔍 How do you know which folder belongs to which topic? Folder names often contain ID If in doubt, you can temporarily rename the folder (by adding old at the end) and check if the theme has disappeared from the list in the Topic app.

Important: Deleting the theme files manually does not clear their records from the MIUI database. To completely reset the list of installed themes, you may need to reset the theme app settings (see section 4).

Removing themes via ADB (for power users)

If the theme is not removed in the standard ways, you can use Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which requires connecting the smartphone to the PC and enabling debugging mode.

📌 Preparation:

• 🔧 Install. ADB and Fastboot Tools on PC.
• 📱 Enable Developer Mode on Xiaomi: Go to Settings → About the phone and 7 times tap on the version MIUI.
• 🔌 B Settings → Additionally. → For developers, activate the debugging by USB.

🛠 Instructions:

1. Connect your smartphone to your PC and open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux).
2. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices must appear serial number of your device.
3. Run the command to delete the theme (replace package.name with real theme ID): adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 package.name To learn the theme ID you can use the command: adb shell pm list packages | grep theme

⚠️ Attention: Misuse of the right ADB Do not delete packets that don't have the word theme in their name or that you don't recognize, such as com.android.themes, a system application that will disrupt the interface.

Install ADB on PC|Enable developer mode on Xiaomi|Activate debugging over USB|Connect phone to PC with original cable|Check package list by that adb shell pm list packages command |grep theme

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4.Resetting the Themes app to factory settings

If the themes still appear in the installed list after deleting the files, the Themes application data reset will help, which will clear the cache and the theme database, but will not affect the system designs.

🔄 How to drop:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the Themes app (or Themes) and open its page.
3. Slip the Warehouse → Clear the data and Clear the cache.
4. Reset the device.

⚠️ Warning: After resetting, all downloaded themes (including the current one) will be deactivated and the system will return to standard design.

💡 This method also helps if the Theme app is unstable or if it gives an error "Can't apply the theme." If the problem persists, check the integrity of system files through Settings. → The phone. → Updating the system → Three points. → Verification of updates.

5. Removal of themes on custom firmware (Xiaomi.EU, PixelExperience)

Users of informal firmware (e.g. Xiaomi.EU or PixelExperience) often find that standard methods do not work.

• 📁 Manual removal through TWRP or ADB folder: /data/system/theme/ /system/priv-app/ThemeManager/ (Root rights are required)
• 🔄 Complete reset of themes through command: adb shell su -c "rm -rf /data/system/theme/*"
• 🛠 Reflashing the MiuiThemeManager module via Magisk (for power users).

⚠️ Attention: On custom firmware, removing system themes can lead to bootloop.Before experimenting, backup through TWRP Or OrangeFox.

💡

If the interface is not displayed correctly after removing the theme (icons are gone, fonts are lost), apply the standard Default theme and restart the device.

6. How to prevent automatic downloading of topics

MIUI sometimes downloads themes in the background to "improve the user experience."

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management → Topics.
2. Disable Auto Start: Auto Start → Disable.
3. Limit background activity: Battery → Limit background activity.
4. Disable mobile data for the app: Mobile data → Topics → Disable.

📊 Comparison of methods of deleting topics:

7. Frequent errors and their solutions

When removing themes, users often encounter problems, and here are the most common ways to solve them:

• 🔄 "Subject not deleted - button inactive" Reason: The theme is system or in use at the moment. Solution: Use another theme, then try again. System theme requires ADB root.
• 📂 "The.data folder is not available in /MIUI/theme/" Reason: In your version MIUI Changed the storage path of the themes. Solution: Check alternative paths (see spoiler section) 2).
• 🚫 "After deleting the topic still appears in the list" Reason: The record about the topic remained in the database MIUI. Solution: Reset the Application Topics Data (Section 4).
• 🔧 "ADB Does not see device" Reason: Drivers are not installed or debugging enabled.Solution: Install Mi Flash Tool to automatically install drivers.

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If none of these methods worked, try updating MIUI to the latest version, and new builds often fix theme management bugs.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions