How to Remove Rarely Used Bluetooth Devices on Xiaomi: 5 Proven Ways

The list of connected Bluetooth devices on Xiaomi smartphones tends to grow to an uncontrollable scale. Columns, headphones, fitness bracelets, smartwatches, automotive systems all leave traces in your phone’s memory, even if you haven’t used them for a long time. The problem isn’t just cluttering up the interface: older Bluetooth connections can cause conflicts when connecting new devices, slow down the search for available gadgets, and even lead to sudden communication breaks. This is especially true for owners of devices on MIUI, where the system sometimes “forgets” to turn off background synchronization processes.

In this article, we will discuss not only the standard way to remove devices through the settings menu, but also little-known methods – from resetting the Bluetooth cache to manually cleaning system files (for advanced users). You will learn why some devices are not removed in the usual way, how to avoid the error Bluetooth Share has stopped, and what to do if after removing the gadget still appears in the list. POCO base MIUI 12-14 and HyperOS.

Why You Should Remove Old Bluetooth Devices

At first glance, having ten unused headphones or speakers on the list may seem harmless, but in practice, it leads to a number of problems:

• 🔍 Slowing down the search for new devices: the system spends time scanning all saved gadgets, even those that are long out of range.
• 🔋 Increased battery consumption: background attempts to connect to older devices (especially if they were once paired with smartwatches or fitness bracelets).
• 🚫 Connection conflicts: For example, if you’re trying to connect your phone to a new speaker and the system is stubbornly clinging to the old one with the same name.
• 🛡️ Security risks: Stored devices can be used for unauthorized access (relevant for public hotspots such as Xiaomi Mi Band in gyms).

It is especially critical to clean the list before selling or transferring the phone to another person. Even after resetting, some Bluetooth data can be stored in deep system folders. For example, in Xiaomi 13 Pro and Redmi Note 12 models, there have been cases when old headphones still appeared in the list of available devices after a hard reset.

Method 1: Standard removal through settings

The most obvious and safe method is to remove the device directly from the Bluetooth menu, which is suitable for 90% of cases and works on all versions of MIUI/HyperOS:

1. Open Settings → Bluetooth.
2. Activate Bluetooth if it is turned off (otherwise, the list of devices may not appear).
3. Find in the list of "Conjugated devices" the desired gadget.
4. Slap the icon. ⚙️ (gear) next to the device name.
5. Select "Delete" or "Forget this device" (depending on the firmware version).
6. Confirm the action in the dialog window.

On some devices (e.g., POCO F5), there may be a “Disable” button instead of a gear – in this case, press and hold the device name for 2-3 seconds until the delete menu appears.

⚠️ Note: If the device is actively used in the Xiaomi ecosystem (for example, the Mi Smart Band 7 syncs with Mi Fitness), its removal may lead to loss of training statistics.

Method 2: Reset Bluetooth settings (without data loss)

If the device is not removed in the standard way (e.g., it is listed as "Connected" but is actually long disabled), resetting Bluetooth will help.This method does not affect other phone data, but requires re-pairing all devices:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. In the search box, type "Bluetooth".
3. Select Bluetooth Settings (not to be confused with the Bluetooth app itself!).
4. Press "Storage" → "Clear the data".
5. Confirm the action and restart the phone.

After the reboot, all the saved devices will disappear from the list, but the Bluetooth function will remain working, a method that is especially effective for eliminating Bluetooth error does not turn on after the firmware update.

Method 3: Manual removal via ADB (for advanced)

If standard methods don’t work and the device still appears on the list, you can resort to manual cleaning via Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which requires USB debugging and is suitable for users familiar with the command line.

Instructions:

1. Turn on Developer Mode (7 times tap the Build Number in Settings → About Phone).
2. Activate Debugging by USB in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command:

adb shell pm clear com.android.bluetooth

To remove a particular device from its MAC-address (e.g, 12:34:56:78:9A:BC):

adb shell settings delete global bluetooth_device_address


adb shell settings put global bluetooth_device_address 12:34:56:78:9A:BC

⚠️ Attention: Misuse of the right ADB This can cause Bluetooth module to malfunction. Before executing commands, back up your data via adb backup.

Method 4: Delete through system files (root access)

For users with unlocked bootloaders and root rights, the most radical method available is manual editing of system files, where data about the associated devices is stored, which is guaranteed to remove even “ghost” devices that do not appear in the interface, but interfere with the work of new connections.

The files responsible for Bluetooth connections are located along the path:

/data/misc/bluedroid/bt_config.conf

Instructions:

1. Install a file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Follow the specified path and make a backup copy of the file. bt_config.conf.
3. Open the file in the text editor and find the lines with MAC-address.
4. Remove the relevant blocks (they look like [XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX] with parameters).
5. Save the file, restart the phone and check the Bluetooth list.

💡

Before editing system files, disable Bluetooth and stop service with the adb shell stop bluetooth command, which will prevent automatic recovery of deleted records.

Method 5: Reset to factory settings (extreme case)

If none of these methods worked, and the Bluetooth problem is critical (e.g., the phone has stopped seeing new devices at all), the last option is a complete reset, a radical solution that will bring the phone back out of the box, but guaranteed to clear all the stored connections.

How to do the reset correctly:

1. Back up important data (photos, contacts, messages) through Settings → About Phone → Backup.
2. Go to Settings → Additional → Recovery and Reset.
3. Select "Reset" → "Erase all data".
4. Enter a password (if required) and confirm the action.

Once reset, the phone will reboot, and you’ll have to reconfigure all settings, including Google accounts and Mi Accounts, but that’s the only way to get rid of deep-rooted Bluetooth bugs, especially after failed firmware updates.

💡

Before reset, untie the phone from the Mi Account account in Settings → Xiaomi Account, otherwise after the reboot, you will need to enter a login / password to unlock.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When cleaning up the Bluetooth list, users often face typical preventable problems:

• 🔄 The device is returned to the list after deletion: this is due to automatic synchronization with the Mi Cloud. disable Bluetooth backup in Settings → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → Synchronization settings.
• 🔌 You can’t remove the device because it’s “connected”: physically disconnect the gadget (remove the battery from the headphones or reboot the smartwatch), then try again.
• 📱 Bluetooth stopped working after cleaning: reset network settings in Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Resetting network settings.

Another common mistake is to try to remove a device that is currently being used by another app, such as if you are listening to music through Mi Music on the Xiaomi Mi Portable Speaker, the system will not allow you to break the connection. Close all applications that use Bluetooth before cleaning.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions