Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners often face intrusive marketing that appears in the most unexpected places of the interface. Especially annoying is when when you turn on the screen instead of beautiful wallpaper or useful information, you see an advertising banner that overrides notifications. This is not a bug of the system, but the result of the built-in recommendation service, which is activated by default on all devices of the company.
Ads on the lock screen are just the tip of the iceberg, as the ad modules are embedded deep in the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS. They consume traffic, consume battery power, and collect data about user preferences. To regain full control of your device, you need to perform a series of sequential actions in the system settings. In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to eliminate advertising content.
The disabling process does not require superuser rights or complex software. All the necessary tools are already built into the menu of your Xiaomi or Redmi. It is important to follow the instructions carefully, since the location of some items may vary slightly depending on the firmware version. We will look at both standard methods through settings and advanced ways to disable system processes.
MSA Disconnection: The Main Source of Advertising
At the heart of Xiaomi’s advertising ecosystem is a system process called MSA (MIUI System Ads), which is responsible for loading and displaying banner ads in various applications and on system screens. Without disabling this service, any other manipulations may be useless, since the process will automatically start again.
First, you need to find the Security app in your smartphone menu, and inside it, you need to go to the About app or Information section, where you often hide additional settings. However, the main path is through the standard Android settings menu. Go to Settings → Passwords and security → Data access. Here you need to find a list of apps that have access to the Internet.
In the list, find the msa process and click on it. Your task is to disable the Wi-Fi and mobile network slider. The system can warn you several times that this will affect the operation of the device, and even require you to wait 10 seconds before confirming. Agree and disable access. This action will deprive the ad module of the ability to download content from the network.
⚠️ Attention: When trying to disconnect MSA It can make a mistake or request a re-confirmation several times in a row. This is normal system defense behavior, just keep trying until the slider locks in the off state.
After a successful MSA shutdown, it is also recommended that you find Get Content in your application list and similarly block it from accessing the network, which will help to block additional channels for receiving advertising data. Remember that disabling the MSA will not delete the application, but will stop its harmful activity to the user.
Setting up the wallpaper carousel (Glance)
Often users confuse standard advertising with Wallpaper Carousel (formerly known as Glance), which automatically changes the background image on the lock screen to show news and ad integrations. Even if you disabled the MSA, Carousel can continue to show commercial content if you don’t configure it correctly.
To manage this service, go to Settings → Lock screen. Find wallpaper carousel or Glance for Mi. Inside this menu, you will see a switch to Turn on Wallpaper Carousel. Disabling this option completely will return a static image or wallpaper you have chosen, removing all dynamic elements.
If you don't want to completely stop changing pictures, but want to remove ads, look inside the Carousel settings for "Recommendations" or "Receive recommendations." Disabling this option will leave the background changing, but remove news feeds and advertising blocks. It's also worth clearing the cache of the Carousel application through the Apps menu → "All Apps" → "Wallpaper Carousel" → "Clean" → "Clean everything."
☑️ Checking the lock screen settings
It's important to understand the difference between live wallpaper and Carousel. Live wallpaper is animated backgrounds that don't carry advertising load. Carousel is the service that downloads content from the Internet. In new versions of HyperOS, this item may be called Wallpaper Carousels. The principle of action remains the same: look for lock screen settings and turn off content.
Advertising personalization and privacy
Xiaomi collects data about your actions to generate personalized advertising, and even if you disable the main services, you should prevent the system from using your data for targeting, which will not only reduce the amount of relevant advertising, but also increase your digital privacy.
Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Privacy. In this section, look for Advertising Services or Advertising IDs. You must turn off the option “Receive Personalized Ads.” You should also click Reset Advertising ID to break the link between the data you have accumulated and your device.
You should also check your Mi Account settings. Go to Settings → Mi Account, select About Account and find the Privacy section. Make sure that the ticks against Accept References and User Experience are removed, which will prevent the usage statistics from being transmitted to the company's servers.
| Parameter | Where to find out. | Action. | The effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSA | Security / Access to data | Shut down the internet | Blocking the loading of banners |
| Wallpaper carousel | Settings → Lock screen | Turn it off. | Remove the change of photos and advertising |
| Personalization | Privacy → Advertising | Shut down. | Stops collecting taste data |
| Recommendations | Settings → Passwords and security | Uncheck the boxes. | Removing the advice in the system |
Once you have made all the changes to the privacy sections, the system can work more stable. Collecting telemetry often loads the processor in the background, so turning it off will have a positive effect on the autonomy of the device. Don't be afraid to turn off all the items associated with improving the user experience, as these are only marketing names for collecting data.
Cache cleanup and reset ad settings
Sometimes changes in settings do not take effect immediately because of the stored data in the cache of system applications. To guarantee that you remove ads on the lock screen, you need to perform a forced cleanup of temporary files of key services.
First, clear the Security cache. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, find Security. Click Clear and select Clear Everything. Similar procedure for Downloads and Explorer if they are used to display files on a locked screen.
Why does the advertisement come back after the reset?
It is also useful to clear the data of the Wallpaper or Wallpaper Carousel application itself. In the application menu, find the corresponding service (often hidden, you need to turn on the display of system processes in the application menu settings). Clearing the data will return the application to the post-installing state by removing all downloaded banner ads.
After all the cleanups, be sure to restart the device, and the restart is necessary for system services to reread configuration files and apply new restrictions on network access.
Disabling recommendations in system applications
Advertising on the lock screen often comes in the form of "recommendations" from Xiaomi's system applications.Browser, Explorer, Themes and even File Manager can offer "useful content" that is essentially advertisements.
Let’s take a look at the main places where you need to remove the boxes:
- 📂 Explorer: Open the app, click on the menu (three bars), select Settings» → «About the app. Find the "Get recommendations" item and turn it off.
- 🎨 Topics: Go to the Topics app, go to profile (humans), click Settings. Turn off the "Show Ads," "Personal Recommendations" and "Autoplay Video" items».
- 🌐 Mi Browser: In your browser settings, find the Privacy and Security section and disable Personal Recommendations».
Disabling these features makes the interface cleaner and speeds up applications, since they do not need to constantly poll servers for new products. In new versions of MIUI 14 and HyperOS, the number of such switches has increased, so it is worthwhile to study each system application carefully.
Pay special attention to the Music and Video app, which also contain the settings for getting recommendations and autoplaying commercials, and turning them off is critical to making media consumption comfortable without interruptions.
Using DNS to Block Advertising
If standard methods don’t produce 100% results or you want to create an additional barrier to advertising, you can use a private DNS.This method blocks advertising requests at the network connection level, preventing the device from even trying to download a banner.
To do this, go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS (the path may vary depending on the Android version). Select the DNS Host Name (or Manual) mode and type in the address: dns.adguard.com. Save settings.
This method is effective not only for system advertising, but also for blocking banners in the browser and some applications. DNS-In some cases, the speed of the connection may change slightly if the Internet stops working, just return the settings. DNS auto-mode».
💡
Use a combination of methods: disabling MSA + cleaning Carousel + Private DNS. This provides maximum protection from advertising debris and ensures a clean lock screen.
Checking the result is done by simply turning the screen on and off. If you only see the time, date and notifications without unnecessary pictures and text, the goal is achieved. If there is an advertisement, check if the system that reset your settings has updated.
⚠️ Attention: Use of third-party DNS-servers may cause some local services or sites to be unavailable if they are blocked at the level of the DNS. In most cases, this is not noticeable to the average user.