Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face the need to change the security settings of the device. Situations when you want to remove the digital password can be different from the banal annoyance of constant identity check to forgetfulness, when the old code just flew out of my head. In modern shells MIUI and HyperOS, the security system has become more stringent, but flexible in settings for authorized users.
It is important to understand that the complete removal of protection is possible only if you have access to the settings menu or remember the data from the Mi Account. If the device is locked completely and you do not remember the digital code, the recovery process will be more difficult and require a complete reset. In this article, we will discuss all legal and safe ways to deactivate the PIN code.
Before we make any changes, it's worth assessing the risks: disabling your password makes your personal data, photos and banking apps available to anyone who picks up your phone, so biometric protection (a fingerprint or Face ID) should remain on even if you give up your pattern lock or digital code.
Preparation for removing the screen lock
The first step before any security manipulation is to check current bindings. Android requires proof of ownership identity before allowing the protection to go off. Make sure you know the password from your Google account and Xiaomi account. Without that data, the system can block or require changes to the settings after the reboot.
It's also critical to check the status of Find Device, and if it's active, if you try to reset your password or hard reset, your phone will need authorization, and it's a security mechanism against theft, go to your account settings and make sure that your recovery phone number is up to date.
☑️ Checking before PIN disabling
Don't ignore the importance of backup. Although the default PIN disabling through settings doesn't delete files, human error or accidental failure can cause data loss.
Standard disabling of PIN code through settings
The easiest and safest way to remove a password request is to use the system's standard menu, which works if you remember the current code and can unlock your smartphone, and the algorithm is the same for most versions of the MIUI shell.
You need to open the Security app or go straight to the basic settings. Find the password and security section, and then the system will ask you to enter the current PIN to confirm the administrator's rights, and then you will open the lock type management menu.
⚠️ Note: Some versions of the firmware with enabled data encryption may not be able to completely delete the password without resetting the device, in which case the system will suggest replacing the complex password with a simpler one, such as a swipe.
The sequence of actions is as follows:
- 📱 Go to Settings. → Passwords and security.
- 🔓 Select the Device Unlock option.
- 🔢 Enter the current PIN or pattern lock.
- 🚫 Click on the Off option or select the Lock type No.
Once you do this, the system will stop asking for the code when you turn on the screen, but if you have payment services like Google Pay or Mi Pay set up on your phone, they may need to reconfigure security, as they only work on secure devices.
Using a Mi Account to Reset Protection
If you forget your PIN, but your phone is connected to the Internet, you can try using the Mi Account recovery feature, which doesn't work on all versions of Android, but older and some mid-range versions of MIUI have a chance.
To do this, log in to your account from another device via your browser or Find Device app. From the list of available actions, select the device lock and set a temporary password. Sometimes this action overwrites the old forgotten code, allowing you to log in with a new password, which can then be easily removed through settings.
It is worth noting that in modern versions of Android 11-15, this method is often replaced by forced reset. Security has become stricter, and remote password change without confirmation on the device itself is now considered a vulnerability.
What if the Mi Account doesn’t work?
Recovery Mode (Hard Reset)
When you can't remember your password and your account doesn't work, the radical method is to completely reset your phone to factory settings through the Recovery menu, which completely cleans your phone's internal memory, returning it to a store-like state, and all photos, contacts and apps will be deleted.
To enter recovery mode, you need to turn off your smartphone and use a combination of buttons. On most Xiaomi models, this is pressing the Volume Up button and Power at the same time, you need to hold them until the Mi logo or the Recovery menu appears.
In the menu, the navigation is done with volume buttons (up/down), and the choice is confirmed by the power button. You need to find Wipe Data or Clear Data, and after the confirmation of the action, the formatting process will begin.
| Action. | Button combination | The result |
|---|---|---|
| Entrance to Recovery | Volume Up + Nutrition | Recovery menu |
| Selection of a paragraph | Volume buttons | Moving the cursor |
| Confirmation | Power button | Starting the function |
| Exit | Reboot | System restart |
⚠️ Note: After reset, the phone will require you to enter a password from your Google account (FRP Lock) and Mi-accounts that were previously synchronized with the device, which are anti-theft protections that are virtually impossible to circumvent without the owner's data.
The reset process can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes depending on the amount of memory, don't interrupt it, don't remove the battery if it's removable, and after you reboot, there's no PIN, but there's no data.
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If the volume buttons don’t work, try connecting the phone to your computer or original charger before logging into Recovery — this changes the behavior of the buttons on some models.
Unlocking through USB debugging (ADB)
For advanced users, there's a method of deleting a file with passwords through a computer, and this only works if the phone has been pre-enabled to debug USB and the computer already has access permissions (debug permission was given), and if the phone is just locked and you never enabled debugging, this method won't work.
The essence of the method is to connect the smartphone to a PC with an ADB driver installed and Platform Tools utility. A command is sent through the command line to delete the system file gesture.key or password.key, which stores the password hash.
adb shell rm /data/system/gesture.key
adb shell rm /data/system/password.keyOnce the commands are executed, you need to restart the device. If it goes well, the system will not find the password file and let you on the desktop. However, on newer versions of Android with disk encryption, this method is often blocked, since without unlocking the screen, access to the file system through ADB is closed.
Mi Cloud and Find Device issues
A common problem after password reset is account locking, users forget that Find Device is activated automatically when you log in to a Mi Account. After Hard Reset, the phone requires you to enter the username and password that were before the reset.
If you remember your login but have forgotten your password, use the recovery form at i.mi.com. You will need access to your linked phone number or email. Without re-accessing your account, your phone will remain a brick from the point of view of the average user.
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Remember, Hard Reset removes the PIN, but it doesn't remove the account binding. The account is the master ownership key of the device.
In some cases, if the phone is not connected to the Internet immediately after the reset, it can let you log in, but once the network is available, the check will be repeated, so it is better to resolve the account before you start active actions.