How to talk with a robot vacuum cleaner Xiaomi: from voice commands to hidden gestures

Why Your Xiaomi Robot Vacuum Doesn't Understand You (and How to Fix It)

Do you shout, "Mi Robot, start cleaning!" and the vacuum cleaner stubbornly ignores you? Or responds with the phrase, "Sorry, I didn't understand" even though you clearly pronounced the command? The problem is not your pronunciation - Xiaomi robots do not understand all voice queries, and their reaction depends on the model, firmware version and even... your accent. In this article, we will examine all the ways to communicate with Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum, Roborock and other models, from standard voice commands to hidden gestures and "secret" phrases in the Mi Home app.

Let's warn you right away: Xiaomi robots don't support full-fledged dialogue — they only recognize pre-programmed commands and can't "improvise" like voice assistants like Alice or Siri. But with the right approach, you can manage your voice cleaning 80 percent more efficiently than you can with the app. And if you learn how to use command combinations and contextual cues, the vacuum cleaner will start to work almost like a live assistant.

In the article you will find:

• 🗣️ Full list of voice commands for all models (including Roborock) S7, Mi Vacuum-Mop 2 and others.)
• 📱 Hidden features in the Mi Home app that are not written in the instructions
• ⚠️ Typical mistakes that make the vacuum cleaner “deaf” at your words
• 🤖 Alternative ways of controlling: gestures, sounds and even... knocking on the body

1. Voice control: what commands exactly does the robot understand

Xiaomi robots can recognize voice commands only if three conditions are met:

1. The device is connected to Mi Home and linked to your account.
2. Voice assistant function is enabled in vacuum cleaner settings (path: Device profile) → Settings → Voice control).
3. You use the exact wording from the official list (below).

Here is the full up-to-date list of teams (working for 2020–2026 models):

⚠️ Note: If the vacuum cleaner does not respond to Russian commands, check the language in the Mi Home settings. for some models (for example, Roborock). S4) voice control works only in English, even if the application interface is Russian-language.

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Before the first voice command, say the phrase “Hi Mi Robot” – this will “wake up” the recognition system and increase the chances of successful execution of the next command.

2 Why the vacuum cleaner can't hear you: 5 non-obvious reasons

You yell at the team and the robot is silent, and here are the real reasons that occur 90 percent of the time.

• 🔇 The microphone is covered with dust. S5/S6 The microphone is located under the top cover next to the Home button, wipe it with a dry wipe, which often solves the problem.
• 📶 Weak Wi-Fi signal. Voice commands are processed by Xiaomi's cloud server. If the Internet speed is below 2 Mbps, the robot will "not wait" for the answer and ignore the command.
• 🗺️ No map binding. Teams like "clean up the kitchen" only work if the Mi Home has a current map of the space with the marked areas.
• 🔊 Loudness of system sounds = In the vacuum cleaner settings (Profile) → Make sure the volume slider is not at a minimum, otherwise the robot “thinks” you can’t hear it.
• 🌐 Regional restrictions: Models for the Chinese market (with suffix) CN in the title) do not support Russian voice commands even with the firmware Mi Home in Russian.

🔧 How to check the microphone:

1. Open Mi Home and go to Device Profile → Settings → Microphone test.
2. Say any sentence. If the indicator doesn't respond, the microphone is faulty or contaminated.
3. For Roborock models, you can use the Mi Robot command, test microphone (works only in English).

3. Alternative ways of "conversation" with a vacuum cleaner

Voice commands aren't the only way to give a robot instructions, but here are 4 non-obvious methods that work even if the microphone breaks:

• 👋 Gestures, Roborock models S6 MaxV and Mi Mop 2 Pro recognize hand movements up to 3 meters away: 🖐️ Wap your palm from left to right - the vacuum cleaner will start cleaning. ✋ Raise your hand upwards and return to base. 👊 Clenching your fist will stop cleaning.
• 🔊 Sound signals. Two short claps in your hands start cleaning (only if Sound control is enabled in settings).
• 📱 Voice assistants. You can tell Alice (Yandex), Google Assistant or Siri, "Start cleaning on a robot vacuum cleaner.
• 💬 Chat in Mi Home. in new versions of the application (4.6)+) You can have a text chat with a robot, for example, you can say, "Get the bathroom clean in 30 minutes».

⚠️ Warning: Gestures and claps only work in the direct view of the vacuum cleaner — if there is a wall or furniture between you and the robot, it will not react).

Link Mi Home to Alice/Google Assistant|Check the visibility of the vacuum cleaner for gestures|Enable "Sound Control" mode in the settings|Update Mi Home to the latest version-->

4 Hidden commands in Mi Home: what to tell a robot through an app

Mi Home has undocumented text commands that are not voiced in the official instructions, and they work through the input field in the Control section. → Voice commands (or chat, if available) are the most useful:

Clean Under the Bed (the robot will lower the height and pass under the furniture)


Do not clean the nursery until 15:00 (plans cleaning for the specified time)




- "Show statistics for the week" (will display the cleaning schedule and area)




"Switch on maximum suction mode for 20 minutes"




“Save your current location as a cleaning point.”

🔍 How to Find Hidden Commands:

1. Open Mi Home and go to the vacuum cleaner profile.
2. Click on three dots in the upper right corner → Laboratory (or Experimental Functions).
3. Enable the option of Advanced voice commands.
4. Now in the input field will be prompts with non-obvious phrases.

⚠️ Note: Some commands (e.g., “Take away only dust, no wet cleaning”) only work on firmware 4.0.+. If the robot answers “Team is not supported”, check the version of the software in Settings. → About the device.

5. How to "teach" a vacuum cleaner to new teams (for advanced ones)

If you don’t like the standard phrases, you can add your voice commands via Mi Home Automation (not available for all models).

1. Open Mi Home → Automation → Create.
2. Select the trigger voice command.
3. In the input field, write your own phrase, such as, “Mi Robot, put away cat food.”
4. As an action, select Start cleaning in the zone and specify the desired area on the map.
5. Save the automatic task.

🛠️ Limitations:

• ❌ You can’t use numbers in commands (for example, “take away 2 times” won’t work).
• ❌ Maximum length of a phrase – 20 characters.
• ❌ Commands are delayed by 3-5 seconds (due to cloud processing).

💡 Lifehack: To make the robot react faster, use short, unique words. For example, instead of "Mi Robot, start cleaning the hallway," set up the command "Corridor».

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Its own voice commands only work when it's connected to the Internet, and without the network, it will forget all user phrases and only respond to standard ones.

6. Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Even the most experienced users make mistakes when interacting with a robot vacuum cleaner. TOP-5 Failures and How to Correct Them:

📌 The most common problem is that users try to give a command when the vacuum cleaner is already performing a task (for example, returning to base), in which case it will ignore the new instructions.

7 What to do if the robot stops obeying

If the vacuum cleaner suddenly stopped responding to commands, act on the algorithm:

Check the Wi-Fi connection|Reboot the vacuum cleaner (power button 10 seconds)|Update the firmware in Mi Home|Wipe the microphone from the dust|Reset the settings to factory-->

🔧 Advanced diagnostics:

1. Open Mi Home and check the status of the device. If there's an exclamation mark next to the vacuum cleaner's name, there's a connection problem.
2. Go to Settings. → Voice control → Team logs show all the latest requests and the reasons for their failure.
3. If the log error is “No Internet connection”, check the router settings: the robot needs access to Xiaomi servers (the mi.com and xiaomi.com domains must be unlocked).

⚠️ Warning: After resetting to factory, all custom voice commands and saved cards will be deleted.Before reset, back up to Mi Home → Device profile → Backup.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions