Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face a situation where the usual icons of programs suddenly disappear from the desktop. This can happen after updating the MIUI system, accidentally moving to a folder or due to a failure in the launcher.
In the Android operating system, on top of which the HyperOS shell or MIUI, There is a clear separation between the application itself (APK-If the icon is missing, it doesn't mean that the program is deleted. Deleting the shortcut from the desktop doesn't remove the application from the device's memory, it only hides access to it in the usual way.
In this article, we will take a look at all possible places where icons can hide, look at the system launcher settings, and learn how to find even those programs that were hidden by privacy settings. You will learn how to distinguish a system failure from a user error and quickly restore order on the screen.
Search through the menu of all applications and global search
The most obvious place where all installed programs are physically located is the menu of all apps. Unlike iOS, where all shortcuts are on desktops, Xiaomi Android smartphones often have an Application Menu mode that collects all icons into a separate list, opened by swipe up. If you switched from another brand, you might not notice this button or swipe.
To access the full list, you need to swipe up from the bottom of the screen or click on a special dot button (usually six), located in the dock bar at the bottom. This shows all the installed programs, sorted by alphabet or frequency of use. If there is an icon in the application menu and there is no icon on the desktop, then the shortcut simply was not added to the main screen or was removed.
To get the icon back in place, you need to pinch your finger on the icon in the app menu and drag it to the desktop. In some versions of MIUI, with prolonged pressing, a context menu can pop up where you want to select "Add to the home screen." If the icon is not even in the general menu, move to a deeper search.
The second powerful tool is built-in search, which indexes not only the names of the applications, but also their contents, and to call a search, you need to swipe down on the home screen (if Search is enabled), or click on the search bar in the widget, and when you enter the name of the missing program, you will immediately see if it is installed in the system.
- 📱 Swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen to open the full menu of all installed programs.
- 🔍 Use the Google search bar or built-in search MIUI to instantly find the application by name.
- ⚙️ Check the sorting in the app menu: sometimes they are hidden in the “Frequently Used” or “Recently Installed” tabs».
Checking Hidden Applications and Second Space
One of the popular features of the MIUI shell is the ability to hide applications from prying eyes, which often causes users to be unable to find important programs, hidden applications do not appear on menus, on the desktop, or even in the list of recent tasks until a special access code is entered.
To check if your programs are on the hidden list, you need to open the standard Security app (green zipper icon) and find the Hide Apps section (or Hide Apps) in it. If the function is activated, the system asks you to enter the pattern lock or password you set earlier, and after entering the password, you will open a list of hidden programs from where you can return them to visible state.
⚠️ Note: If you forgot the password to log into the hidden applications section, it is almost impossible to restore access to them without resetting the phone data or the Mi Account password (if it was tied.
Another place icons can dissolve is Second Space, which is a function of creating a separate profile in your phone that looks like a new smartphone inside your old one. If you accidentally switch to Second Space (usually through a sidebar or a special widget), you will only see the apps that are installed in that profile. To return, you need to switch back to Main Space through settings or a sidebar.
In some regions and firmware versions of Xiaomi, system utilities (calculator, voice recorder, scanner) are automatically assembled into a folder called Tools or Tools, which can get lost among other folders on the desktop.
- 🔒 Open the Security app and check the Hide Apps section for missing programs.
- 🔄 Make sure you are in the “Primary Space” and not the “Second Space».
- 📂 Carefully examine the Tools folder on desktops – system utilities often hide there.
How to create code to hide applications?
Launcher settings and shortcut display
The appearance of the desktop and the application menu in Xiaomi is controlled by the system component, the launcher, which is the settings that dictate which icons to display and which to hide. Often the problem is that the launcher settings limit the display of only certain types of applications or the mode that hides new installations is turned on.
To check settings, go to Settings → Home Screen (or Desktop) and we are interested in a few key parameters. First, check if the Simple Mode (for older people) mode is turned on, which changes the interface and hides some applications. Second, the Add New Application Shortcuts to the desktop section should have a switch in the active position if you want new programs to appear automatically.
Special attention should be paid to the launcher cache. If the system is not working correctly, the icons may not load. In this case, cleaning the launcher data helps. To do this, go to Settings → Apps → All applications, search the list for Home Screen (or System Launcher), select Memory and click Clear → Clear Everything.
⚠️ Attention: Clearing the launcher data will reset all icons on desktops to factory status. All folders and widgets you create will be deleted, so before this action, it is better to take a screenshot of the current location of programs.
Also, the launcher settings may activate the Remove from Memory function for background processes, but this affects the application operation, not the display of icons. However, if the icon disappears after a reboot, it is worth checking whether the application is worth it in the AutoStart list or does not limit its Energy Saving.
☑️ Diagnostics of the launcher
System Applications and Management through ADB
Some icons may disappear due to the fact that they are system and have been disabled by the user or third-party optimization programs (deboating). MIUI and HyperOS have built-in system application management, but deeper changes are often made through the computer using USB debugging and the ADB tool.
If you used utilities like Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot Tools or manually removed system software, the icon could disappear with the package. To check the status of the application, you can use the command line. To do this, you need to turn on Developer Mode (7 times click on the build number in Settings → About phone) and activate Debugging on USB.
If you connect your phone to your PC and you run the ADB, you can type in a command to find all the packages that have a word in their name, for example, to search for a browser:
adb shell pm list packages | grep browserIf a packet is found but marked as disabled, it can be turned on by the command:
adb shell pm enable --user 0 com.android.browserHere, com.android.browser is the name of the package that you need to replace with the current one. If the application was completely removed (uninstall for current user), it will have to be reinstalled through the GetApps store or Google Play.
| ADB Team Team | Action. | The result |
|---|---|---|
| pm list packages | Provides a list of all packages | Allows you to find the name of the hidden application |
| pm disable-user | Shutting down the app. | The icon disappears, the app doesn’t work. |
| pm enable | Includes an appendix | The icon returns to its place |
| pm uninstall | Removes it for the current user | Complete reinstallation required |
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Use of the ADB-The command allows you to restore system applications that have been disabled or removed through optimization tools, returning their icons to place.
Problems after MIUI update and HyperOS update
Updating the operating system is always stressful for the file structure. When you switch from MIUI 14 to HyperOS, or even if you upgrade minors within a single version, the system can reassemble the shortcut database, at which point the icons can temporarily disappear, become black squares, or move to the end of the list.
Often, after an update, the launcher or theme permissions are reset, if you used a third-party theme, after the update, the system could return to the standard one, and the icons from the theme set stopped showing, the solution is to re-apply the theme or reset it to the standard one in the Themes app.
It is also known that after major updates, you may need to completely restart the system to recount the indexes. Don’t limit yourself to just turning off the screen – perform a full reboot via the “Switch Off → Reboot” menu. In some cases, waiting helps: Dalvik/ART background optimization processes can take up to 15-20 minutes after the first on, and at this time the interface may not work properly.
- 🔄 Perform a full reboot of the device after updating to re-collect the shortcut database.
- 🎨 Check the applied theme: standard icons could be lost on default or disappear due to the conflict of the topic.
- ⏳ Give me a phone. 15-20 minutes after the update to complete the application background optimization.
Recovering Removed Shortcuts and Resetting Settings
If none of the above methods worked, and the application is precisely installed (see the settings in the Apps section), but the icons are not anywhere, there may have been a critical failure of the launcher database, in which case a radical but effective method remains - resetting the launcher settings to the factory one, which we mentioned, but with an addition.
Once the launcher data is cleared (Settings → Applications → All Apps → Home Screen → Clear), you must force the application to stop. Click the Stop button in the same app information menu. The desktop will blink and reboot. All icons must be in their standard places.
As a last resort, if the icons of system-critical applications (Settings, Phone, Messages) are missing and you can not restore them, you may need to reset the entire phone to factory settings.Be sure to back up your data via Mi Cloud or computer before doing so, as all personal files will be deleted.
⚠️ Warning: Wipe Data will delete all your photos, contacts and apps, and use this method only if missing icons make your phone unusable and other methods have not helped.
To prevent future problems, avoid using memory cleaners of dubious origin that aggressively remove shortcuts as trash, and regularly update the Home Screen app through the GetApps store if system component updates are available.
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If after resetting the launcher, the watch or weather widgets disappeared, add them again through the desktop editing menu (tweaked with two fingers) → Widgets.