How to turn off the keyboard Xiaomi: the complete guide

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones sometimes face situations where a standard keyboard starts to behave incorrectly, overlaps the interface or simply annoys with its appearance. In some cases, there is a need to temporarily or completely disable virtual text input, for example, when connecting a physical accessory or for people with disabilities using voice control. Standard settings of the MIUI shell or HyperOS do not always offer an obvious “off” button, which causes a lot of questions for users.

The deactivation procedure depends on which type of input method is installed by default in the system. If you use Gboard or SwiftKey, the algorithm of actions will differ from the standard solution from Google, which is often preinstalled on global versions of firmware. It is important to understand that the complete removal of the system component without an alternative can lead to the inability to enter a password to unlock the device, so the process must be approached consciously.

In this article, we will take a look at all the available ways to manage virtual keys, from simple app change to deep customization of system settings through the engineering menu. You will learn how to safely replace the standard tool, how to fix sticking errors and what hidden features are available in modern versions of Android based on Xiaomi.

Basic input settings in the Android system

Before we get to the radical steps, we need to understand the basic settings that the operating system itself offers. On Xiaomi smartphones, input management is in the back of the system menu. To access these parameters, the user needs to go to Settings, then select Additional and find Language and input. This is where the key switches are hidden.

Inside the Language and Enter menu, you'll see a list of all the typing apps you've installed. You can choose which one is going to be active by default. If your goal is just to change the look and feel, just click on Keyboard Management and switch the switch toggle against the right application. However, if you want to turn off the input option, you'll have to do a little trickier, because Android requires at least one active method.

Note the Physical Keyboard section if you have connected an external device via Bluetooth or OTG-Adapter, the system can automatically suggest that you turn off screen input. MIUI When you connect a physical accessory, a pop-up window appears with a suggestion to deactivate virtual buttons. You should not ignore this point, since this is the only regular way to completely remove the keyboard from the screen without using third-party software.

⚠️ Warning: Before disabling the only installed input method, make sure you have an alternative way to control the device or enter the password, otherwise you may lose access to the smartphone.

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If you plan to use voice input only, install the Google Gboard app and activate the Voice Input function as the main method in its settings, which will allow you to hide the keys when dictating.

Use of third-party keyboard applications

The most effective way to solve the problem of a standard keyboard is to replace it with a more flexible one. The Google Play store offers dozens of options that allow you not only to change the themes, but also to fine-tune the behavior of buttons. Popular options like Gboard, Yandex Keyboard or Chrooma give the user full control over the height of the panel, sound and tactile return.

Once you install a new application, Xiaomi will require you to confirm permission to use the new input method, which is standard Android security procedure. You will need to click "Allow" in the system window, and then select the new application as the main one in the Language and Input menu. The old keyboard can not be removed, but simply deactivated, leaving as a backup option.

The advantage of third-party solutions is that you can create profiles. For example, you can set up a "no keyboard" profile in some specialized launchers or applications for people with disabilities that intercept input. In addition, many modern keyboards have a "one-handed" mode or minimalist interface that visually occupies almost no space on the screen, which is often the real goal of users.

• 📱 Gboard – the official keyboard from Google with excellent support for Russian language and voice input.
• 🎨 Chrooma – an application with adaptive design that changes color to the content on the screen.
• 🚀 SwiftKey is a powerful tool with predictive dialing and flexible panel height setting.
• 🛡️ Hacker's Keyboard - a full PC layout option useful for connecting a physical keyboard.

Disconnection through special opportunities mode

There's a special section on the Android operating system that's designed for people with disabilities called Special Features, and you can find tools that allow you to control your device without using a touch screen or a standard keyboard, and this is true for those who use voice control or external switches.

Activating Switch Access or Voice Access can change the way the input system behaves: When you turn on Google Assistant or Xiao AI (in Chinese firmware), the system prioritizes voice commands, and in some scenarios, it allows you to ignore the appearance of virtual buttons in text fields if the input focus is switched to a microphone.

You can also consider using modes for people with motor impairments. In the settings Special features → Interaction management, you can adjust late touch or ignore repeated pressing. While this does not turn off the keyboard completely, it radically changes its behavior, making it less intrusive and preventing accidental pressing, which is often the main reason users want to get rid of it.

⚠️ Warning: Enabling some features may limit other applications or change standard navigation, so test them carefully.

For advanced users, it is possible to use ADB (Android Debug Bridge) to hide specific system services that are responsible for input, which requires connecting the smartphone to the computer and executing commands. For example, you can try to disable the package responsible for the standard keyboard, but leave the package of a third-party application active.

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.inputmethod.latin

It's important to understand that this command will disable the system component of Google Input Tools or similar. If you don't install a replacement before you execute this command, the device may become unmanageable in terms of text input, and you can only restore it by reconnecting to ADB and the command with the enable option, or by resetting the settings.

Solving problems with sticking and spontaneous appearance

Often users are looking for a way to turn off the keyboard not because they don’t need it, but because it behaves incorrectly.The problem of sticking or spontaneously appearing the input panel on Xiaomi is a common phenomenon associated with cache errors or conflicts in the MIUI shell. In such cases, a complete shutdown is not required, it is enough to conduct a deep cleanup.

The first step is to delete the temporary files of the application. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications, find your keyboard (like Gboard) and select Memory. Press Clear Cache and Clear Data. This will return the application to the “just after installation” state, killing all the accumulated configuration errors that could cause glitches.

The second important aspect is updating the system components of Google Play Services. Often, the typing issues are not related to the keyboard app itself, but to the background services that coordinate the keyboard, check for updates in the app store and make sure all components are marked as up-to-date.

Adjusting the height and appearance of the panel

If your goal is not to shut down, but to reduce the space you occupy, modern keyboards allow you to flexibly adjust their size. In Gboard, for example, you can change the height of the panel to make it minimal, or turn on the Soaring Keyboard mode, which allows you to move it to any part of the screen or roll it into a small dot.

To activate the floating mode, it is usually enough to press and hold the keyboard icon in the corner of the screen or in the notification bar. In the menu that opens, you need to select an icon with four arrows or a dashed square, which will turn the keyboard into a window that can be dragged, scaled or temporarily hidden behind the edge of the screen, which solves the problem of overlapping content.

Also, in the theme settings, you can choose a completely black background or theme that merges with the application interface, which visually “dissolves” the keyboard. MIUI has an additional setting in the Additional → Language and Input → Current Keyboard → Settings where you can turn off pressing sounds and vibrations, making the input as invisible as possible to the user.

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The floating keyboard mode is the best solution for working with Xiaomi tablets or smartphones with large diagonals, allowing you to place the input panel in a convenient area of reach of your fingers.

Frequent Questions and Answers (FAQ)