The situation when the display of the Xiaomi smartphone stops responding to touch or completely goes out, and the device continues to work, is one of the most unpleasant for the owner. At this point, there is an urgent need to forcefully terminate the system to prevent overheating, battery discharge or freezing of background processes. If the touch panel fails, the standard switch to turn off becomes unavailable, which forces to look for alternative physical or software methods of influencing the gadget.
Fortunately, the architecture of the Android operating system and the MIUI or HyperOS shell provide several levels of control of the device, regardless of the performance of the touchscreen. You can use combinations of hardware buttons, external peripherals or special computer utilities to manage power. It is important to understand what type of damage to the screen you have: a full black screen, a “dead” touchscreen when the picture is running, or partial responsiveness.
In this article, we will discuss all available ways to emergency shutdown and reboot smartphones brand Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco. We will look at both safe methods and radical measures that may be required in critical situations.
Using hardware buttons for forced reboot
The fastest and most efficient way to turn off a smartphone with a broken screen is to use a physical key combination. On most modern Xiaomi models, a bunch of power and volume buttons is responsible for this, which emulates battery extraction, forcibly interrupting the power supply to the processor and resetting errors in RAM.
You don't need access to the menu to do this. Just press the on button and one of the volume buttons (most often Volume Up, but some models also have Volume Down) simultaneously. Hold them for 10 to 15 seconds. The device should vibrate and reboot. If your goal is to turn off, not reboot, then after the vibration, you sometimes need to quickly press the volume button to select the Power Off option in blind mode, but this doesn't work on all firmware.
⚠️ Warning: Long-term button retention (over 20 seconds) on some models may trigger a Recovery Recovery mode or Fastboot fast load mode, rather than just turning off the phone. If the screen catches fire with the menu text, use the volume buttons for navigation (up/down) and the power button to confirm the choice of “Power off».
There is also a nuance with the duration of the press: a short press (1-2 seconds) usually wakes up the screen, a medium (5-7 seconds) causes the off menu (if the touchscreen is working), and a long (10+ seconds) causes a forced restart. If the screen is completely black and you don't see the reaction, hold the buttons until you feel the characteristic vibration or sound of the system starting, after which you release them.
☑️ Pre-reset check
The method of “blind” switching off through the menu
If the smartphone display is lighting up and showing an image, but the touchscreen is completely unresponsive to touch, you can try using the standard touch-off menu, which requires knowing the exact location of the interface elements on your particular device, since there is no visual control.
First, you need to activate the screen with a short press of the power button. Then, remembering the location of the elements, you need to make a swipe from top to bottom to open the notification curtain. In most MIUI shells, the power button is in the upper right corner or in the center on top. By clicking on it blindly, you will open the menu, where you also need to hit the off icon.
- 🔘 Press the power button to turn on the display.
- 👆 Make a swipe from top to bottom in the center of the screen.
- ⚙️ Click on the top right corner (the gear icon or power supply icon).
- 🛑 Click on the off icon (usually left in the menu that opens).
The effectiveness of this method depends on the model of your smartphone and the firmware version. It is easier to get on older devices with a classic curtain. On new models with HyperOS, the location of the elements may change. If you fail the first time, try repeating the procedure by adjusting the position of the finger.
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If the screen is lighting up but the touchscreen is not working, try plugging in. USB-mouse-over OTG. The cursor will appear on the screen, and you can turn off the phone in a regular way by clicking the mouse.
Computer use and debugging over USB (ADB)
The most professional and safe method of turning off a smartphone with a broken screen is the use of the Android Debug Bridge debugging bridge (ADB). This method allows you to send system commands directly to the operating system through the USB-The cable, bypassing the need for touch, but it requires that the phone pre-enabled the "Debugging by touch" option. USB».
If debugging was activated before it broke, you’ll need a computer with Xiaomi drivers installed and platform tools installed. ADB. Connect your smartphone to your PC through quality USB-Open the command line or terminal in the folder with the adb utility and enter the command to restart or turn off.
adb rebootThis command initiates a soft reboot of the device, and if you want to turn it off completely, the following command is used:
adb shell reboot -pOnce you have the command, the smartphone will react by vibration and shutdown. If the computer can't see the device, check if the correct driver is installed in the Device Manager. In some cases, you may need to confirm the connection on the phone screen (RSA-key), which makes this method useless with a completely broken touchscreen, if you have not previously ticked the "Always allow from this computer».
What if the ADB can’t see the phone?
Battery discharge as an extreme method
When all the software and hardware methods are down and the phone needs to be turned off urgently, the most primitive but perfectly effective way is to wait until the battery is completely discharged, a method that requires no action other than initially isolating the device from the power sources.
To speed up the process, you can leave the screen on (if it works), run a “heavy” application, a camera with a flash on, or high-resolution video recording, and also help to discharge active network search in the area of poor reception or the included GPS and Bluetooth modules.
⚠️ Warning: Deep discharge of lithium polymer batteries, especially over long periods of time, can have a negative impact on their capacity and chemical structure. Do not leave a fully discharged phone lying for weeks, as this can lead to irreversible battery failure.
Once the phone turns off, it's recommended that you don't charge it immediately if you're planning to repair the screen. It's better to keep the device with a charge of about 40-60% if you can, but in an emergency shutdown situation, the choice is small. This method is good because it's completely safe for the software part, but it takes time and patience.
Table of comparison of off-switching methods
To make it easier to choose the best way to deal with your situation, we have compiled a comparative table that will help you quickly assess the risks and requirements of each method.
| Method | Requires a working screen | I need a PC. | Risk of data loss | Speed. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Button combination | No. | No. | Low (only unsaved) | Tall. |
| Blind menu | Yes (image only) | No. | No. | Medium |
| ADB teams | No. | Yes. | No. | Tall. |
| Discharge | No. | No. | No. | Very low. |
As you can see from the table, button combinations are the most versatile solution that doesn't require any additional hardware. ADB is ideal for advanced users who want to save data and have a customized environment. Discharge is the last frontier when nothing else helps.
External Peripheral Connectivity (OTG)
Modern Xiaomi smartphones support USB OTG (On-The-Go) technology, which allows you to connect external input devices such as a computer mouse or keyboard to the charging connector. This can be a salvation if the touchscreen does not work, but the image on the display is present.
You're gonna need an adapter. USB To Type-C (or Micro-USB, depending on the model) and you plug in a wired mouse, you'll see a cursor on your smartphone screen, and that will allow you to precisely press the off button, unlock the device. PIN-code or make a backup of the data before turning it off.
If you have a wireless mouse with USB-It also needs to be earned as Android has the basic drivers for the receiver. HID-It's the only way to fully interact with the interface without touchscreen. After you turn off your phone, remember to remove the adapter so you don't damage the connector when you transport the device to the service.
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Use of the USB-mouse-wise OTG-adapter is the most reliable way to control a smartphone with a non-working touchscreen, allowing you to safely complete the work and save data.