Why Xiaomi Gallery Videos Are Not Playing and How to Fix It

You open a gallery on your Xiaomi, you try to run a video, and instead of a picture, you see a black screen, a failed playback error, or endless downloads, POCO or Mi, especially after the updates MIUI In 80% of cases, the problem is solved without resetting the settings, but to do this, you need to accurately determine the cause of the problem.

In this article, we will discuss all the possible reasons why video is not played in the standard Xiaomi gallery - from the banal (unsupported format) to the technical (damaged metadata files). 30 So what are the first things you want to do, and what do you do if you open a video in a different app, but not in a gallery? MIUI 12/13/14 and Android-based devices 13/14.

Important: if the video is reproduced in VLC or MX Player, but not in the gallery – the problem lies in the system codecs or settings MIUI. If it doesn't open anywhere, it's likely that the file itself is corrupted.

1. Unsupported video or codec format

Xiaomi Gallery by default supports a limited set of formats:.mp4,.mkv (partial),.mov and.avi with popular codecs (H.264, H.265, MPEG-4). If your video is recorded in a rare format (e.g..flv,.wmv,.webm with) VP9) or uses non-standard codecs (e.g. DivX, Xvid), the gallery will not open it - even if the file is correct.

How to check the format and codec:

• 📁 Install MediaInfo (free in Play Market) and open the problem file. In the Video section, see Format and Codec. ID.
• 🔍 If the codec starts with avc1 (H.264) or hev1 (H.265) — format is supported. If you see divx, xvid, vp9 — gallery won't reproduce it.
• 🛠️ Solution: Convert video to.mp4 codeced H.264 through HandBrake or VLC (guideline).

Exception: on devices with MIUI 14 and later partially maintained AV1 (YouTube codec, but only for video with resolution up to 1080p. For 4K AV1 You'll need a third-party player.

2. Damaged files or metadata

Videos may not open due to physical damage to a file (e.g., when downloading is interrupted) or incorrect metadata (filming dates, geotags, camera information), most often with files copied from GoPro, DJI or old video cameras where metadata is recorded in a non-standard format.

Signs of a corrupted file:

• 🚨 The video does not open in any player (including: VLC).
• 📥 The file size is suspiciously small (for example, 1 MB for the claimed 10 minutes of recording).
• ⚠️ When you try to play back, the gallery will give an error "File is corrupted" or "Incorrect format».

How to restore:

1. Download. MP4 Repair (or Video Repair Tool for PC) and try to recover the file.
2. If the video is recorded in Xiaomi, check the folder DCIM/.thumbnails — Sometimes there are thumbnails that can be converted into a full-fledged video.
3. For camera files DJI GoPro: Use the brand’s official software to export your video again.

3. Gallery cache errors or MIUI

Xiaomi’s system gallery (com.miui.gallery) is actively using cache to speed up the download of thumbnails. If the cache is damaged, videos can appear as black screens or not open at all. MIUI, When the old data conflicts with the new version of the application.

How to clear the cache:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the Gallery (or com.miui.gallery) and select the Warehouse.
3. Click Clear Cache (not data!).
4. Reboot the phone.

If cleaning the cache didn't help:

• 🔄 Try resetting the gallery settings: in the same storage menu, click Reset settings.
• 🛠️ For MIUI 13/14: Turn off the video optimization function in the gallery settings (Section Lab).

4. Conflict with MIUI Optimization or energy saving

Function MIUI Optimization and aggressive power saving settings can block the background of the gallery, causing videos to not load or play with lags. MIUI 12.5+, Where optimization works too hard.

How to turn off optimization:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone and click on MIUI Version 7 times.
2. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
3. Find the option. MIUI Optimization and turn it off.
4. Also turn off Background Activity Limitation for the Gallery app.

For energy conservation:

• 🔋 Go to Settings. → Battery and productivity → Battery consumption management.
• 📱 Find the Gallery in the list and select the No Limits mode.
• ⚡ Disable Adaptive Battery for Test (in Battery Settings section).

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If after the shutdown MIUI Optimization phone started to slow down, return the setting back and try to add Gallery to auto-start exceptions instead (Settings) → Annexes → Auto-start).

5. Problems with resolution or frame rate

Xiaomi Gallery may not play video with non-standard resolutions or high frame rate (FPS). For example:

• 🎥 Permission video 4K 60 FPS (particularly HEVC/H.265) It may or may not be opened on budget models (Redmi) 9A, POCO M3).
• 📱 Videos with an aspect ratio of 21:9, 1:1 or vertical video with a resolution higher 1080p sometimes appear incorrectly.
• 🔄 Variable frame rate video (VFR) can be reproduced by jerks.

Decisions:

For owners. POCO F3/F4 redmi K40/K50: if 4K 60 FPS It is played with artifacts, try to disable HDR-rendering in screen settings.

6. File system errors or SD-map

If the video is stored on SD-The problem may be in the map:

• 💾 A damaged file system (for example, after retrieving a card without safely shutting down).
• 🔒 Incompatible format (card formatted in exFAT, and phone supports only) FAT32).
• 🚫 Restrictions MIUI to write to external media (relevant to Android 11)+).

How to check and correct:

1. Connect. SD-Map to PC and run error check: chkdsk E: /f (Replace E: with the letter of your disk).
2. If the card is in exFAT, format it in FAT32 (note that FAT32 does not support files >4GB).
3. In the phone settings (Storage) → Settings → SD-Enable the option to Format as internal memory (erase all data!).

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If the video is SD-The card is played on the PC, but not on the phone – the problem in the settings MIUI For external media, try copying the file to internal memory and check again.

7. Conflict with updates MIUI Android

After major updates (e.g., with the MIUI 13 on MIUI 14 or with Android 12 on Android 13, the gallery may lose compatibility with some video formats:

• 🔄 Update system codecs (e.g., switch to MediaCodec 2.0).
• 📦 Changes to the Storage Access Policy (Scoped Storage in Android 11)+).
• 🛠️ Bagami in new versions MIUI (for example, MIUI 14.0.3 was a playback bug HEVC video).

Decisions:

• 📥 Check for gallery updates in the App Store (sometimes updates are released separately from the App Store). MIUI).
• 🔙 Reverse to the previous version MIUI via Fastboot (instructions on the official website).
• 🛠️ Install an alternative gallery (e.g. Google Photos or Simple Gallery).

For MIUI 14: If the problem occurs after the update, try resetting your Digital Well-Being settings (Settings) → Digital well-being → Data resetting: In some cases, it restores the multimedia to work.

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Before rolling back to the old version MIUI Make a backup copy through Settings → The phone. → Backup. Otherwise, you risk losing your data!

8. Hardware limitations of the processor

Xiaomi budget models (e.g. Redmi) 8A, POCO C3) Physically unable to decode high-resolution video due to a weak processor (Snapdragon 439, Helio) G35). In such cases, the gallery may:

• 🖼️ Show a black screen with sound.
• 🐢 Playing videos with a strong lag.
• ❌ The mistake of “Insufficient resources».

How to get around the restrictions:

To convert the video to a supported format:

1. Download HandBrake on PC.
2. Choose Presto Android 720p30 Android 1080p30.
3. In the Video section, install the codec H.264 (x264).
4. Press Start Encode.

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If your Xiaomi is not pulling 4K Video, but you need to watch it urgently – try playing it on PC or Smart TV through USB. This often works even if the phone doesn’t see the file.

Frequent Questions (FAQ)