How to turn on Safe Mode on Xiaomi Phone: All Ways (including Locked Screen)

Why You Need Safe Mode on Xiaomi and When to Use It

Safe Mode on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO is a diagnostic Android mode that shuts down all third-party apps and services, leaving only system components pre-installed by the manufacturer active, and revealing the causes of the device’s instability: if the problem disappears in Safe Mode, one of the user apps is likely to be the culprit.

When should you activate this mode? First, if your Xiaomi has spontaneously rebooted, slowed down or issued errors such as "Application Stopped." Second, Safe Mode will help if you suspect a virus infection - many malware is blocked in this mode. Finally, Safe Mode is necessary to remove "unremovable" applications that are normally protected by administrative rights.

It’s important to understand that in Safe Mode, some features will be limited: widgets will be turned off, lock screen settings will change, and some system applications (such as Mi Video or Mi Music) may not work correctly.

Method 1: Standard turn on via the off menu

The simplest and most versatile method, which works on all Xiaomi models running MIUI 12-15 (including Redmi Note 12, POCO X5, Xiaomi 13T and others), is suitable for devices that normally turn on and respond to touching the screen.

Instructions:

1. Press and hold the power button (on/off) until the menu appears.
2. In the window that appears, tap and hold your finger on the “Switch off” (or “Switch off power”) option.
3. In 2-3 seconds, a pop-up will appear, suggesting that you go to Safe Mode. Click OK.
4. The phone will reboot and in the lower left corner of the screen will appear the inscription "Safe mode" (English - "Safe mode").

If the off menu doesn't appear, check if Double tap to wake up is activated in the screen settings. It can block the standard power menu. Also, on some firmware (e.g. MIUI Global), the "off" option may be called "power off."

Method 2: Hardware buttons (for locked or unresponsive phones)

If Xiaomi’s screen doesn’t respond to touch, the phone hangs on the MI logo, or you’ve forgotten the pattern lock – this method will help you boot into Safe Mode without access to the menu.It works on all models, including the Redmi 10C, POCO F4 and Xiaomi 12 Lite.

Sequence of action:

1. Turn off the phone forcefully: hold the power button for 10-15 seconds until the screen goes out.
2. After completely switching off, press and hold the power button.
3. As soon as the MI (or Redmi/POCO) logo appears on the screen, press and hold the Volume Down button without releasing power.
4. Hold both buttons until the phone boots into Safe Mode (usually 20 to 40 seconds).

A sign of successful activation is the inscription “Safe mode” in the lower left corner. If the phone boots in normal mode, repeat the procedure, holding the buttons longer. Some models (for example, Xiaomi 11T Pro) may need to hold the buttons up to 1 minute.

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If the phone vibrates when booting, but the screen remains black, try plugging it into charging for 10 minutes before trying again. A discharged battery can block the boot from Safe Mode.

Method 3: Through the ADB command (for advanced users)

The method requires a computer with ADB drivers installed and USB debugging enabled on the phone, suitable for Xiaomi with an unlocked bootloader or root rights, but works on standard MIUI firmware if debugging was activated in advance.

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your phone to your PC through USB-cable (preferably original).
2. Open the command prompt (cmd) or PowerShell on your computer.
3. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices must appear serial number of your device.
4. Run the reboot command in Safe Mode: adb shell cmd phone safe-mode enable or for older versions of Android: adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED --ez safe_mode 1
5. The phone will automatically restart in safe mode.

To return the normal mode, use the command:

adb shell cmd phone safe-mode disable

Method 4: Through Recovery Mode (if the phone is not turned on)

If Xiaomi doesn’t load even before the logo but responds to buttons, you can try activating Safe Mode via the Recovery menu, which works on most models, but requires caution – wrong actions in Recovery can lead to a data reset.

Instructions:

1. Turn off the phone (forced holding the power button).
2. Press and hold the power and volume buttons at the same time (Volume Up).
3. Release the buttons when the Recovery menu appears (usually with an image of an Android robot and the words "No command").
4. Use the volume buttons for navigation and the power button to select "Reboot to Safe Mode" (or similar).
5. Confirm the reset.

On some firmware (e.g. MIUI China), the Safe Mode option in Recovery may not be available, in which case you can choose "Reboot system now" while holding down the volume button, which sometimes works as an alternative method.

How to get out of Safe Mode on Xiaomi

You can return your phone to normal mode in a number of ways, depending on how you activate Safe Mode:

• 🔄 Reboot: Just reboot your phone in the standard way (holding the power button). 90% of the time, that's enough.
• 📱 Notice: On some versions MIUI In the notification curtain appears the button “Exit from safe mode».
• 🔧 ADB-If the Safe Mode has been activated through the ADB, Adb shell cmd phone safe-mode disable
• ⚙️ Resetting: In extreme cases, reset to factory settings (Settings) → The phone. → Resetting settings), but it will delete all data.

If the phone boots back in safe mode after leaving Safe Mode, it is a sign of damage to system files, in which case only flashing through Fastboot or contacting the service center will help.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When working with Safe Mode, Xiaomi users often face typical problems, and here are the most common ones and ways to solve them:

Particular attention should be paid to the situation when Xiaomi is fixated on downloading in Safe Mode.

• 🛠️ Damaged firmware (for example, after a failed update) MIUI).
• 🔋 Faulty battery (phone turns off when loaded).
• 📱 Conflict with custom recaveri (TWRP Or OrangeFox).

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If Safe Mode is activated after each reboot, check the file /data/property/persist.sys.safemode via Root Explorer.

What you can and can’t do in Safe Mode

Safe mode limits Xiaomi’s functionality, but it also opens up diagnostic options.

Permitted:

• 🔍 Remove applications that are not normally removed (including system applications if root is available).
• 📊 Check battery consumption without the influence of third-party applications.
• 🛠️ Test the operation of sensors (gyroscope, accelerometer) through the engineering menu (#4636##).
• 📁 Copy important data to an external drive (if the phone is glitchy).

Forbidden:

• 🚫 Install new apps (they won’t work after you leave Safe Mode).
• 🔋 Updates to be undertaken MIUI (may cause a failure).
• 📲 Change security settings (for example, adding fingerprints).
• 🔄 Use of the “Optimization” or “Cleaning” functions in the settings.

⚠️ Warning: Safe Mode disables all Google Play services, including app license checks, and can cause anti-piracy systems to falsely trigger in games (such as Genshin Impact or GI). PUBG Do not run applications that require online authorization in this mode.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions