How to completely disable antispam on Xiaomi Redmi 9: 5 proven ways

Xiaomi Redmi 9 owners often face a problem when important SMS or calls are blocked by the built-in anti-spam system MIUI. The default filter aggressively labels messages from banks, services and even personal contacts as “spam”, which causes users to miss critical information. In this article, we will analyze all possible ways to disable anti-spam from basic settings to hidden developer settings.

The peculiarity of Redmi 9 (codenamed lancelot) is that anti-spam is integrated not only into the Phone and Messages app, but also into the MIUI Security system service. This means that simply turning off the filter in the SMS settings does not always solve the problem. We tested all methods on the current versions of MIUI 14 and HyperOS (for the embroidered devices) - the results are shown in the comparative table below.

Why Redmi 9 Antispam Blocks Messages

Xiaomi’s spam filtering algorithm works on three components:

• 📊 Cloud databases are a list of known spammer numbers that are updated by Xiaomi servers, and sometimes they get bank or government numbers.
• 🤖 Local analysis – the algorithm scans the text of the message for keywords ("winning", "gift", "urgent"). Often works falsely on service notifications.
• 📱 Behavioral analysis – if you often ignore messages from a particular number, the system can automatically send it to spam.

On Redmi 9 with MIUI 12-14, antispam is activated by default for:

• 📞 Incoming calls (appendix "Phone")
• 💬 SMS and MMS (annex “Messages")
• 🔔 Notifications from certain applications (if the function "Spam Protection in Notifications" is enabled")

It is important to understand that completely disabling anti-spam can increase the risk of receiving fraudulent messages. However, if you use alternative methods of protection (for example, banking applications with their own filters), Xiaomi system anti-spam becomes redundant.

Method 1: Disabling antispam in message settings

The easiest method is to deactivate the filter directly in the Messages app, which works on 90% of devices with MIUI 12-14, but does not affect call blocking.

1. Open the Messages app (the envelope icon).
2. Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → select Settings.
3. Go to the Spam filter section (or Block and Spam in newer versions).
4. Turn off the spam filter slider.
5. In the Blocked Numbers section, check the list and delete the wrongly blocked contacts.

If the Spam filter item is not on the menu, then your device is using an outdated version of the application. Update Messages via Google Play or MIUI App Store.

Annex “Messages” is open"|The Spam Filter item is found and disabled|List of blocked numbers cleared|The app is updated to the latest version-->

⚠️ Note: Some firmware may need to restart the phone after the filter is turned off to make the changes effective.If messages continue to be labeled as spam, proceed to the next method.

Method 2: Deactivating antispam for calls

Call blocking is set separately from SMS to disable filtering:

1. Open the phone application (green handset).
2. Click on three points → Settings → Lock numbers.
3. Turn off the options: 📵 Blocking of unknown numbers 🚫 Spam Call Filter 🔍 Checking numbers (if any)

Remove all numbers from the blocked list.

On Redmi 9 with HyperOS, the path may be different: Settings → Apps → Phone → Permissions → Call Lock.

Method 3: Disable MIUI Cleaner (Hidden Antispam)

Few people know, but the MIUI Cleaner system application (or "Optimization" in newer versions) is also involved in spam filtering, and it works in the background and can block messages even if the main filter is turned off.

To deactivate this component:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find MIUI Cleaner (or “Optimization”) and tap on it.
3. Select Battery and Background Activity → Limit Background Activity.
4. Go back and click Disable (if the button is active).
5. Reboot the phone.

💡

If you have lags after you turn off MIUI Cleaner, turn it back on and use Method 4 or 5. This service is also responsible for cleaning the cache and optimizing memory.

⚠️ Note: Some of the Firmware Disconnects MIUI Cleaner may result in the loss of automatic garbage cleaning function, in which case it is recommended to install an alternative optimizer (for example, an alternative optimizer, SD Maid).

Method 4: Reset the settings of the Messages and Phone applications

If previous methods failed, the system application settings may have failed, and resetting:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the Messages app and select it.
3. Slip the Warehouse → Clear the data and Clear the cache.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 for the Phone application.
5. Reset the device.

Once reset, all application settings will return to factory settings, including lock lists, which is guaranteed to remove all user filtering rules, but also erases message and call history (if there was no backup).

Method 5: Using ADB for deep shutdown (for advanced)

If all the standard methods fail, the most radical way is to disable anti-spam via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which requires connecting the phone to a computer and basic command line knowledge.

Instructions:

1. Turn on Developer Mode on Redmi 9: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on MIUI Version. Go back to Settings → Additional → Developer. Activate USB Debugging.

ADB Tools

adb devices

Make sure the device is identified.

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.mms.service


adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.antispam

Reboot the phone.

Once these commands are executed, the system anti-spam services will be completely deactivated. To return everything back, use:

adb shell pm enable com.android.mms.service


adb shell pm enable com.miui.antispam

💡

Disabling through ADB is the only way to remove antispam completely from the system, but it requires developer rights and can disrupt some MIUI features.

What to do if the anti-spam still works

If after all the manipulations, the messages continue to be blocked, the problem may lie in:

• 📱 Firmware from a third-party developer (for example, LineageOS or custom Recovery), in which case antispam can be sewn into the kernel level.
• 🔄 Updates MIUI, which returned the default settings. Check the update history in Settings → The phone. → Updating the system.
• 🛡️ Third-party antiviruses (such as Avast or Kaspersky) that duplicate the filtering function.

In such cases:

1. Check for firmware updates – sometimes Xiaomi fixes anti-spam bugs in newer versions.
2. Install an alternative SMS application (like Google Messages or Textra) that doesn’t use a system filter.
3. Make a full reset (last option if nothing helps).

FAQ: Frequent questions about anti-spam on Redmi 9