How to get rid of advertising on Xiaomi Redmi 8: expert guide

Xiaomi’s smartphones, and in particular the popular Redmi 8, have earned the love of users around the world due to their excellent price-to-tech ratio. However, when buying an affordable device, many are faced with intrusive marketing built right into the MIUI shell. Pop-ups, banners in folders and advertising recommendations in standard applications can be seriously annoying and distracting from using the gadget. Fortunately, most of these elements can be easily turned off without the need for superuser rights or flashing the device.

In this article, we will go into detail all the existing ways that will allow you to clean the interface of unnecessary visual noise. Removing advertising modules will not only improve the visual experience, but can also have a positive effect on the autonomy of the device, as background processes will stop loading content. You do not need to be an experienced programmer to perform these actions – just follow the instructions carefully.

We will look at the settings of the system security application, the parameters of the MI Browser browser, and also touch on the issues of disabling personalized recommendations. It is important to understand that Xiaomi constantly updates its algorithms, so some menu items may differ slightly in different versions of the firmware, but the general principle remains the same for the entire ecosystem of the brand.

Disabling system advertising through the Security app

The main source of intrusive notifications and pop-ups in the system is the built-in Security application. It is this system module that scans installed programs and, unfortunately, by default offers the user advertising materials under the guise of useful recommendations. To stop this flow, you need to change the settings of the application itself.

The first step is to open the menu of your Redmi 8 and find an icon called Security (green shield). Inside the interface, click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of the screen. Here you are interested in Receive recommendations. This switch is responsible for displaying ad units in various parts of the system. Make sure that the slider is inactive.

⚠️ Note: Do not remove the Security application forcefully through ADB or third-party managers, as this can disrupt the memory cleanup system and antivirus scanner, which is critical for stability MIUI.

Next, in the same security settings menu, look for the Cleanup section. Some firmware versions may also have a separate switchboard for recommendations. Disable it if it's active. Once you do that, the system will stop generating advertising content in the scanner interface and when you clear the cache.

Setup of the built-in browser Mi Browser

Xiaomi’s standard web browser often becomes a source of banners on the home screen and in the news feed. If you use this browser, rather than third-party solutions like Chrome or Firefox, it needs to be properly configured, and by default, it is set to maximize data collection and display promotional materials.

Launch MI Browser and go to the settings menu, which is usually hidden behind an icon with three bars or dots. Find the Settings section and scroll down to Privacy and Security. You need to turn off the Personalized Recommendations option. This action will prevent the browser from using your browsing history to form advertising feeds.

Also worth paying attention to the item Receive notifications in the general browser settings. Often it is through push notifications that offers to install games or subscribe to the Redmi 8 lock screen that you come to see, disabling this option will make using the device much easier.

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For complete comfort, it is recommended to install a third-party browser, such as Brave or DuckDuckGo, which have built-in DNS-level ad blockers.

Managing personalized advertising in the system

Deep in the Android settings that Redmi 8 uses, there is a dedicated service that is responsible for targeted advertising. Even if you disable in-app recommendations, this system layer can continue to collect identifiers for advertisers, and we recommend limiting this option.

Go to the basic Settings of your smartphone. Search by settings, type the word advertising or manually search for Passwords and Security (in some versions Advanced Settings). Next, select Privacy and find the Advertising Services option there. In the menu that opens, you need to activate the switch to Disable Ad Personalization.

Once activated, the system will reset your advertising ID, which means that the ad networks will lose the connection between your previous actions and current actions. Although the ad will not disappear completely (since this is the Android system layer), it will become less intrusive and less relevant to you personally, which often leads to a decrease in its number.

Disabling the MSA system process

The MSA (MIUI System Ads) process is the main provider of the company’s advertising policy on Redmi devices, which is responsible for loading and displaying most banners in the interface, and fortunately, in modern versions of MIUI firmware, users have the opportunity to officially disable or even remove this component.

To start, open your smartphone Settings and go to the Apps section, then select All Apps. In the list, find an app called msa (sometimes called MIUI Ads). Click on it and select the option to Disable or Delete. The system will alert you that this may affect the operation of certain features, and will suggest waiting 10 seconds before confirming the action.

If the delete button is inactive (gray), try to turn off the Internet first (Wi-Fi and mobile data), then try again. Sometimes the process requires an active connection to verify the rights, and the disconnect allows the system to skip and allow the shutdown. After successful removal or stop, the ads in the folders and on the desktop should disappear.

Cleaning notifications and working with applications

Often the source of annoyance is not so much system banners as notifications from pre-installed applications such as GetApps, Mi Video or Mi Music, which aggressively promote paid content and new installations, and managing these notifications requires a customized approach to each application.

Go to Settings -> Notifications and Status bar -> Notification Management. scroll through the list and find suspicious system applications. For example, for GetApps (the Xiaomi app store), you can completely disable sending any notifications, leaving only critical system messages, if any.

It's also worth checking the permissions for the third-party apps you install. Often free programs downloaded from the Play Market ask for permission to show on top of other windows, which allows them to display ads even when you're on the desktop, go through the permission list in the privacy settings and revoke the unnecessary rights from questionable programs.

⚠️ Note: When disabling system applications through ADB Be careful to disable critical components such as System UI Settings, can cause a cyclic reboot of the device (bootloop).

Using DNS to Block Advertising

The most effective method, which works at the device level and does not require heavy antivirus installation, is the use of a private DNS with a lock function.This method allows Redmi 8 to ignore requests to known ad servers, which significantly speeds up the loading of pages in the browser and removes banners inside applications.

You need to go to Settings -> Connection and Sharing (or Additional Features) Find Private DNS (Private DNS). Select the hostname of the provider DNS and enter the address of one of the blocking services, for example: dns.adguard.com.

Once this feature is enabled, all of your smartphone’s internet traffic will pass through AdGuard filters, which means that banner ads in games, newsfeeds and websites will simply not load, as the server will block the request to the ad domain, which also saves traffic and battery power.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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A comprehensive approach, including disabling MSA, setting up DNS and disabling notifications, is the only guaranteed way to make Xiaomi comfortable.