Navigation buttons disabled on Xiaomi Redmi: 7 reasons and ways to fix

You picked up your Xiaomi Redmi to quickly switch between apps or get back to the home screen, but suddenly you found that the navigation buttons didn't respond to touch. Neither "Back," nor "Home," nor "Recent" -- complete silence. Is the situation familiar? This problem occurs on models from the Redmi Note 10 to the Redmi 12, and its causes can range from a banal glitch to serious software bugs.

In this article, we will not only list the possible faults, but also provide specific instructions for diagnosing and fixing the breakdown, from rebooting to resetting settings. Importantly, some methods require care to avoid making things worse. For example, turning off navigation gestures in settings can conflict with virtual buttons, and improper factory resets can cause data loss. So read carefully and follow the steps.

If your Redmi is still warranty-free, you should contact the service center right away — especially if the buttons stop working after falling or getting moisture. Otherwise, try the solutions in this article: 80% of problems are solved without repair.

1. Sensory failure or "glitch" of the system

The most common cause is a temporary failure in the touch screen or MIUI interface, most often after:

• 🔄 Long-term use without rebooting (cache accumulation).
• 📱 Update installations (especially beta versions) MIUI).
• 🎮 Use of resource-intensive games (e.g. Genshin Impact or PUBG Mobile).
• 🔋 Battery discharge up to 0% and subsequent charging.

How do you know if it's a fault?

1. Press the screen in the area of the navigation buttons with effort – if they work again, the problem is in the touch layer.
2. Swipe your finger down the bottom of the screen – if other interface elements (such as the notification panel) react and the buttons don’t, it’s the software’s fault.

The first thing you have to do is force the smartphone to restart.

1. Press the Power + Volume button up for 10-15 seconds.
2. Wait for the Redmi logo and vibration.
3. After turning on, check the buttons.

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If the reboot didn’t work, don’t rush to reset your settings. Try to turn on navigation gestures first – this will often wake up virtual buttons.

2. Conflict between gestures and virtual buttons

MIUI has two navigation systems:

• 👆 Gestures (swipe your finger from the bottom of the screen).
• ⚪⚫ Virtual buttons ("Back", "Home", "Recently»).

Sometimes these modes conflict with each other, and the buttons stop showing or working, for example, if you accidentally turned on gestures in the settings, but the system did not switch correctly, to check:

1. Open Settings → Display → Full-screen display.
2. Select the navigation button option (if Gestures are required).
3. Reboot the phone.

If the buttons still don’t appear, try the reverse action:

1. Turn on gestures instead of buttons.
2. Wait 10 seconds.
3. Go back to the navigation buttons.

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On some Redmi models (such as the Note 11 Pro) after upgrading to MIUI 14, the navigation buttons disappear due to a bug, in which case only a firmware rollback or waiting for a patch from Xiaomi will help.

3. Disabling buttons in the developer settings

Few people know, but there's an option in the developer settings that can hide virtual buttons, and this often happens after:

• 🛠️ Activation of the debugging mode (for example, for ADB).
• 📱 Custom firmware installations (for example, LineageOS).
• 🔧 Use of twiking applications (e.g. QuickShortcutMaker).

To check and correct:

1. Open the Settings. → The phone.
2. Click 7 times on the MIUI version to activate the developer mode.
3. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
4. Find the option to Disable Virtual Buttons (or Force Full-screen display) and deactivate it.

If the option is enabled but the buttons still don’t appear, try:

adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=*

This command will reset the immersive mode settings (executed via ADB on PC).

4. Damage to the touch screen or plume

If the navigation buttons are not working just at the bottom of the screen and the rest of the sensor is functioning normally, the problem may be:

• 💥 Mechanical damage (crack, impact).
• 🌊 Moisture under the screen.
• 🔌 Disconnecting the plume (for example, after disassembling the phone).

How to diagnose:

If you suspect a physical breakdown:

⚠️ Warning: Don’t try to disassemble Xiaomi Redmi yourself if you don’t have experience. Touch screen is attached to fragile plumes, and improper assembly can lead to a complete loss of service of the phone. Contact the service center – replacing the screen on Redmi models costs 3-7 thousand. RUB (depending on the model).

5. Failure after MIUI update

MIUI updates often bring not only new features, but also bugs, for example, after upgrading to MIUI 13/14, many Redmi Note 10 Pro and Redmi 9T users complained about the loss of navigation buttons.

• 🐛 Incorrect interface optimization for a particular model.
• 📦 Conflict with user settings (e.g., modified) DPI).
• 🔄 Incomplete Update Installation (interrupted process).

How to fix it:

Reverse Update via Settings → About Phone → System Update → Three Points → Select Service Pack

Reset the interface settings in Settings → Applications → Application Management → Three Points → Resetting the application settings

Clear the system cache through Settings → Memory → Clear the cache

Re-install the update (downloading the full package from the official Xiaomi website)

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If the buttons are gone after the update, but the rest of the features are working, try rolling back to the previous version of MIUI.

1. Download the full firmware package (.zip) for your model from the official website.
2. Rename the file to update.zip and place it in the root folder of the phone.
3. Open Settings → About Phone → System Update → Three Points → Select an Update Pack.
4. Confirm the rollback.

⚠️ Note: Firmware rollback will reset all data if you haven't made a backup. Also, after rollback, you may need to re-activate your Mi Account (if you were tied).

6. Viruses or malicious applications

Rarely, some viruses or “optimizers” may block system elements of the interface, including navigation buttons.

• 📲 You have installed applications from unofficial sources (outside of Google Play).

How to check and eliminate:

1. Run Security → Scan in the standard MIUI Security app.
2. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management and sort by installation date. Remove suspicious programs.
3. Check the list of device administrators: Settings → Passwords and security → Device administrators. Remove permissions from unknown applications.

If the virus blocks access to the settings:

1. Restart your phone in Safe Mode (clip Power → hold Power Off → Confirm transition).
2. In safe mode, remove suspicious applications.
3. Restart your phone in normal mode.

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To avoid similar problems in the future, enable app verification in Google Play Protect and never disable MIUI Defender – it blocks most known threats to Xiaomi.

7. Reset to factory settings (last chance)

If none of the previous methods worked, it's a hard reset, and it'll delete all the data from the phone, so first, you can:

• 📱 Make a backup copy through Settings → The phone. → Backup.
• 🔐 Make sure to remember your Mi Account details (required to unlock after resetting).
• 📁 Save important files to your PC or cloud.

How to perform the reset:

1. Open Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Choose to erase all data.
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot.

If the phone doesn’t respond to touch and you can’t open the settings:

1. Turn off Redmi.
2. Press Power + Volume Up to enter Recovery mode.
3. Select Wipe Data → Wipe All Data (control – volume buttons, confirmation – power button).
4. After resetting, the phone will restart in factory condition.

⚠️ Note: On models with a locked bootloader (for example, Redmi Note 12 for the Russian market), a reset via Recovery may require entering a password from your Mi Account. If you do not remember it, the phone will become a “brick” – you will need official unlocking.

FAQ: Frequent questions about broken navigation buttons