How to change the screen lock sound on Xiaomi Redmi

Changing the standard melody to a personalized track is the first step to making Xiaomi or Redmi’s interface truly their own. Unlike many other manufacturers, Xiaomi has implemented rather strict restrictions on system sounds in the shell of MIUI and its successor HyperOS, and users often find themselves in a situation where the standard selection menu simply does not have the right file, or the download button does not work correctly.

However, with the right ways to bypass and the Android file system, you can root-free install any audio file for a lock event. The process requires care, because the folder structure in new firmware versions is different from the old ones. In this article, we will discuss all the current methods, from standard settings to advanced tricks with renaming files.

It is important to understand that Xiaomi shares notification, call and system events sounds. The lock sound is specifically system events. If you just copy an mp3 file to the Ringtones folder, it may not appear in the list of available tunes for the lock screen.

Preparation of audio file and format check

Before you start setting up your smartphone, you need to make sure that your audio file meets the technical requirements of the system. Android is quite flexible in terms of codecs, but the MIUI shell can ignore files with a non-standard bitrate or too large. The optimal format is MP3 with a bitrate of 128 to 320 kbit / s.

Track length also plays a role: too long compositions may be cropped or not play fully when the screen is turned on. It is recommended to use fragments lasting from 5 to 15 seconds. If the file is too heavy, the system can ignore it when trying to install, returning a standard click.

You can use built-in tools or third-party editing apps to edit audio. If you're taking a track from a music streaming service, make sure it's not a secure file with a different extension than the standard one. In some cases, simply renaming the extension helps, but it's better to use a quality source.

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Use the Dictophone app or online converters to slice the desired snippet of a song exactly up to a second before transferring it to your phone.

Standard method through sound settings

The most obvious, but often not working at first glance, way is the settings menu. The interface may vary depending on the version of HyperOS or MIUI, but the logic remains the same. You need to find the partition responsible for the sound of the system.

Go to the Settings menu and select Sound and Vibration. You are interested in Additional Settings or Lock Screen Sound. If there is a Download button or a Plus icon on the list, click on it. The system will prompt you to select a file from the built-in Explorer.

• 🎵 Open the settings and go to the sound section.
• 🔍 Find the "Screen Lock Sound" or "Screen Lock Sound" option».
• 📂 Click on the add or select icon from the files.
• ✅ Confirm the choice of track and check the result.

It often happens that when you select a file, it doesn't apply, and that's because the standard settings player doesn't see the files in the user folders, so you don't have to panic, because the system limiter just doesn't let you pick the file from the wrong directory, and the solution is to manually move the file, which I'll talk about later.

Manual installation through file manager

If the standard way didn't work, you'll have to use a "conductor." Xiaomi and Redmi have a great file manager pre-installed, but accessing system folders may require root rights that most users don't have, so we'll go the other way, by creating the right path in internal memory.

Open File Manager. You need to go to the root of internal memory. Note that new versions of Android may have limited access to the Android/media folder, so we'll create a structure at the root. Create a folder called MIUI (if there isn't one), a sound folder inside it, and a lockscreen inside it. The full path will look like this: /MIUI/sound/lockscreen/.

⚠️ Note: When creating folders, follow the register of letters. MIUI, Sound and lockscreen must be written as specified, otherwise the system will not recognize them.

Copy your pre-made audio file into the created lockscreen folder. Then go back to the sound settings. Now, when you select a lock melody, your file should be displayed in the system list or in the Download category. If the file didn't appear immediately, try rebooting the device.

Using the Classic Theme to Unlock the Menu

There is a well-known bug fix related to themes. Xiaomi standard themes often block the ability to change system sounds by imposing their own. To get around this, many experts recommend temporarily setting a standard theme.

Go to the Themes app. Find a theme called Classic or No Theme (sometimes called Default). Set it up and apply it. Once you've applied the classic design, customization restrictions are often removed, and the tune selection menu gives you full access to the file system.

Compatibility table of paths and formats

For easy navigation through the file system and understanding where to put files, use the following table, which is relevant for most modern models of Redmi Note, Xiaomi Mi and POCO.

Note that paths are sensitive to directory structure. If the MIUI folder is missing, manually creating it is the only customization solution. In some older versions of firmware, the path might look like /sound/lockscreen/ without the MIUI prefix, but in current HyperOS, the structure became stricter.

The OGG format is often preferred for system sounds, as it takes up less space and is more quickly decoded by the processor when the screen is turned on, which saves battery power. However, for lock melody, the resource difference will be minimal, so MP3 is also quite suitable.

Solving and eliminating errors

Even if you follow all the instructions, you can have situations where the sound doesn't change or is played with errors. One of the common problems is the "quiet" lock sound. This may not be due to the file, but to a separate volume slider. In the Sound and Vibration menu, click on the gear or three dots in the corner to expand the settings. There may be a separate regulator for system sounds.

⚠️ Warning: If after setting the tune, the phone starts to freeze when the screen is turned on, delete the file from the lockscreen folder.Perhaps the file is damaged or has too high a bitrate that the decoder can not cope with in the background.

Another common mistake is resetting after you upgrade, and if you switch from MIUI 13 to 14 or HyperOS, the folder structure may change and your files will be “out of the loop,” in which case you will have to repeat the folder creation and file copying process again.

• 🔇 Check if the phone is in silent mode.
• 📉 Make sure that the volume of media and system sounds is not at a minimum.
• 🔄 Restart the device after copying files.
• 🗑️ Remove old or duplicate files from the lockscreen folder.

If nothing works, try using a third-party audio profile management app like Volume Control or Google Play analogs, which can force audio files to be assigned to system events, bypassing standard shell restrictions.

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The main reason for failure is the wrong path to the file. Follow the structure /MIUI/sound/lockscreen/ and check the register of letters in the folder names.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)