Owners of budget and mid-budget smartphones often face intrusive content that appears in the most unexpected places of the interface. Advertising integrations in the shell of MIUI (or HyperOS) can annoy, block useful screen space and distract from the main work. For the Redmi 12 model, this problem is relevant, since the system is by default set to maximize the manufacturer’s revenue through the display of promotional materials.
Fortunately, the operating system's built-in mechanisms allow you to minimize or completely eliminate unwanted visual noise without obtaining superuser rights. Disabling ads requires a series of actions to be performed consistently in different sections of the menu, since there is no single "Remove All" button. Below we will discuss a detailed algorithm for cleaning the interface of your gadget.
It's worth noting that some of the system processes that are responsible for analytics and promotion work in the background. Just closing a pop-up window is not enough - you need to deactivate the service that generates these requests. Proper privacy setting will not only remove banners, but can also have a positive impact on the autonomy of the device.
Disabling the MSA System Service
At the heart of Xiaomi’s advertising ecosystem is MIUI System Ads (MSA), which collects your preferences and initiates targeted ads in standard applications, and to block it, you need to find the appropriate item in the password and security settings menu.
Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to Personal Data. In the list that opens, find msa and put the slider in an inactive position. The system will warn you of the consequences, prompt you to wait 10 seconds and re-confirm the action. This mechanism for protecting against accidental disconnection may require you to repeat the procedure 2-3 times in a row.
⚠️ Attention: After the service is disconnected MSA Some personalization features in the theme store and system widgets may stop working correctly or display current offers.
If the slider returns to its original position, check for an active Internet connection. Changes often require a device reboot to take effect. Successful blocking of the MSA is a key step in the fight for a clean interface.
Set up standard Xiaomi applications
Even after the main service is disabled, individual components of the system can continue to display promotional materials. Each standard application, whether it is a conductor, music or cleaning, has its own content display settings, and must be configured individually to achieve maximum effect.
Consider the main applications where advertising is most common, and ways to eliminate it:
- 📁 Explorer: Open the application, click on three dots in the corner, select Settings" → "About the application" and disable the item "Receive recommendations".
- 🧹 Security:** Go to the app settings (cogs), find the "Receive recommendations" section and deaktivirujte it. Also check the "Clean up" settings inside the app.
- 🎵 Music and Video:** These players also have "Receive recommendations" and "Use cellular data to update covers" in their settings, which should be disabled.
It is important not to miss any item, as system updates can return these settings to default values. Regularly checking the recommendations parameters will help maintain the cleanliness of the interface.
☑️ Verification of system applications
Managing personalized advertising
Xiaomi, like many other tech giants, uses identifiers to target you, which allows you to show you ads that may be interesting, in theory, based on your usage history, but for many users, intrusion into privacy is unacceptable.
To limit data collection, follow the Settings → Passwords & Security → Privacy → Special Permits. Here you are interested in the Advertising section. Inside you will see the Personalized Advertising switch. It must be turned off. In addition, you should click the Reset Ad ID button to reset the accumulated profile.
This procedure will not remove ads completely, but will make them less relevant and possibly less frequent.Resetting your ID breaks the link between your past actions and current promotional offers.
Why do you need an advertising ID?
Cleaning the desktop and widget tape
One of the most annoying features of the MIUI shell is the presence of news feeds and recommendations on the desktop.The swipe to the left of the home screen often opens a page with news, weather and, of course, advertising blocks.
To get rid of this, you need to change your desktop settings. Click on the empty space on the screen or pinch with two fingers to go into edit mode. Click on the settings icon (usually the gear at the bottom) and find "Ribbon widgets" or "Google Discover." Switch to "No" or "Classic view" if this option is available in your firmware version.
Also worth checking is the Music widget settings, which often broadcasts not only the cover of the track, but also the banner ads of the music services, and in the widget settings, you can choose to display only the covers or hide it completely.
| Interface element | Where to turn off | The result |
|---|---|---|
| Widget tape (Swipe left) | Desktop settings | Clear screen on the left |
| Recommendations in folders | Settings → Desktop | No ads in folders. |
| Music widget. | Widget settings | Only the track cover. |
| Security cards. | Application settings Security | Absence of promo blocks |
Blocking Advertising in Mi Browser
Xiaomi’s standard browser is a powerful tool, but it also serves as a channel for delivering advertising content, and unlike system advertising, blocking occurs at the level of traffic filtering.
Open Mi Browser, go to the menu (three bars) and select Settings. Find the Privacy and Security section. You need to activate the Ad Block switch. The browser will prompt you to download the necessary filters — accept this action.
For more advanced protection, you can install a third-party extension if the browser version supports it, or simply use alternative browsers like Firefox or Brave, which have powerful blockers built in.
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Use ad-blocking DNS (such as AdGuard DNS) in your Wi-Fi and mobile network settings to block ads across all apps at once, including browsers and games.
Frequent questions and problem-solving
The process of clearing the system of advertising can raise questions, especially if after the instructions are executed, banners continue to appear, often due to data caching or features of a particular version of MIUI.
If the ad comes back, try clearing the cache of the apps it appears in. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, find a problem app (like Explorer or Music), click Memory and select Clear Cache. Don't confuse it with Clear Everything to keep your data.
In some cases, a complete shutdown of the Internet at the time of use of a particular application helps, although this is a temporary solution, a more radical method is the installation of a third-party launcher that completely replaces the standard shell.
⚠️ Warning: Installing third-party launchers can lead to increased battery consumption and unstable operation of some system gestures.
Remember that the complete removal of system components of advertising is possible only with the presence of Root-rights, which deprives of warranty and can disrupt the operation of banking applications.
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A comprehensive approach, including disabling MSA, configuring each application and using browser blockers, gives the best result in the fight against intrusive advertising.