How to remove popular videos on Xiaomi: the complete guide

Xiaomi’s smartphone screens often feature video recommendations from YouTube apps, TikTok or the built-in Mi Video player. These “popular videos” can be annoying, slowing down the system or simply distracting. Unlike standard banners, video recommendations consume traffic, battery power and can even be triggered automatically when scrolling.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways to disable the device, from simple MIUI settings to radical ADB methods. The instructions are relevant for MIUI 14/15 and the Redmi Note 12/13, POCO X5/F5, Xiaomi 13/14 and others. Importantly, some methods require administrator rights or disable system applications — this can affect the stability of the phone.

Video recommendations are part of the MIUI ecosystem that is integrated with Xiaomi services and partners (e.g. Google Discover or TikTok) and are the main reasons for their emergence:

  • 🔍 Personalized advertising: the system analyzes your actions (search queries, viewed videos) and selects content through the algorithms of Xiaomi Ads.
  • 📱 Embedded apps: Mi Video, Music or GetApps automatically download previews of videos in the background.
  • 🌍 Regional settings: In some countries (India, Indonesia) video banners are more aggressive due to partner agreements.
  • 🔄 Updates MIUI: post-update MIUI 14+ Many users are seeing an increase in the number of recommendations.

According to research by XDA Developers, video banners can consume up to 150MB of traffic per month even without active browsing, a critical feature for users with limited rates or slow internet.

📊 Where do you see video recommendations on Xiaomi most often?
On the main screen (launcher)
In the notification panel
In the video app (Mi Video)
In the Mi Browser browser
Another place.

Method 1: Disconnect via MIUI settings (without root)

The safest method is to use the built-in options, which is suitable for most models on MIUI 12-15 and does not require additional rights.

  1. Open the Settings. → Main screen screen.
  2. Select Application Categories (or Recommended Content in older versions).
  3. Turn off the sliders opposite: 🎬 Video (Mi Video) 📺 TV (Mi) TV) 🎵 Music (Mi Music)

Settings → Applications → Application Management

GetApps

App Market

Auto-start

Showing notifications

After this action, the video banners must disappear from the home screen and notification bar, but in some regions (for example, India) may require additional disabling of the MSA service (Mi Service Framework).

☑️ Checking the disabling of video recommendations

Done: 0 / 5

Method 2: Remove system applications (ADB required)

If the videos continue to appear, the problem may be with Xiaomi's pre-installed services, which can be disabled via ADB (Android Debug Bridge) without getting root permissions. This method works on MIUI 14/15, but requires connecting the phone to a PC.

Warning: improper use of ADB can cause phone malfunctions, and we recommend backing up your data before starting.

  1. Activate Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone. Click 7 times on MIUI Version. Return to Settings → Additional → For Developers and enable USB Debugging.

cmd

Terminal

adb devices

The name of your device should appear.

adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.video


adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.xiaomi.midrop




adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.miservice

AnnexADB Team TeamWhat's off?
Mi Videopm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.videoBuilt-in video player and recommendations of videos
GetAppspm uninstall --user 0 com.xiaomi.midropApplication advertising and video banners
MSA Frameworkpm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.miserviceService of personalized recommendations
Mi Browserpm uninstall --user 0 com.android.browserVideo banners in the browser

⚠️ Note: Disabling com.miui.miservice may disrupt some functions, such as synchronization with Mi Account or push notifications. If after completing commands, the phone starts to brake, return the applications with the command: adb shell cmd package install-existing com.miui.video

Method 3: Using third-party launchers

If video recommendations are built into a standard MIUI launcher, the easiest solution is to install an alternative launcher.

  • 📱 Nova Launcher: Allows you to fully customize the main screen and disable all banners.
  • ⚡ Lawnchair: Lightweight open source launcher, blocks system-level advertising.
  • 🎨 Microsoft Launcher: Integrates with Windows, but does not show third-party recommendations.
  • 🛡️ Niagara Launcher: Minimalist interface without ads and videos.

After installing the new launcher:

  1. Open his settings.
  2. Select the default home (or set as default launcher) option.
  3. Turn off the option to show recommendations (if any).

The downside of this method is that some MIUI features (such as gestures or themes) may not work properly, and third-party launchers do not block video in the notification panel or embedded applications.

💡

Before installing a new launcher, export your current home screen settings through Settings → Home Screen → Backup layout. This will help quickly restore the location of the icons if something goes wrong.

Method 4: Blocking via DNS or VPN

Video recommendations are downloaded from Xiaomi servers and partners (e.g. Google or TikTok) and can be blocked at the network level by changing the DNS or using a traffic filtering VPN.

Option 1: Modification of the DNS

  1. Go to Settings → Connections → Private DNS.
  2. Select the host name of the private DNS provider.
  3. Enter one of the addresses: dns.adguard.com (blocks ads and trackers) 1.1.1.3 (Cloudflare Family – filters malicious content)

Option 2: VPN with ad blocking

Install one of the applications:

  • 🔒 AdGuard VPN (There is a free version with limited traffic).
  • 🛡️ Blokada (blocks Xiaomi Ads domains at system level).
  • 🌍 Proton VPN (It does not block ads, but hides your activity from trackers).

⚠️ Attention: Some VPN-The services themselves collect user data. Check the privacy policy of the application before installing it. For example, Blokada is open source, which reduces the risk of data leakage.

Method 5: Disable via the Settings Editor (requires root)

If you have root rights, you can manually edit the system files that run the video, a method that is suitable for power users and can cause permanent system damage if you do something wrong.

Instructions:

  1. Install a file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
  2. Go to /system/etc/hosts
  3. Add the following lines at the end of the file: 127.0.0.1 ad.mi.com 127.0.0.1 api.ad.xiaomi.com 127.0.0.1 sdkconfig.ad.xiaomi.com 127.0.0.1 tracking.miui.com
  4. Save the changes and restart the phone.

This method blocks access to Xiaomi ad servers at the system level, but after the MIUI update, the hosts file may reset to the standard state.

What if the phone doesn’t turn on after editing hosts?
If you have not edited the hosts file correctly and your phone has stopped loading, try it: 1. Enter Recovery Mode (Squeeze Power) + Loudness up). 2. Connect to the PC through ADB Recover the original file with the command: adb pull /system/etc/hosts adb push hosts_original /system/etc/hosts 3. If this does not help, reset to factory settings (data will be lost!).

Additional Optimization Tips

Even after disabling video recommendations, MIUI can continue to collect data about your activity to minimize this:

  • 🔧 Turn off ad personalization: Go to Settings → Google → Advertising. Turn off Personalized Ads. Reset Advertising Identifier.

Limit background activity

  • In Settings → Applications → Application Management, find Mi Video, GetApps and Mi Browser.
  • Turn off Auto Start, Background Activity and Mobile Data.
  • 🗑️ Clear the cache: Settings → Memory. → Clear cache This will delete temporary files, including uploaded preview videos.