How to completely remove your work profile on your Xiaomi phone: 5 proven ways

The work profile on Xiaomi smartphones is a separate protected space that is created for corporate tasks or device management through the use of a device. MDM-Mobile Device Management allows you to distinguish between personal and work data, but often users face the problem of how to delete it if it is no longer needed or interferes with the operation of the phone. This is especially true for hand-buyed devices where the previous owner has not removed the link to the corporate account.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can delete your Xiaomi work profile, including official methods through settings, ADB workarounds, and radical measures like factory resets. Separately, we’ll look at the risks of locking your device if you do something wrong, and explain why some methods might not work on newer versions of MIUI. If you’re trying to get rid of an unnecessary profile or unlock your phone after you leave work, here’s a solution.

What is a Xiaomi Work Profile and Why You Should Delete It

A work profile (or managed profile) is an isolated environment on Android that is created by a device administrator (usually a company) to control corporate data, and can appear on Xiaomi in three ways:

• 🏢 The device was issued by the company for work and tied to MDM-Systems (e.g. Microsoft Intune or VMware Workspace) ONE).
• 📱 You activate your profile through an app like Android Device Policy or Xiaomi Enterprise Manager.
• 🔄 The phone is bought with hands and the previous owner did not delete the profile before the sale.

Why does it have to be removed?

• ⚠️ Feature limitations: Some applications (e.g. banking) may be blocked or not work properly.
• 📵 Tracking: The profile administrator can track your activity even if you are no longer working for the company.
• 🔒 Device lock: When resetting, the phone may require administrator account details.

⚠️ Note: If a profile is set by a company, deleting it may violate corporate security policies, in some cases equating to data theft.

On newer versions of MIUI 14/15, the working profile is integrated deeper into the system, so standard removal methods (via settings) may not work. Below we will look at alternative methods, including ADB and bypass locking via Fastboot.

Method 1: Delete your work profile through Xiaomi settings

The easiest and safest method is to remove the settings from the settings menu, and it works if:

• 🔓 You have the rights to admin the profile (for example, you created it yourself).
• 📱 Profile not blocked by company policies (no ban on deletion).
• 📲 The device is not tied to MDM-server (no remote management).

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Synchronization.
2. Select the Work Profile tab (or Managed Profile on older versions of MIUI).
3. Click on the profile icon (usually with the company name or "Work").
4. In the upper right corner, tap on ⋮ → Delete profile.
5. Confirm the action by entering a password or PIN-code.

If you don't have a Delete profile or it's inactive, you're protected by the administrator's policies, and then try the following.

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Before deleting your work profile, copy important data (contacts, files) from it to the main storage, and after deleting it, it will be lost without recovery.

Method 2: Delete via Android Device Policy

If a work profile was created through Google’s Android Device Policy, it can be removed directly from that application, a method that often works even when standard deletion through settings is blocked.

Step-by-step:

1. Open the Android Device Policy app (if not, download it from Google Play).
2. In the upper right corner, click on the account icon (or ⋮ → Settings).
3. Select Deactivate this device admin app or Deactivate this device admin app.
4. Confirm the deletion by following the instructions on the screen.

If the application requires administrator account data (like a corporate email) and you don't have it, it won't work, so move on to ADB or reset.

⚠️ Note: On some Xiaomi devices (especially with the MIUI 14+) After deleting Android Device Policy, a “ghost” profile may remain.

Method 3: Delete your work profile via ADB (for advanced)

If standard methods don't work, you can try removing a profile through ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which requires access to a computer and basic command-line knowledge, and is suitable for devices where the profile is not protected by an administrator password.

Instructions:

1. Activate Developer Mode on Xiaomi: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on MIUI Version. Go back to Settings → Additional → For Developers. Turn on USB Debugging.

Command line.

Terminal

platform-tools

adb devices

The name of your device should appear.

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.managedprovisioning

If it doesn't work, try:

adb shell dpm remove-active-admin com.android.managedprovisioning/.ManagedProvisioningAdminReceiver

Reboot the phone.

If the profile remains after the reboot, try to delete it through Settings → Apps by finding Android Device Policy or Xiaomi Enterprise Manager and selecting Remove Updates → Disable.

Method 4: Reset to factory settings (radical method)

If all previous methods failed, the last option is a complete reset of the device, which will delete all data, including the working profile, but there are nuances:

• 🔄 On some devices, after the reset, a request may appear for the entry of profile administrator data (if it was associated with the reset). MDM).
• 📦 Backup data is mandatory – after reset everything will be erased.
• ⚠️ On Xiaomi with a blocked bootloader, a reset may not help if the profile is protected at the firmware level.

How to reset:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select to erase all data (reset to factory).
3. Enter a password (if required) and confirm the action.
4. After restarting, set your phone as new.

⚠️ Warning: If the phone requires administrator account information (such as a corporate email) after resetting and you don’t have it, the device may be locked, in which case only unlocking via Fastboot or contacting a service center will help.

💡

Resetting to factory settings is the most reliable way to delete a work profile, but it erases all data. If the profile is protected by MDM, you may need to enter administrator credentials after the reset.

Method 5: Unlocking via Fastboot (for locked devices)

If the phone requires profile administrator data after resetting and does not allow you to continue setting up, you will have to use Fastboot mode. This method is suitable for devices with an unlocked bootloader. If the bootloader is locked, it must first be unlocked through the official Mi Unlock Tool tool (this will take 7-30 days to wait for unlocking).

Instructions for devices with unlocked loader:

1. Turn off your phone and press the Power button + Volume down to log into the Fastboot.
2. Connect your phone to your PC and open the command line in the folder with the platform-tools.
3. Check the connection: fastboot devices
4. Run the command to reset protection: fastboot erase userdata fastboot erase metadata
5. Reboot the device: fastboot reboot

If the phone still requires profile data, try flashing a clean version of MIUI via Fastboot:

fastboot flash all firmware.zip

⚠️ Warning: Fastboot misuse can turn your phone into a brick. If you're not sure you can, call the service center.

What to do if nothing helps

If none of the methods worked, the following reasons are possible:

• 🔒 Profile is protected at the firmware level (found on corporate devices).
• 📱 The device is tied to MDM-The server that blocks all attempts to delete.
• 🛠️ The phone has custom firmware with modified security policies.

In such cases, there are three options:

1. Contact the profile administrator (if it is a corporate device) with a request to remove the binding remotely.
2. Reflash the phone to custom firmware (for example, LineageOS), but this will require unlocking the bootloader and may deprive you of warranty.
3. Contact the service center – some workshops are able to bypass such locks through specialized software (for example, UFi Box or Octoplus).

If the phone is bought with hands and the previous owner has not removed the profile, try contacting him. MDM-systems (e.g. Microsoft Intune) administrator can remotely remove control even without access to the device.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi’s work profile