How to get rid of ads on the screen Xiaomi: 7 working ways

Why is Xiaomi getting ads and can it be removed?

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO and Black Shark smartphones regularly face the same problem: pop-up ads interfere with the phone, slow the interface and eat traffic, and banner ads appear not only in the browser or apps, but also directly in the settings menu, on the lock screen and even in the notification panel, all due to the MIUI proprietary shell, which is integrated with Xiaomi advertising services by default.

The good news is that you can remove ads without root rights and complex manipulations. The bad news is that some methods require profound changes in the system, which can lead to a loss of warranty or unstable phone performance. In this article, we will examine everything from basic settings to radical solutions for advanced users, and also find out why ads return after a reset and how to avoid it.

Let me warn you right away, if you're using POCO Launcher or MIUI for global firmware (EEA), some of the ad units may be hidden by default, but the Chinese version (China ROM) has to work hard, because there are many more ads. You can check your firmware in Settings → About Phone → MIUI version.

Method 1: Disabling personalized advertising in MIUI

The easiest and safest method is to deactivate advertising services through standard settings, which will not remove all banners, but will significantly reduce their number. MIUI 12/13/14 (including HyperOS for new models).

Go to: Settings → Google → Advertising (or Settings → Additional → Privacy → Advertising for older versions).

Turn it off here.

• 🔄 Personalized advertising is the main source of targeted banners.
• 📊 Using data collection – prevents analysis of your actions in the system.
• 🔍 Show interest-based advertising – disables responsive ads.

After that, restart your phone. The effect will not be noticeable immediately — it will take 12 to 24 hours for the system to stop showing ads based on your data. Unfortunately, this method does not remove ads in system applications (for example, in Mi Video or Mi Browser), but reduces the number of ads in the interface.

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If the Advertising option is not in the settings, update Google Play services in the Play Store or clear the cache of the Google Play Services app through Settings → Applications → Application Management.

Method 2: Blocking Advertising through MIUI (Hidden Settings)

Xiaomi hides some of the ad settings, but they can be activated through secret menus.This method works on most models, including the Redmi Note 10/11/12, POCO X3/X4/X5 and Mi 11/12/13.

Steps to shut down:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to About Phone and tap 7-10 times on the MIUI version until the notification “You became a developer” appears.
3. Return to the main settings menu and open Additional → for developers.
4. Activate Debugging over USB (optional, but may be needed for other methods).
5. Now go to Settings → Additional → Special Features → MIUI Settings (or Settings → System → Advanced Settings → MIUI Settings).
6. Find and disconnect: 📢 Promotional notices 🎯 Personalized recommendations 🔗 Partner services (if any)

After this action, the ads in the notification panels and system windows should disappear. If items are missing, your firmware can be modified (for example, customized xiaomi.eu), and there are no ads there initially.

Are the developer's rights open?

Is USB debugging activated?

Is the "MIUI settings" section found?

All advertising switches are turned off?-->

Method 3: Remove system applications with advertising (without root)

Some Xiaomi apps (Mi Browser, Mi Video, GetApps, Mi Pay) are the main sources of advertising. They can be disabled or removed without obtaining root rights, but this will require the use of ADB (Android Debug Bridge).

You'll need:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed ADB Tools.
• 📱 USB-cable.
• ⚙️ Included debugging by USB (see previous section).

Instructions:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and type in the command line: Adb devices Make sure the device is identified (it should appear its name).
2. Run the command to remove unwanted software (example for GetApps): adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.xiaomi.mipicks
3. Repeat for other apps: com.miui.browser - Mi Browser com.miui.video - Mi Video com.xiaomi.payment - Mi Pay com.xiaomi.midrop - Mi Drop (if not used)

⚠️ Note: Removing system applications may cause some features to fail (e.g. Mi Pay is needed for contactless payments).If you have problems after deleting, restore the application via the command:

adb shell cmd package install-existing com.xiaomi.mipicks

Method 4: Use DNS-filters for blocking advertising

If the advertisement appears in the browser or applications, it can be blocked at the level DNS-It won't remove the system banners. MIUI, But it will clear the Internet traffic from intrusive ads, and it works on all Xiaomi models, including: POCO M4/M5 redmi 9/10.

How to set up:

1. Go to Settings. → Connections → Private DNS (or settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Private DNS).
2. Select the hostname of the private DNS provider and enter one of the addresses: dns.adguard.com - blocks ads and trackers (recommended). family.adguard-dns.com - + block adult content. 1.1.1.3 - Cloudflare with filtering malicious sites.

Save the settings and restart the phone.

To check the work DNS Open your browser and go to adguard-dns.io. if you are in the "Your" section DNS-Provider displays the selected server - everything is configured correctly.

⚠️ Note: Some banking applications (e.g. SberBank Online or Tinkoff) may conflict with private banking services. DNS. If payments stopped working after the server change, return the standard settings. DNS or add banking sites to the AdGuard exceptions (if you use them).

Method 5: Install custom firmware (for advanced)

If nothing works, the radical method is to reflash the phone to custom firmware without advertising.

• 📱 xiaomi.eu - official MIUI without advertising and Chinese services (supports) OTA-update).

The firmware process includes:

1. Unlock the bootloader via Mi Unlock Tool (requires an account to be linked to Mi and wait 7-15 days).
2. Installation of custom recavery (TWRP or OrangeFox).
3. Flash firmware via fastboot or recovery.

⚠️ Attention: Custom software firmware will void the warranty and may result in a phone "brick" if an incompatible version is selected. Before you start, check your model's support on the forums. XDA Developers or 4PDA.

Official MIUI (with advertising, but stable)

xiaomi.eu (no ads but with bugs)

LineageOS (Pure Android)

Pixel Experience (like the Google Pixel interface)

I don't know/I don't want to stitch-->

Method 6: Blocking ads through the host file (for experienced)

Another effective method is to edit the hosts file, which is responsible for forwarding requests, and if you add the addresses of Xiaomi's ad servers to it, the system will stop connecting to them, which requires root rights or ADB.

Instructions:

1. Download the pre-made hosts file with ad blocking (for example, from Steven Black).
2. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command: adb push path to hosts /sdcard/
3. Now transfer the file to the system folder: adb shell su mount -o rw,remount /system cp /sdcard/hosts /system/etc/hosts chmod 644 /system/etc/hosts mount -o ro,remount /system
4. Reboot the phone.

If you don’t have root, you can use apps like AdAway (Magisk requires) or Blokada (which works without root, but is less efficient).

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Editing a hosts file blocks system-level advertising, but can disrupt some applications (such as banking or social media).

Method 7: Resetting the phone to factory settings (extreme case)

If the ad appears after updating or installing questionable apps, a complete reset will help.This method will remove all data from the phone, so first:

• 📁 Backup photos, contacts and messages (via Settings) → Google → Backup or Mi Cloud Backup).
• 📝 Write down logins/passwords from accounts (they will disappear!).
• 🔄 Make sure you know the username/password from your Mi Account – after resetting, the phone will require confirmation.

For discharge:

1. Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
2. Select Delete all data.
3. Confirm the action and wait for the reboot.

After reset, don’t restore data from backup – it could bring back ads! Set your phone up as new and turn off ad services immediately (see Method 1 and Method 2).

⚠️ Note: On some models (Redmi Note 8 Pro, POCO F1) After reset, an error "This device is locked" may appear due to binding to the Mi Account. To avoid blocking, untie the device in Settings before resetting. → Xiaomi account → Security → Remove the device.

FAQ: Frequent questions about advertising on Xiaomi