Why Xiaomi smartphones make sound when shooting and can it be removed?
The sound of a camera shutter on Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO is not just a design decision, but a consequence of legal requirements in some countries, such as Japan and South Korea, where manufacturers are required to add a click when taking photos to prevent hidden photography, but for most users in Russia, Europe or the United States, it becomes annoying, especially if you often take photos in quiet places, such as lectures, museums or while a child is sleeping.
In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to turn off the camera sound on Xiaomi smartphones running MIUI 14/15, including official settings, workarounds and technical tricks. Importantly, some methods require superuser rights (root) or work with ADB, so they are suitable only for advanced users. Let’s start with the simplest solutions!
⚠️ Attention: Turning off the camera sound may violate local laws in your country, for example, in some regions of Asia, shooting without audible signal is equivalent to hidden recording.
Method 1: Turning off sound through camera settings (official method)
The safest and most recommended way is to use built-in MIUI options. Unfortunately, on most Xiaomi models (for example, Redmi Note 12 Pro+ or Xiaomi 13T), the shutter sound is hard-stitched into the firmware, but in some versions of MIUI it can be muted or replaced.
Try this algorithm:
- Open the Camera app.
- Touch the badge. ⚙️ Settings (usually in the upper right corner).
- Scroll down to the section Sounds and vibrations.
- Try to turn off the options: 🔇 Shutter sound (if any) 🎵 Sound effects (sometimes responsible for clicking) 📳 Vibration during shooting (does not affect sound, but reduces tactile response)
If you don't have these items in your MIUI version, don't despair. That means the manufacturer has blocked the audio change through the interface, so move on to the following.
☑️ What to check before changing the camera sound
Method 2: Transfer the phone to silent mode (temporary solution)
If you need to take a photo without sound, but you don't have time to figure out the settings, use No Sound mode, which turns off all system sounds, including the click of the camera, and minus the method, you have to go back to it every time you shoot.
How to activate:
- 📱 Press the physical volume button down to the end.
- 🔕 Select No Sound mode (bell icon with cross-out).
- 📸 Now, when shooting, the shutter sound will not play.
⚠️ Note: In some models (e.g, POCO F5) The sound of the camera is played through a separate channel and can ignore the silent mode. If the click is still heard, try the combination No sound. + Bluetooth-enabled headphone (sound will go into the headphones).
Method 3: Using ADB to turn off sound (without root)
If the standard methods do not work, you can use the Android debugging bridge (ADB). It is an official tool from Google that allows you to change hidden settings of the system without obtaining root rights. MIUI 12–15.
Step-by-step:
- Turn on USB debugging: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on MIUI to activate Developer Mode. Go back to Settings → Additional → Developer. Activate USB Debugging.
Connect your phone to your PC
Download ADB Tools
Google's official package
Open the command line.
adb.exe
adb shell settings put global camera_shutter_sound_enabled 0Reboot the phone.
If the team doesn’t work, try an alternative:
adb shell settings put system camera_shutter_sound_enabled 0What if ADB issues a "device unauthorized" error?
⚠️ Attention: After update MIUI settings modified through ADB, To get the sound back, use the same command, replacing 0 with 1.
Method 4: Delete the audio file through root access (for experienced)
If you're willing to take drastic measures and your phone has root rights (like Magisk), you can physically delete a file with the shutter sound. This method is guaranteed to work, but requires caution - wrong actions can cause the camera to crash.
Instructions:
- Install any file manager with root access (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
- Cross the path: /system/media/audio/ui/camera_click.ogg or (depending on the model): /system/product/media/audio/ui/camera_shutter.ogg
- Delete or rename the file (e.g., in the camera_click.ogg.bak).
- Reboot the phone.
Critical: Some models (e.g. Xiaomi 12S Ultra) have multiple files duplicated the shutter sound. If you have the click left after you delete it, look for alternative paths: /vendor/overlay/... or /product/overlay/....
💡
Before deleting files, back them up! Copy the audio files to a memory card or PC - this will help restore them if the camera stops working.
Method 5: Use of third-party cameras (alternative solution)
If all of the above methods have failed or seem too complicated, install a side-by-side shooting app, many of which allow you to turn off the shutter sound regardless of system limitations.
- 📷 Google Camera (GCam) – Ported versions for Xiaomi often have the option to turn off the sound. download only from trusted sources (e.g. Celso Azevedo).
- 🎥 Open Camera is open source with flexible settings. Shutter sound is turned off in Settings. → Other settings → Camera sounds.
- 📸 Footage – professional application with manual sound control.
The disadvantage of the method: third-party cameras may not support all the functions of the main module (for example, Pro-mode or Pro-mode). AI-Xiaomi processing. Test them before taking responsible shots!
💡
The camera side is the most versatile way to turn off the sound, but they may be inferior to the standard app as shots.
Comparison of methods: which one to choose?
To make it easier for you to determine, we have collected the key pros and cons of each method in the table:
| Method | Difficulty | Required. root/ADB | Works after the update | Risks. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camera settings | ⭐ (simple) | ❌ No. | ✅ Yes. | It doesn’t work for most models. |
| Silent mode | ⭐ (simple) | ❌ No. | ✅ Yes. | A temporary solution doesn’t always work. |
| ADB-team | ⭐⭐ (middle-of-the-road) | ⚠️ ADB (rootless) | ❌ Resets when updated | It may not work on new versions of MIUI. |
| Deletion of the file (root) | ⭐⭐⭐ (difficult) | ✅ Root | ✅ Yes (unless you update the firmware) | Risk of damage to system files |
| Side of the camera | ⭐ (simple) | ❌ No. | ✅ Yes. | The quality of the photo may deteriorate. |
Frequent problems and solutions
When you turn off the camera sound on Xiaomi, users face typical difficulties.
- 🔄 The sound is back after the update MIUI → Repeat the procedure with ADB Check if the settings of the third-party camera have been reset.
- 🚫 ADB fails to find the device → Install Xiaomi drivers for your model (you can download on the official website).
- 🔊 The sound went away, but another system signal appeared. → In some firmware, the click is replaced by the notification sound. Try turning off notification sounds in your phone settings.
- 📱 The camera stopped working after deleting the files. → Restore deleted files from backup or reset the camera settings to Settings → Annexes → Camera. → Warehouse → Clear the data.
If none of these methods worked, check if your model is on the exclusion list. For example, on the Xiaomi Mi A1/A2 (with pure Android One), the shutter sound is turned off by standard Android tools, and on the POCO X3 Pro, the bootloader may need to be unlocked.