Modern Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones are equipped with powerful tools to protect children from unwanted content and excessive obsession with gadgets. However, there are often situations when these restrictions become an obstacle: a child has grown up, forgotten the administrator password or the device has moved to a new owner. The process of deactivating protection depends on the method used to lock. In this article, we will discuss in detail how to remove parental control from a Xiaomi phone using standard system tools and advanced reset methods.
If you are the legal owner of a device and you simply forgot your settings, most of the problems are solved through a Google account or reset. This is complicated when it comes to deep integration of Google Family Link services, which require confirmation from the parent’s device. It is important to understand that removing restrictions without the account owner’s knowledge can be considered a violation of digital rights, so all the methods described below are solely designed to restore access to your own equipment.
⚠️ Warning: Before any manipulations, make sure you have the legal right to control the device.
Many users confuse the built-in MIUI features with external applications, which leads to the wrong actions when trying to unlock.We will look at all popular scenarios, from simple screen time settings to complex cases with forgotten Google account passwords. It is critical to know the type of lock installed before starting the procedure, since the methods for Family Link and built-in Digital Well-being are radically different.
Determination of the type of lock installed
The first step in solving the problem is to accurately identify the source of the constraints. On Xiaomi and Poco smartphones, control can be done through the MIUI (or HyperOS) shell, through Google services or third-party applications, and the next algorithm depends on this. If you just see the timer on the screen, the most likely activated mode is Digital Well-Being.
When the phone is completely locked and requires input PIN-The code you didn't install or ask for confirmation from another device is Google Family Link, which is a more serious layer of protection that ties a child's device to a parent's account. Third-party blocker programs, such as Kaspersky Safe Kids or Norton Family, may be hidden in the system.
- 🔍 Check the Digital Well-Being section in your settings to identify system constraints.
- 🔍 Search for apps called Family Link or Parental Control».
- 🔍 Note notifications in the curtain that may indicate an active third-party app.
Some types of locks can be hidden from the average user, for example, device administrators can prohibit uninstall of certain applications. To check this, you need to go to advanced security settings. If you can't find the source of the lock, it may be hidden in user profiles or has superuser rights.
⚠️ Note: Attempt to remove system components from Google Play Services or Family Link ADB Without proper knowledge can lead to unstable operation of the Android operating system.
Disabling Digital Well-Being and Screen Timers
The simplest and most common case is the use of the built-in Digital Wellbeing feature, which allows you to set time limits for applications, but often the password is forgotten or the settings become too strict.
Go to the basic smartphone settings and look for Digital Well-Being and Parental Control, and if the system requests a password and you don't remember it, use the Google Account Restore feature if it was linked, otherwise you'll need a more radical approach, as described below. Inside the menu, you'll see the usage schedule and the timers you've set.
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If you forgot your Digital Wellbeing password, try resetting your app data through the Apps menu → All Apps → Digital Wellbeing → Clear Data, but this will only work if you have administrator rights on your device.
To turn off the function completely, click on the three dots in the upper right corner or look for the Data Management button at the bottom of the screen. There should be an option to turn off digital well-being. The system will warn that the statistics will be deleted and the timers will stop working. Confirm the action.
☑️ Checklist of Digital Wellbeing Disconnection
If the standard path is blocked, you can try disabling access to usage statistics. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications, find Digital Well-being and force the process to stop. Then clear the cache and data. This can temporarily remove restrictions until the system requests reauthorization.
Remove and bypass Google Family Link
Google Family Link is a more complicated situation, because it's a cloud service that tightly links a child's device to a parent's device, and you can't just remove the app from a child's phone, it will automatically re-set or lock the device, and the official method requires access to a parent's phone.
Open the Family Link app on the parent's device, select the child's profile, and click on "Management settings." You need to find "Device lock" or "Account management" and select the option to stop control, and then the notification will appear on the child's phone and control will be removed, this is the only legal way to unlock without losing data.
| Method | Conditions required | Risk of data loss | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Through a parent's app | Access to a parent's phone | No. | Low. |
| Changing Google Password | Access to parental mail | No (24 h lockdown) | Medium |
| Reset to factory settings | Password from the child’s Google account | Total loss of data | Tall. |
| Recovery mode (Recovery) | Physical access to buttons | Total loss of data | Tall. |
There's a method known as 24-hour locking, and if you know the password from a child's Google account but don't have access to a parent's phone, you can try to change the password from a child's Google account through a browser on a PC. Once you change the password, the child's device will lose communication with the verification server for 24 hours, during which time parental controls may not work, which will allow you to change the settings.
Nuances of the 24-hour window
Using Safe Mode to Remove Applications
If you have a third-party parental control app on your phone that doesn't let you remove it, you can use Safe Mode, which only downloads system apps, allowing you to access settings and remove malicious or blocking software.
To enter Safe Mode on Xiaomi, you usually need to press the power button and then hold the “Stop” or “Reboot” option on the screen for a long time until the suggestion to go to Safe Mode appears. An alternative method is to press the volume button when the device is booted when the Mi logo appears.
- 🛡️ In Safe Mode, all third-party apps are labeled or not displayed.
- 🛡️ Go to Settings. → Apps and Find Suspicious Software.
- 🛡️ Click "Delete" to uninstall the blocker.
Once you remove the problem app, just restart the phone in the normal way, and the system will go out of safe mode, and the lock should disappear, and this method is effective against applications that do not have system-level rights and are not built into the firmware.
Full reset (Hard Reset) through Recovery
When other methods fail, the last resort is Hard Reset, which completely erases all data from the device, returning it to factory status. Importantly, if the phone has been enabled to search for the device (Find My Device), after the reset, you will need to enter the username and password from the Google account that was synced earlier.
Turn off the phone completely to do the reset. Then press the power button and the volume button at the same time. Hold them until the Mi logo or the Recovery menu appears. The menu uses volume buttons to navigate and the power button to select.
Wipe Data → Wipe All Data → Confirm → Back to Main Menu → RebootOnce you select Wipe All Data, the system will request confirmation. Select Confirm. The formatting process can take a few minutes. Once complete, select Reboot. The phone will turn on as new, and all parental controls will be deleted along with user data.
⚠️ Warning: Hard Reset permanently deletes photos, contacts and correspondence. Make sure you have a backup of important data if possible.
FRP bypass and protection against re-blocking
After resetting the settings on modern smartphones, Xiaomi activates FRP (Factory Reset Protection)**.** If you do not know the password from a Google account that was previously synced with the device, the phone will turn into a “brick” at the initial setup stage.
To avoid problems, delete your Google account before reset (if you have access to the menu) and go to Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google, select an account and click Delete. Only then can you reset.
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Deleting your Google account before resetting is a must-do step to avoid getting blocked by FRP and losing access to your device forever.
If the phone is already reset and requires an account you don’t know about (like buying a used device), there are no official ways around it.There are paid services and sophisticated technical firmware techniques through EDL Mode, but they require special equipment and skills, and can also be illegal depending on the jurisdiction.
In conclusion, managing parental controls requires accountability: Regularly check settings, save passwords in a safe place, and discuss gadget usage rules with children. Protection technologies are evolving, and Xiaomi is constantly updating its security systems, so old bypass methods may stop working after a MIUI or Android update.