How to get rid of advertising on Xiaomi Redmi Note

Budget smartphone owners often encounter intrusive offers that appear in the most unexpected places of the interface. Advertising on the system can be annoying, overlapping app content or simply distracting. Redmi Note line owners are especially often looking for ways to limit these pop-ups, as for them, marketing support for the device is a fee for an affordable price.

But the current versions of MIUI and the new HyperOS allow for a lot of flexibility in setting privacy and interface appearance, so you don't have to have super-user rights or reflash your phone to get the system back clean, you just have to go through key settings consistently, turning off analytics services and personalized recommendations.

In this article, we’ll break down all effective methods for cleaning the interface from marketing noise. We’ll cover both standard security settings and hidden switches that not all users know about. Follow the instructions carefully so that your Xiaomi works exclusively for you, not for advertisers.

MSA Disconnection: The Main Source of Advertising

The centerpiece of Xiaomi’s smartphone advertising ecosystem is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) system application, which is responsible for loading and displaying banners in standard utilities. To remove ads on Xiaomi Redmi Note, the first step is to deactivate this component through the authorization menu.

The shutdown process requires confirmation, as the system will try to convince you to keep the service active. You need to go to the Settings menu → Passwords and security → Access to personal data. In the list that opens, find msa and put the switch to an inactive state. The system will start a countdown timer (usually 10 seconds), after which you need to click the “Cancel” button.

⚠️ Warning: If you click on the "Cancel" button and you get an error message or the timer resets, don't panic. This is the standard system protection. Repeat the procedure. 2-3 once in a row until a successful withdrawal of consent is reported.

After successful permission revocation, ads in standard apps should disappear within 10-15 minutes, but to consolidate the result, it is also recommended to disable receiving recommendations in specific applications, which often duplicate the functions of MSA.

Configuring standard system applications

Even after the main service is disabled, some built-in utilities may have their own recommendation settings. These personalized ads are often masqueraded as useful tips or news. To completely clean the Redmi Note, you need to check each application separately.

Start with the Security app, which is the control center of the system. Open it, click on the settings gear in the corner, and find the "Get recommendations." Similar actions are required for the Downloads, Music, and Video app, and in each of them you need to find a "Show ads" or "Recommendations" switch and deactivate it.

Pay special attention to the folders on the desktop. In newer versions of MIUI, folders may offer applications for installation.

• 📱 Open any folder on your desktop.
• 📱 Click on the folder name to open the edit menu.
• 📱 Find the Recommended Apps switch and turn it off.

Also worth checking is the theme settings. Often, the ad units are integrated into the Themes store. Go to a user profile in the theme store and turn off the personalization of the ad there. This will help reduce the number of pop-ups when using live wallpaper or new themes.

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Use third-party launchers like Nova Launcher or Lawnchair to completely replace the standard desktop and get rid of built-in widgets with news and advertising.

Notification and browser management

Users often confuse system advertising with notifications from sites they accidentally subscribed to. If push notifications appear on the lock screen or in the notification curtain with offers to buy a product or download a game, the problem is not with the MIUI system, but with browser permissions.

To address this, go to Settings → Apps → All Apps. Find your primary browser (Chrome, Mi Browser or another). Go to Notifications and disable any suspicious categories, especially those labeled as Web Notifications or specific site names.

The standard Mi Browser browser is more complicated because it is itself a source of advertising.

• 🌐 Go to the browser settings (three bars) → Settings).
• 🌐 Select the item “Confidentiality and security».
• 🌐 Disable “Personal recommendations” and “Notifications from websites».

If you do not use a standard browser, it is better to remove its updates altogether or disable it in the application menu, replacing it with a lighter analogue without built-in advertising, for example, Brave or Via Browser. This will significantly reduce the load on the Redmi Note RAM.

⚠️ Warning: Never click Allow on sites that ask to turn on notifications to watch a video or download a file.This is the most common way advertising junk gets to your smartphone.

Comparison of System Cleaning Methods

There are several levels of smartphone tampering to combat intrusive content, some methods are safe and reversible, others require more knowledge, and it is important to understand the difference between disabling ads and disrupting system components.

The table below provides a comparison of the main techniques we have reviewed and their effect on the device:

As you can see from the table, a comprehensive approach is the best thing to do, and disabling just one component may not solve the problem completely, like the MSA is responsible for system banners, but it doesn't control notifications from sites.

Using third-party launchers changes the visual style, but does not disable system processes in the background. So the optimal strategy is to combine the MSA disabling and fine-tuning each application separately, which ensures that Xiaomi runs smoothly without unnecessary visual noise.

Using DNS to Block Advertising

A more advanced but highly effective way is to set up a private DNS, which allows you to block ads at the network connection level without requiring you to install additional apps, especially for Redmi Note owners who want to save battery life.

To activate the function, go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select the DNS Host Name mode and enter the address of a trusted server that blocks ads. One of the most popular and verified options is the address:

dns.adguard.com

Once you save the settings, you need to restart your smartphone, which blocks requests to known ad servers, so banners simply won't load in apps and browsers. However, be careful: if the DNS server stops responding, the Internet on the phone may disappear.

Frequent questions and possible problems

During the cleaning process, users often encounter nuances that need to be clarified, and here are the answers to the most popular questions related to removing ads on Xiaomi and Redmi devices.

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Getting rid of advertising requires a comprehensive approach: shutdowns MSA, settings for each application and, optionally, use DNS-filtering.

To sum up, it's possible to turn your smartphone into a device without intrusive advertising with regular means, and the main thing is to be careful when setting up each menu item. A clean interface is not only more pleasant visually, but also helps you focus on tasks, increasing the overall productivity of your gadget.