How to turn off Xiaomi activity control: the complete guide

Xiaomi smartphones have long been popular for their excellent price-performance ratio, but their MIUI (and now HyperOS) shell is often criticized for intrusive advertising and aggressive user data collection. Device owners regularly face a situation where the system offers to “improve the user experience”, which in practice means constantly monitoring activities and sending statistics to the manufacturer’s servers. For many users, this becomes a serious problem that violates privacy and wastes traffic.

Disabling these features not only increases your digital security, but often has a positive effect on the autonomy of the device. The deactivation process does not require superuser rights (Root) and is available to anyone who is willing to follow instructions carefully. It is important to understand that some system services can be hidden or renamed in new versions of firmware, so we will consider all current methods.

In this article, we will go into detail where the surveillance switches are hiding, how to stop advertising IDs, and whether you should completely turn off system monitoring services. You will learn to configure MIUI so that the phone works solely for your interests, not the interests of the company. Below are the step-by-step algorithms for the various versions of the shell.

Why Xiaomi Collects Data and What is MSA?

Before we get to practical action, we need to understand the terminology and what we are fighting against. The main tool for collecting data is the MSA (MIUI System Ads), which is responsible for displaying advertising content in system applications, and it is this process that collects information about your preferences to show relevant ads in Explorer, Music or Security.

There is also the term “User Experience Program,” which is technically designed to send bug reports to developers so they can fix bugs, and in practice, it often sends anonymous but detailed data about which apps you use, how often you unlock the screen, and how you navigate the menu.

⚠️ Warning: Disabling system monitoring services completely may cause some built-in features to malfunction, such as automatic photo sync or personalized recommendations in a music service.

There is also an adid mechanism that is assigned to your device for targeted advertising, which resets or disables this identifier, and breaks the link between your actions and your advertising profiles. Understanding the difference between collecting telemetry for debugging and collecting data for advertising will help you choose the optimal level of privacy.

Many users are unaware that even after initial setup, the system may reactivate some services periodically after a major firmware update, so checking these settings regularly is a good practice to maintain control of your device.

Basic privacy settings in MIUI and HyperOS

The first step to optimizing privacy is to start with the basic settings that are available immediately after unpacking or resetting, and the first step is to go to the settings menu and find the password and security section, which may vary slightly depending on the version of the shell, but the logic remains the same.

You'll need to find the privacy or password and security option, and that's where the main controls for data collection are, and the key is to disable the consent to the user agreement for advertising services, which is often hidden in the back of the menu.

• 🔒 Go to Settings. → Passwords and security → Confidentiality.
• 📜 Find the section “User Experience Improvement Program” and turn off the slider.
• 🚫 In the Advertising menu (or Advertising Services) activate the option to Disable Personalized Advertising».

Once you have done this, the system will stop generating your advertising profile based on your current activities. However, old data may have already been sent, so it is recommended to also reset the advertising ID if this option is available in your version of Android or MIUI.

Disabling MSA and system advertising

The most effective way to get rid of intrusive banners is to force the MSA to stop and revoke permissions. This process requires care, since the system will prevent the shutdown in every possible way, offering to wait 10 seconds or frightening you with a possible deterioration of work.

To start, look for the MSA (MIUI System Ads) app list. If the search doesn't work, try searching for "Advertising" or "Recommend." Once you enter the app settings, first click "Cancel Authorization." The system will alert you to the consequences, but this is a standard intimidation procedure.

Settings → Applications → All Applications → MSA → Cancel Authorization

When you cancel your authorization, you should immediately click the Stop button. If the button is inactive, try to clear the application data first. In some cases, especially on global firmware, the service may be called Get Content or have a similar name associated with recommendations.

⚠️ Attention: When attempting to disconnect MSA The countdown timer can be a bogus. Often, you can press the confirmation button before the time runs out just by looking at the interface carefully.

And there are other system applications that broadcast ads, including the Security, Explorer and Downloads app, each with its own Receive Recommends switch, which must also be manually deactivated.

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If the Cancel Authorization button is inactive or disappears, try turning off the internet (Wi-Fi and mobile data) before trying again.

Managing permissions and access to data

Deep activity control is impossible without auditing permits. Xiaomi applications often request access to geolocation, contacts and call history under the pretext of “improvement of work”, although functionally they do not need it.

Newer versions of HyperOS have a Protective Mode that allows you to limit background activity. Go to your battery settings and find a list of applications. For system services that do not require constant communication (for example, a calculator or voice recorder), set a background activity limit.

Pay special attention to location access. Many system utilities do not need to constantly track your location, set a "Only in Use" resolution or completely deny access to applications that do not need it.

Also worth checking is the Special Features section, where malware or aggressive ad modules are sometimes registered to access the screen and user activities, and if you see unfamiliar services with administrator privileges or screen access, turn them off immediately.

Advanced Methods: ADB and Hidden Settings

For users who want to maximize their results, standard settings may not be enough: the use of the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) toolkit allows you to remove or freeze system components that cannot be disabled through the interface, which requires connecting the smartphone to the computer.

Before you start, you need to activate the developer mode, and you can click on the build number seven times in the About section. Then, in the Developer menu that appears, turn on USB Debugging. Once you connect the phone to your PC, you can send commands to delete packets.

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.msa.global


adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.personalassistant




adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.browser

These commands will remove the ad service, the widget tape to the left of the desktop, and the standard browser, respectively. It's important to remember that removing system components through ADB doesn't physically erase them from the recovery section, but makes them invisible to the system and the current user. It's safe and reversible when reset to factory settings.

There is also a method to disable DNS monitoring. Using a private DNS that blocks ads (e.g. dns.adguard.com) allows you to filter traffic at the network level, effectively blocking requests to ad servers before they reach the application.

Frequent problems and solutions when disconnecting

During the process of cleaning the system, users may encounter a number of typical problems, most often due to the system automatically returning settings after updating or restarting, and the stability of the results achieved depends on the version of MIUI.

Sometimes, after a firmware update, all the privacy switches are reset to their original position, a well-known feature of some versions of HyperOS, in which case the MSA and advertising disablement procedure will have to be repeated manually, and you can automate this process using third-party automation applications like Tasker, but this requires additional skills.

• 🔄 Problem: Service MSA Solution: Turn off auto-update system applications in the Mi Store settings.
• 📉 Problem: Weather widgets are missing. Solution: This is due to the personalization service being disabled, you're going to have to use third-party widgets.
• 🔋 Problem: Battery consumption increased. Solution: Check to see if there's an important system application that requires background synchronization on the list.

Another common situation is that you can't cancel your authorization because of a network error, and in this case, changing your region in your phone settings helps, and switching to "USA" or "Germany" often changes the set of system services and makes some of them less intrusive or completely disconnectable.

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Using a private DNS in conjunction with disabling the MSA gives a 99% guarantee of no advertising in the system without the need for deep code intervention.

The impact of settings on the smartphone

Many users fear that an aggressive shutdown of services will lead to unstable operation of the device. In fact, disabling telemetry and advertising often has a positive effect on performance. Less background processes - less strain on the processor and RAM.

However, be prepared for some changes to the user interface, such as disabling the Get Content service can remove beautiful lock screen wallpapers that change every day, and disabling analytics can stop the Health Card function or step counting if they are tied to Xiaomi cloud services.

⚠️ Note: Before mass removal of system applications through ADB Make sure to back up your important data completely, as some changes may require a complete reset of the device for rollback.

In the long run, activity control extends battery life, and background data transmission and constant surveying of sensors to collect statistics are hidden but noticeable energy consumers, and freeing up resources, you'll notice that the phone is more responsive, especially on models of the past.

To sum up, privacy is a must-have after buying any Xiaomi device, making a good hardware product a truly convenient and secure tool for everyday use, free of digital noise.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)