How to turn off ads on Xiaomi Redmi 9 Pro: the full guide

Xiaomi’s current smartphones, including the popular Redmi 9 Pro, are known for their excellent value for money, but users often have to put up with an intrusive notification system for affordable cost. The built-in advertising integration in the MIUI shell can manifest itself in the most unexpected places, from pop-ups in standard applications to banners in system folders. It’s not just annoying, but also wastes traffic and processor resources, which is critical for mid-range devices.

Fortunately, the architecture of the Android operating system in conjunction with the MIUI shell allows you to manage these processes with enough flexibility without the need to obtain superuser rights. Disabling advertising requires sequential execution of a series of actions in different settings menus, since the manufacturer intentionally did not provide a single “Switch off everything” button. In this article, we will analyze each step that will help you clean the interface of unnecessary visual noise.

The following manipulations are safe for warranty maintenance of the device, as we will not change the system files of the firmware, but only adjust the user settings and the operation of system services. Redmi 9 Pro after these changes will work much faster, as the background processes responsible for downloading advertising content will be stopped.

Disabling the MSA system advertising service

The main source of intrusive banners and pop-ups in the system is a service under the acronym MSA (MIUI System Ads), which collects data about your preferences and demonstrates the relevant content in the interface, to limit its activity, you must first disable the collection of personalized data, otherwise the disconnection point of the service itself will be unavailable for interaction.

Go to the smartphone settings menu and find the Password and Security section. Here you are interested in the Privacy section, where you need to scroll down to the Advertising Services block. Click on the Personalized Advertising switch to deactivate it. Importantly, after this action, the system may ask you to wait 10 seconds before confirming, which is the standard protection against accidental changes.

Now that data collection is stopped, you can start disabling the ad module itself. Go back to the main settings menu and select "Applications", then go to "All Apps". In the list, find the msa service (it can be called "MIUI System Ads"). Click on it and select the "Disable" option. If the system requires you to enter an unlock password or a fingerprint, do this.

Sometimes you can't turn it off the first time, and you get a 10 second countdown timer asking you to try again, which is normal, and just wait until you're done and you repeat the "Disable" button, and usually on the second or third attempt, the MSA stops safely, stopping loading the advertising content into the interface.

Set up standard Xiaomi applications

Even after the main ad engine is turned off, many of Redmi’s standard 9 Pro apps continue to contain their own recommendation modules, often masquerading as “helpful tips” or “recommended content,” but are essentially advertising integrations.

Start with the Security app, which often issues junk or virus notifications with promotional offers. Open the app, click on the settings gear in the top right corner, and find and disable the "Get recommendations" and "Automatic cleaning" (if you don't need one), and disable the news in the "Clean up" section, which will significantly reduce the number of pop-ups.

Next, we'll take the file manager. Open the Explorer app, go to settings (three menu bars). Find the About Explorer section or just Settings and turn off the Recommendations option. In some versions of MIUI, this option may be called Get Recommendations. It's also worth checking the Music and Mi Video app, where you need to find and uncheck the "Show Ads" or "Online Recommendations" box in the settings.

Don't forget the Downloads app. It often displays banner ads at the bottom of the screen when you open it. Go to its settings and turn off "Show recommended content." Once you do that, the standard suite of apps will be much cleaner and more functional, working solely to solve your problems, not to show commercial content.

Cleaning the desktop and folders from recommendations

The MIUI shell has the feature of adding advertising widgets and recommendation folders directly to the desktop. Often users accidentally activate the Wallpaper Carousel or the Widget Ribbon feature, which takes up resources and shows news junk, and you can remove this through the desktop settings.

Push two fingers across your desktop to go into editing mode, or press the empty area. In the menu that appears, select Settings (usually the button in the lower right corner). Here you are interested in "Widget Ribbon" (or "Google Discover" if enabled). Switch it to "No" or "Disabled" so that when you swipe to the right, the news feed with the advert opens.

It's also worth checking the app folders themselves. Sometimes, inside the folders, a line appears called "Recommended Apps." To remove this, open any folder on your desktop, click on the folder name (or three dots/settings inside it), and disable the "Recommended Apps" option, which removes the advertising icons from the bottom of the open folders.

• 📱 Wallpaper carousel: Disables in lock screen settings to remove advertising slideshows when screen is turned on.
• 📂 Desktop folders: require individually checking the settings inside each folder you create.
• 🔍 Search in the system: in the search settings (when swiping down), you can turn off “Popular” and “News”, leaving only the search by device.

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If you don't use weather widgets or desktop document scanner, remove them.Standard Xiaomi widgets often load heavy content and may include ad tags in their settings.

Disable personalization in Mi Browser and other services

Special attention should be paid to the standard Mi Browser browser, which is set by default to aggressive data collection and news feed display. If you use this browser, its setting is mandatory. If you prefer Chrome or Firefox, this section can be skipped, but check the settings still worth checking in case of default use.

Open your browser, click on the three dots in the bottom bar (menu) and select Settings. Scroll down to Privacy and Security. You need to turn off Personal Guidelines and Notifications. Also, in the Home Page, you should turn off the newsfeed if it's there. This will make the start page clean.

In addition to the browser, ads can be broadcasted by the Cleaner and Scanner app. In the scanner settings (cog in the Security app -> Scanner), disable Online Scanning and Get Recommendations, which will prevent data about your files from being sent to servers for analysis and then showing targeted ads.

It is important to understand that some system applications may not have explicit ad switches in the Russified version of the firmware, in which case it helps to disable Internet access for suspicious system services through the Data Transfer menu, but this may disrupt their functionality, so act carefully.

Resetting the advertising identifier and additional measures

To increase privacy and reduce the effectiveness of targeted advertising, it is recommended to periodically reset the advertising ID of your device. This does not disable the advertising completely, but resets the accumulated interest profile, making the advertising less personalized and intrusive.

To do this, go to Settings -> Password and Security -> Privacy -> Advertising Services. Here you will see the Reset Advertising ID button. Click on it and confirm the action. It is recommended to do this once every few months.

An additional protection measure is the installation of a third party DNS-A server that blocks ad domains at the network level, and you can do this without installing applications by changing your private settings. DNS.

dns.adguard.com

Enter this value in the Private DNS Host Name field (Settings -> Connection and Sharing -> Private DNS).Caution: Using a third-party DNS can slow down some sites a bit or disrupt applications that use their own ad networks for analytics, but it is a powerful tool for blocking ads throughout the system.

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Combination of shutdown MSA, setting up individual applications and use DNS-filter gives the maximum result on cleaning the smartphone from advertising.

Frequent questions and possible problems

In the process of optimization, Redmi 9 Pro users often encounter nuances that need to be clarified, and below are answers to the most common questions that arise when trying to disable ads in MIUI.

If you've been manipulating the ads, it might be coming from a third-party app you installed, not the system. Check the list of recently installed programs. It's also worth checking the notifications in the curtain: if you press and hold your finger on the ad notification, the system will show which app sent it, which will remove the culprit.

⚠️ Note: Do not install the Play Market accelerator or cleaner apps on Xiaomi. They are often the source of advertising and conflict with system optimization. MIUI, placing additional stress on the battery.

Another problem may be the inability to disable MSA. In some regions or firmware versions (especially Global Beta), this service may be hidden deeper or protected, in which case temporary Internet shutdown before entering the service's shutdown menu, or waiting for a system update where the addressing of ad servers may change.

⚠️ Note: When using the Private Method DNS (dns.adguard.com) make sure you have a stable Internet connection. DNS-The server will stop responding, the Internet on the phone may disappear until you return the setting to Auto mode».

Following these instructions, you can turn your Xiaomi Redmi 9 Pro into a clean and fast tool, free from intrusive commercial noise. Regularly checking your settings after updates will help you keep the result throughout your device’s use.