Xiaomi smartphones, powered by MIUI or the new HyperOS, provide users with a wide range of tools to organize everyday tasks. The standard Mi Notes app is one of the most popular pre-installed services that allows you to quickly capture ideas, compile shopping lists and keep work records. However, the application interface is not always intuitive, and some functions, such as text formatting, can be hidden from the eyes of an inexperienced user.
One of the common tasks in keeping to-do lists is to visually separate completed items from those still in the works. Crossing out text is a classic way of marking what has been done, which helps keep abreast of progress. In this article, we will discuss in detail how to cross out text in Xiaomi notes, what alternative methods exist, and why a standard application may not give the expected result in certain versions of firmware.
It is worth noting that the functionality of the regular application can vary depending on the regional version of the firmware (Global, China, EEA) and the Android version. So if you do not find the feature described in your menu, do not panic.
Limitations of the standard Mi Notes app
Many users mistakenly believe that the lack of a “cross-through” button in the top menu is a bug of their particular device. In fact, Xiaomi developers have long focused on minimalism in their text editor. In the basic version of Mi Notes, the available formatting tools are often limited to resizing the font, adding headings and pasting images. Strikethrough is not always displayed on the quick access bar or is not at all in some builds.
The absence of an explicit button doesn't mean formatting is impossible. In recent HyperOS updates and the latest MIUI 14, developers have begun to implement more advanced text editors similar to those found in office suites. However, if you have an older smartphone model or haven't updated system components, you'll have to face a limited set of tools. It's important to understand that this is not a defect, but a feature of the company's software policy at certain stages of shell development.
Why is Xiaomi taking down features?
If you’re trying to find this feature, make sure your app is updated to the latest version through the GetApps store or Google Play. Sometimes the problem is solved by a banal update to the system component that is responsible for text input and editing.
Formatting methods in different versions of MIUI and HyperOS
Depending on which version of the operating system you have installed on your device, the algorithm of actions can vary significantly. Owners of HyperOS devices have more options for customizing text. Here is a new font rendering engine that supports advanced styles. To try to cross-out text, you need to highlight the desired fragment and carefully examine the context menu that appears.
In some cases, the menu is hidden behind a "More" button or a three-point icon. If you use MIUI 12 or 13, the odds of finding a native strikeout feature are much lower. These versions focused on the visual component of the notes (colors, covers), rather than typography, users had to look for workarounds or put up with the lack of this option.
You also need to consider the difference between normal text input and list-creating mode. In checklist-clicking mode, the system automatically uses cross-checking when you click on a item. This is the built-in logic of checklists that doesn't require manual font formatting. If your goal is to simply mark what's done, using a special list mode will be more effective than manually changing the style of the text.
Use of list and checklist regimes
The most effective way to get the text crossed out in a standard application is to use specialized input modes. When you create a regular note, you are in free text mode. However, if you switch to the to-do mode, the logic of the application changes. Each new item on the list is provided with an interactive element, a checkbox.
When you click on the checkbox (the square to the left of the text), the item is marked as completed, visually it is expressed in the text crossing, it is a regular mechanism that works consistently on all versions of MIUI and HyperOS, regardless of the year of release of the smartphone, this solution is ideal for shopping lists, plans for the day or instructions steps.
☑️ How to Create a Smart List
If you want to cross out a part of a sentence, rather than the whole item in the list, this may not be the method, but it's the most convenient way to structure information, and you can combine plain text and lists within a single note, switching between input modes through a floating menu or a bottom toolbar.
Alternative: Google Keep and Third Party Apps
If Xiaomi’s built-in tools don’t meet your formatting needs, the best solution is to install a third-party app. Google Keep is a native service for the Android ecosystem that is often pre-installed on smartphones or easily downloaded from the store. Unlike Mi Notes, Google Keep offers more flexible text-handling tools, although there the cross-out feature is implemented specifically.
Google Keep also has cross-outs tied to lists, but there are specialty note-taking apps like Evernote, Notion, or Simplenote, where text formatting (bold, italic, crossed-out) is done in the classic word processor model, and installing one will solve the problem once and for all by giving you complete control over the look of your posts.
| Annex | Native strike-out | Synchronization | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mi Notes | Only on the lists. | Mi Cloud | Low. |
| Google Keep | Only on the lists. | Google Drive | Low. |
| Evernote | Got it (on the menu) | Evernote server | Medium |
| Notion | Got it (via /strike) | Cloud Notion | Tall. |
The choice of app depends on your goals. If you want a simple notebook, you might want to get used to the logic of the checklists in Mi Notes. If you’re running complex projects that require rich formatting, switching to Notion or Evernote is a logical step.
Secrets of the Gboard and SwiftKey keyboard
Users often forget that text formatting capabilities are not just app-specific, but also keyboard-specific. Google’s standard Gboard keyboard or Microsoft’s SwiftKey have built-in features to quickly apply styles to text, although a direct “cross-through” button there is not always obvious either.
You can set up a toolbar in Gboard to quickly access formatting features, go to the keyboard settings, select "Setting up the toolbar" and add the desired buttons, but even with a button, it may not work in simple text fields if the application itself (in this case, Mi Notes) does not support the corresponding markup tag.
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Use voice input for quick navigation. If you dictate text, try saying “cross-through text,” although the Russian-language command’s recognition is still unstable and depends on Google’s regional settings.
However, using advanced keyboards gives you the advantage of printing speed and access to the clipboard, which indirectly simplifies the work with text. You can quickly copy already formatted text from another source and paste it into a note, preserving the style if the receiving application supports rich-text formatting.
Technical nuances and possible problems
When you're formatting text on Android devices, you might have a problem with not displaying characters correctly on other devices. If you create a note using special characters or styles on Xiaomi and then open it on your iPhone or through the web, the cross-over may disappear or appear as a set of incomprehensible characters, due to differences in font encoding and rendering.
Also worth mentioning is the impact of the design theme. Some custom MIUI themes can change system fonts, making the effect of crossing out barely noticeable or completely overlapping the text. If you notice strange text behavior, try switching to a standard theme in the design settings.
⚠️ Note: When using third-party text formatting applications, keep privacy in mind. Transferring data to cloud services by unknown developers can lead to personal information leakage. Always check the permissions the application requests when installing.
Another technical feature is the dependence on the Android version. On older versions (Android 9 and below), support for modern text formatting standards may be limited, in which case updating the system or using lighter versions of applications (Lite) may be the only way out.