How to turn off advertising on the phone Xiaomi POCO

Owners of Xiaomi smartphones and POCO sub-brands often face intrusive ads that appear in the most unexpected places: when unlocking the screen, in application folders or even in the system menu. This is part of the company's policy to sell devices at an affordable price, offsetting the cost by showing advertising content through the msa service. However, the user does not have to tolerate visual noise if he is willing to spend a few minutes on deep customization of the system.

There are many ways to limit the flow of advertising data, ranging from simple menu switches to locking at the level. DNS-It's important to understand that MIUI The HyperOS shell has a complex structure, where ad settings are scattered across different sections, some options are hidden deep in the menu, while others require you to disable specific system processes to maximize the effect.

In this article, we will take a look at all the known methods of combating intrusive content, learn how to turn off personalization, block system services, and set up a secure connection that drives traffic, resulting in a clean interface that works faster and doesn’t distract from important tasks.

Disabling MSA Service is the Basis of a Clean System

The centerpiece of the advertising ecosystem in Xiaomi devices is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) system application, which is responsible for collecting data on user behavior and uploading banner ads to various parts of the interface, and without disabling this service, any other action will have only a temporary effect.

You first need to go to your phone's settings and find the security and privacy section, and the path may vary slightly depending on the firmware version, but the logic remains the same: you need to find "Access to Personal Data" or "Authorization and Privacy."

In the list of system services that opens, find msa. The switch next to it must be activated by default. Click on it to turn it off. The system will alert you that a shutdown may affect some functions, and will trigger a countdown timer for 10 seconds.

When the time has elapsed, press the "Disable" button. If the first time failed and an error message appeared, repeat the procedure 3-5 times in a row, a known shell bug that often requires multiple confirmation of the action.

⚠️ Attention: After disabling the msa service, the ads will not disappear instantly.The system takes time (from 10 minutes to several hours) to update the cache and apply the changes.

In parallel with the main service, you should check other components related to advertising. In the same authorization menu, find and disable the following services if they are present in your list:

• 📱 GetApps – an app store that often sends discount notifications.
• 📊 Mi Video and Mi Music: Media Players that Collect Usage Statistics.
• 🔍 Mi Browser is a standard browser, which is one of the main sources of advertising traffic.

⚠️ Note: Disabling system components can cause standard applications such as video player or browser to malfunction. If you are actively using native Xiaomi applications, consider whether to disable them, or simply limit their rights.

Disabling the msa service is a critical step without which further cleaning of the phone makes no sense, and this action breaks the main channel of communication with the company's ad servers.

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Disabling the msa service blocks up to 80% of all system advertising, but requires repeated attempts due to artificial delays in the interface.

Set up personalization and advertising ID

Even after the core services are disabled, the system continues to collect anonymized data to create your digital profile, allowing you to display more relevant, yet intrusive, ads, and to minimize this effect, you need to reset the advertising ID and prevent personalization.

Go to the settings menu and search for keywords like “advertising” or “privacy” and you need a section called “passwords and security” and then a section called “Privacy” and there are important switches that affect how MIUI interacts with external servers.

Find Advertising Services or Advertising, and in this menu you need to deaktivirovat the Receive Recommendations option. It is also important to click Reset Advertising ID, which generates a new random number, zeroing your accumulated history of interest.

Also, check your Mi Account settings, go to your account settings, select About Service and Rules, and disable the user experience improvement program, which will prevent you from sending your phone usage reports to the developers servers.

You can take advantage of the hidden features of the system for fine-tuning, but standard methods are usually enough for comfortable use, the main thing is to check these settings regularly after major firmware updates, as they can be reset.

Blocking advertising through DNS-server

One of the most effective and safe methods that do not require the installation of third-party software or obtaining root rights is the use of a private DNS. This method allows you to filter Internet traffic at the connection level, blocking requests to known advertising domains.

To implement this method, go to Connections and Sharing or Wi-Fi and the Internet. DNS» (Private DNS). The default is Auto or Disconnected, and you have to select Host Name of the Provider. DNS» (or "manually»).

In the field you enter the address of a trusted server that blocks ads, the most popular and proven option is AdGuard.

dns.adguard.com

Once you enter the address, save the settings. The phone can lose connection to the Internet for a second, and then restore the connection. Now all requests to ad trackers will be blocked at the network level, which will speed up the loading of pages in the browser and remove banners in applications.

⚠️ Note: If you have entered the address DNS Incorrectly, the Internet on your phone may stop working completely, so just go back to the settings. DNS and select Auto or Unplugged mode to restore communication.

The advantage of DNS is that it works globally across all applications and browsers. You don't have to configure every single software, but it's worth remembering that some legitimate services may perceive DNS as a threat, so in rare cases, there may be problems accessing certain sites.

If standard DNS doesn’t help or doesn’t work well, you can try alternative addresses like NextDNS, but they require you to register and configure filters on the provider’s website.

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Use it. DNS-filtering as the main method of protection, as it does not consume the battery additionally, unlike background ad blockers.

Cleaning System Applications from Recommendations

Ads in Xiaomi and POCO are embedded deep into native apps. Even after disabling msa and setting up DNS, some programs may continue to show "recommendations" or "hot topics." Consider how to clear the main ones.

Start with the File Manager. Open the Explorer app, click on the menu (three bars) and select Settings. Find the About section and turn off all the switches associated with getting recommendations and news feeds.

The situation is similar in the Mi Music app: Go to the settings, select Advanced Settings, and turn off Show Ads and Get Recommendations. The interface will be cleaner and the player will start faster.

Pay special attention to the Security app, which is where the notifications of viruses or cleaning needs often come in, which are actually disguised ads, go to the Security settings, find the "Get recommendations" option, and turn it off.

The Themes app has a slightly different procedure: Open a user profile (a human icon), then set up and find the “Show ads” option, and it’s also recommended that you disable auto-update themes if you’re not actively using this feature.

Remember that when you update your system applications, your settings may reset. Check these partitions periodically to keep your system clean.

Managing Notifications and Push Services

A common source of annoyance is the pop-up notifications from MIUI system services, which may suggest installing games, watching news, or clearing memory, and to get rid of them, you need to manage notification rights for specific system packages.

Go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Notification Management. In the app list, look for MIUI Services (or MSA, if still visible), Mi Video, Mi Browser, and GetApps.

For each of these applications, open the detailed settings and completely disable notifications, and it is also helpful to turn off sound and vibration for system events unless they are critical.

Special attention should be paid to the Tools folder on the desktop, and often this is where push notifications for new applications come from. Go inside the folder, click on the settings (cogs) and turn off the Receive Recommendations feature.

It is important to distinguish system notifications and notifications from the apps you install (such as social networks), blocking system notifications will not lose important messages from friends, but will eliminate information noise.

If you use Chrome or Yandex, be sure to check their internal settings, too, and browsers are often the source of spam if they enable synchronization with an account that has saved subscriptions to questionable resources.

Comparison of blocking methods and efficiency table

There are several levels of anti-advertising, and each has its pros and cons: some methods require minimal effort but have partial effect, others are difficult to implement but provide complete purity. Let's compare the basic approaches.

The easiest way is to turn off the switches in the settings. It's safe, but it's not always 100 percent effective. DNS-Filters are great, but they can slow down the initial connection a little bit. Installing third-party blockers (like AdGuard in proxy mode) is most efficient, but it consumes battery life.

Below is a table that will help you choose the best strategy for your POCO smartphone use case.

For most users, the MSA + Private DNS combination is a middle ground, providing a clean system without having to install additional software or understand complex technical details.

If you are an advanced user, you may want to consider installing modified versions of system applications or using ADB to remove undeleteable components, but this requires caution.

Additional recommendations and frequent questions

After all the procedures, it is recommended to restart the device, which will allow the system to completely rebuild the cache and apply new network protocol settings. For the first couple of days, observe the behavior of the phone: if the ad appears again, perhaps some update to the system restored the settings.

Be careful when installing apps from unknown sources, too: Often, third-party software (especially “cleaners,” “accelerators,” and flashlights) is the source of pop-ups that users mistaken for Xiaomi system advertising.

Check the list of installed apps regularly, and if you see a program that you haven't installed, or an app with a strange name and no icon, delete it immediately. That's a sure sign of malware.

Adherence to digital hygiene and proper initial setup of the new POCO smartphone will allow you to enjoy the powerful hardware without annoying interruptions.