How to permanently remove ads from the lock screen Xiaomi Redmi 5: proven ways

Your Xiaomi Redmi 5 lock screen is littered with intrusive ads that prevent you from quickly unlocking your phone and spoiling the look of the interface? You are not alone — this problem is familiar to many owners of Xiaomi smartphones on MIUI firmware. Advertising arises from the company's built-in services, which are activated by default to monetize the free version of the shell. The good news is that it can be disabled in several ways, from standard settings to deep changes to the system.

In this article, we will discuss 5 working methods, including hidden MIUI settings, ADB commands, Mi Account disconnection, and even radical measures for those who are willing to sacrifice certain functions for a clean screen. All instructions are tailored specifically for Redmi 5 (codename rosy) and tested on current firmware versions. Importantly, some methods require administrator rights or a PC connection - we will explain each step in detail so that you can choose the best option.

Why does the Redmi 5 lock screen have ads?

Advertising on the lock screen is part of Xiaomi's business model, which allows the company to offer smartphones at affordable prices. MIUI There are several services that are responsible for displays:

• 📌 Msa (MIUI System Ads is the core module that analyzes your behavior and loads targeted ads, and works even without connecting to Mi Account.
• 🔄 Personalized Ad Recommendations – a personalization service that collects data about your actions in the system (installed applications, frequently visited sections of settings).
• 🌍 Region-Specific Services – Advertising campaigns tailored to your region (e.g., local Xiaomi partners).
• 📱 Lockscreen & Status Bar Ads – a separate module responsible for displays on a locked screen.

On Redmi 5, ads can appear in three formats:

1. Banners are static pictures with offers (for example, games or services from partners).
2. Promo notifications are pop-ups with the “Learn More” button, which, when clicked, are redirected to the Mi Browser or App Store.
3. Widgets are dynamic blocks (such as weather or news) that sometimes contain advertising inserts.

Interestingly, Chinese versions of MIUI (e.g. MIUI China) have significantly less advertising than global versions (MIUI Global), which is because in China Xiaomi is monetized primarily through the sale of devices and services, rather than displays of ads.

Method 1: Disabling Advertising through the standard MIUI settings

The easiest and safest method is to use built-in firmware options. It doesn't require root or PC access, but it doesn't work on all versions of MIUI. If you have Redmi 5 on MIUI 10-12 firmware, follow the instructions:

1. Open the Settings app (cog icon).
2. Go to Lock Screen and Password (or Lock Screen & Password in English firmware).
3. Switch to the option Additional lock screen settings (Advanced settings).
4. Find the Recommendations option on the Lock screen recommendations and turn off the slider.
5. Go back to Lock screen notifications and turn off notifications for Msa, Mi Browser and GetApps.

If your MIUI version does not have Lock screen recommendations, try an alternative path:

Settings → Applications → Application Management → Three dots (menu) → Show all apps → Msa → Disable

Important: After disabling Msa, some system functions (such as weather on the lock screen) may stop working, and advertising may return after updating the firmware, in which case the procedure will have to be repeated.

Method 2: Using ADB to Deeply Disable Advertising

If standard settings don’t work, you can use Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a tool for debugging Android devices, which allows you to disable advertising services at the system level, but requires a connection to a computer.

You'll need:

• 💻 Computer with Windows, macOS or Linux.
• 📋 Installed Xiaomi drivers (you can download from the official website).
• 🔧 ADB and Fastboot (part of Android) SDK Platform-Tools).
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original).

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on Redmi 5 Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (Tap 7 times) After the “You Become a Developer” Notice appears, go back to Settings → Additional → For Developers and activate Debugging via USB.
2. Connect your phone to your PC and select File Transfer mode.
3. Open the command prompt (cmd on Windows or Terminal on macOS/Linux) and go to the folder with ADB:
4. Enter the command to check the connection: adb devices If the device appears in the list, follow the following commands in turn: adb shell pm hide com.miui.systemAdSolution adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.midrop adb shell pm hide com.android.browser adb shell settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 0
5. Reboot your phone: adb reboot

Critical information: After these commands are executed, the ads will disappear, but Mi Drop (Wi-Fi file transfer) and some system notifications may also stop working. To return everything back, replace hide with unhide in the commands above.

Method 3: Disabling personalized advertising through Mi Account

If you use a Xiaomi Mi Account, you can turn off some of the ads via the web interface, which is less effective than ADB, but does not require technical skills.

Instructions:

1. Open your browser on your phone or PC and go to the Mi Account website. Sign in.
2. Go to the Privacy Settings section.
3. Find Personalized Ad Recommendations and turn it off.
4. Scroll down to the Ad Services block and deactivate all available options: 📱 Device Ads – Advertising on the device. 🌐 Browser Ads – Advertising in Mi Browser. 📧 Email Ads – mailings with promotions.

Redmi 5

This only blocks personalized ads, and shared banners (such as those from Xiaomi partners) can remain, and you should also note that you will have to repeat the procedure once you reset your phone to the factory settings.

💡

If you don’t want to completely disable Mi Account, but want to reduce the amount of advertising, try using a different region in your account settings. For example, select India, which has significantly less advertising.

Method 4: Install an alternative launcher (without root)

If you're tired of not only advertising, but also the standard MIUI interface, you can install a side launcher that supports lock screen customization, which doesn't remove ad services from the system, but bypasses them.

Best launchers for Redmi 5:

*Note: Adaway blocks ads at the hosts file level, but it needs root to work.

To install an alternative lock screen:

1. Download the launcher from Google Play (like Lawnchair).
2. Set it as the default launcher (the system will prompt you to do so when you first start).
3. To customize the lock screen, download the Lawnchair Lockscreen plugin.
4. In the plugin settings, turn off notifications from Msa and Mi Browser.

Important: Alternative launchers can slightly increase battery consumption (by 3–5%) due to background processes, and some MIUI features (such as gestures or quick commands) may not work properly.

Method 5: Radical measures – disabling services through root or custom firmware

If none of the previous methods worked, there are radical ways to:

1. Getting root rights and removing advertising modules manually.
2. Install custom firmware (such as LineageOS or Pixel Experience) that does not have built-in advertising.
3. A rollback to an older version of MIUI (e.g. MIUI 9) where there was less advertising.

Instructions for rooting and removing advertising:

1. With Root Explorer or ADB, delete the following folders: /system/priv-app/Msa/ /system/priv-app/Analytics/ /system/priv-app/MiuiDaemon/