How to unlock Xiaomi phone if you forget your graphical password

When a Xiaomi owner can’t log in because of a forgotten lock key, it’s a regular occurrence: the screen stays black or requires you to enter a combination you don’t remember anything about, which causes panic, especially if important data, photos and contacts are stored inside.

Fortunately, MIUI and Android have multiple recovery scenarios, but it’s worth warning that in most cases, full unlocking without data loss is not possible for security reasons. Modern encryption protocols reliably protect user information from unauthorized access.

In this article, we will cover all the current ways to solve the problem, from cloud services to hard reset via Recovery Mode. You will learn how to prepare the device for the procedure and what to do if the phone requires an account after a reset.

Using Mi Account to Remotely Unblock

The most civilized and safe way to regain access to the device is to use the Xiaomi cloud service, which only works if the phone has previously signed in to Mi Account and enabled the “Find the device” function, and the smartphone must be connected to the Internet (Wi-Fi or mobile network).

To start, you'll need any computer or smartphone that has access to the network, and you'll need to go to the company's official cloud service website, and you'll have authorization, which allows you to control the device remotely, even if it's locked with a pattern lock.

In the service interface, select your locked device from the list. Among the options available is the screen unlock function. The system will warn that this action will delete data, but in some versions of MIUI only resets the password by saving files.

• 📱 Go to i.mi.com and enter the username and password from Mi Account.
• 🌐 Make sure that the Internet is active on the blocked phone.
• 🔓 Click the “Unlock” button in the device management menu.
• 🔄 Wait for the team to sync with the phone.

If the feature was activated in advance, the screen will unlock and you can set a new password.This is the only method that theoretically allows you to save data, although in practice modern versions of Android often require resetting after such a command.

⚠️ Note: If Find Device has been turned off or the phone is not connected to the network, remote unlocking via Mi Account will not work.

Google Find My Device Resets

The alternative is to use Google services, which, because Android is originally a product of Google, has its own management tools, and it works in a similar way to the Xiaomi cloud, but uses a Google account tied to the device.

You have to go to a special device management page from any browser, and after logging in to the account that's being used on the locked phone, the system will try to locate the device, and if the device is online, you'll see it on the map.

From the control menu, select the option “Clean the device” which will force all data from internal memory, including graphical password, photos and apps, and the phone will return to factory state.

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Make sure the phone battery is at least 30-40% charged, as the reset process can take time and the device should not shut down at a critical moment.

Once the procedure is complete, the phone will restart, and you will need to re-set your initial Android settings, connect to Wi-Fi, and enter your Google account password to confirm the owner’s rights.

Hard Reset with Recovery Mode (Recovery Menu)

The most versatile method that works even if the phone is not connected to the Internet or the accounts were not tied, is a so-called Hard Reset or hard reset, which is performed through a special Recovery menu built into the device's memory.

Before you start, it's important to understand that this method is guaranteed to delete all user data. Photos, contacts, instant messaging messages, everything will be destroyed. So if you have important information that you can't lose, this step is only a last resort.

To get into the recovery menu on most Xiaomi and Redmi models, you need to run a specific button combination on the device that is turned off.

Keep the buttons clamped until the Mi logo appears, then release the power button, but keep the volume up. In a few seconds, the main Recovery menu will open. The volume buttons (up and down) control the menu, and the choice is confirmed by the power button.

Select Wipe Data, then confirm the action by selecting Wipe All Data. The system will ask for final confirmation — select Confirm. The formatting process will take from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.

⚠️ Note: Some new models with an updated version MIUI Entering the Recovery menu may require unlocking the screen or entering a password from Mi Account.

Unlocking through ADB (for advanced users)

There is a more technically sophisticated method that sometimes allows you to bypass the lock without completely losing data, but it requires preliminary preparation. USB (USB Debugging, which was to be included in the Developer Menu before being blocked.

If this feature has been activated and the computer has previously been authorized on the phone, you can try to delete files storing lock keys through the command line. ADB PC-only.

Connect your phone to your computer with a cable. Open the command line on your PC in the ADB folder and type a command to access the shell:

adb shell

Next, you go to the directory where the system keys are stored and delete them. Commands may vary depending on the version of Android, but often the path to gesture.key or password.

It’s worth noting that on current versions of MIUI, this method is almost non-working due to enhanced security measures, but for owners of older Xiaomi devices, this can be a salvation.

What to do if your phone requires an account after a reset

After Hard Reset is executed, Android security activates FRP (Factory Reset Protection) protection.The phone will request the entry of a Google account or Mi Account that was synced to the device before the reset.

This is to prevent the attacker from simply dumping the phone and using it as if nothing had happened, and if you don’t remember the password, you’ll have to restore access through standard recovery procedures on Google or Xiaomi.

Entering the wrong password several times can temporarily block the ability to log in, in which case you need to wait for the specified time (from 1 hour to 24 hours), without turning off the phone, and try again.

• 🔑 Enter the login and password from the Google account that was the main one on the device.
• ☁️ If you used Mi Account, enter its data at the appropriate request.
• ⏳ When blocking time, wait for the end of the timer.
• 📶 Make sure you have a stable internet connection to check your data.

If you bought a phone with your hands and the previous owner didn't untie your account, you can't legally unlock your device without them, and that's anti-theft protection, and you can't legally get around it.

Prevention of blocking and data retention

To prevent the situation with the forgotten password from being taken by surprise and lead to data loss, you should set up your backup in advance. Xiaomi offers convenient tools for synchronizing contacts, notes and photos with the cloud.

It's recommended to back up important files regularly to your computer or external drive, and you can also use automatic sync with Google Photos or Google Drive, which takes a couple of minutes of setting up, but saves your memories at a critical moment.

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Regularly synchronizing data with the cloud is the only way to ensure the safety of information when you need to reset your password.

Also, make a habit of periodically checking your account passwords, writing them down in a safe place or using a password manager. The pattern lock is better remembered with muscle memory, but the digital pin or complex password is better stored somewhere.

Remember, biometrics (fingerprint, face unlock) are just a convenient way to log in, PIN-the code or pattern lock you set when you first set up.