Xiaomi: Show or Hide Search Bar in Notification Shade

The search bar at the top of the notification shade on Xiaomi phones is controlled by Mi Browser, not by the notification or lock screen settings. This surprises a lot of users because the feature visually belongs to the shade, but technically it is a shortcut managed by the browser app.

To change it, open Tap on Mi Browser ➔ Tap on Profile ➔ Tap on Settings ➔ Enable or disable Search bar in notification shade. Turning the toggle on adds a tappable field to the top of the shade that opens a web search directly in Mi Browser. Turning it off removes the field completely, leaving only the quick settings and notifications.

This setting has no effect if Mi Browser is disabled or replaced with another default browser. In that case the toggle may still exist in the settings menu, but the search bar will not appear in the shade since the underlying app is not active.

If you want a search shortcut without using Mi Browser, look for a search widget on your home screen instead. That approach keeps your default browser choice and skips this dependency entirely.