Xiaomi’s brand smartphones have long gained popularity due to their excellent price-performance ratio, but users are often annoyed by intrusive marketing. Owners of the Xiaomi Mi 7 or more modern devices in the Redmi and Poco series regularly encounter banner ads in system applications. This can significantly reduce the usability of the gadget, distracting from the main tasks.
Fortunately, MIUI and the newer HyperOS provide the flexibility to control this flow of information, so you don't have to be a programming expert or root-rights expert to clear the interface of the visual noise, but you have to go through multiple stages of customization in a consistent manner to stop the system from offering aggressive purchases.
In this guide, we will look at all the blocking methods available, from disabling system services to fine-tuning each embedded application. Follow the instructions carefully to ensure that no advertising source is missed, and the result will be a clean and fast interface that works exclusively for you.
Disabling MSA Service is the Main Step
The main source of intrusive offers is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) service, which is responsible for loading and displaying banner ads at different angles of the interface. Without disabling this component, all other settings may not be effective, as the service will constantly try to resume displaying content.
To access the management of this service, you must first activate the hidden developer mode. Go to the Settings → About phone menu and quickly click 7-10 times on the MIUI version (or OS version). Once the message "You became a developer" appears, you can move to advanced settings.
Then open Settings → Advanced Settings → Access to data. In the list that opens, find the msa app and turn off the Internet slider. The system will warn you that the application will stop working correctly, and start a countdown of 10 seconds.
⚠️ Note: When you try to disable the msa service, the system may display an error message several times or not disable access the first time. MIUI, Just try again until you have a successful result.
It is important to note that after disconnecting the network, the ads will not disappear instantly. Cashed banners may persist for a while, but new ones will not load. Full update of the process list takes up to 24 hours, but most often the effect is noticeable immediately after the device is rebooted.
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If the slider in the Access to Data menu doesn’t click, try first to turn off Wi-Fi and mobile internet, then again try to deny access to the msa application.
Management of recommendations in the Security app
The standard Security app is one of the most active sources of marketing notifications, it scans the device regularly and, after checking, often offers “recommended” applications or games. To remove this element, you need to change the settings of the scanner itself.
Open the Safety app and click on the gear icon in the top right corner. Find the Receive recommendations and deactivate it. It's also worth checking the Cleanup subsection, which sometimes hides additional items offering acceleration through installing third-party software.
You might want to check other features inside this app, like Antivirus or Battery, and each of these modules has its own news display settings, and by turning them off, you make the interface more rigorous and functional, removing distractions.
☑️ Checking the application Security
Setting up the desktop and folders
MIUI is known for its recommendation folders, which automatically appear when you put a certain number of icons in it, called the "Recommended" section, which loads apps from the GetApps store, and you can remove it through the design settings.
Press the empty space on your desktop and select Settings (or click on the gear). In the menu, find the Receive recommendations option and uncheck it. After that, the folders will stop offering to install new games and programs, leaving only your shortcuts.
Also worth paying attention to widgets and cards that can be displayed when swiping to the right (screen "Assistant"). In the desktop settings, you can choose to display only widgets or turn off the left screen altogether, which also reduces the amount of visual debris.
| Interface element | Where to turn off | The result |
|---|---|---|
| Application folders | Desktop settings | No ads in folders. |
| Screen "Assistant" | Desktop settings | Clean swipe left. |
| Searching the system | Settings → Search | Lack of banners in search |
| Wallpaper Carousel | Settings → Wallpaper | No Advertising on the Lock Screen |
Cleaning system applications from advertising
Advertising integrations are embedded in many standard utilities, such as Explorer, Music, Video and Downloads, each requiring a customized approach, because there is no global “switch off all” button. This takes time, but guarantees a comprehensive cleanup.
In the Downloads app, click three dots in the corner, select Settings, and turn off Receive Recommendations. In Explorer, the actions are similar: menu → settings → remove the checkmark from receiving recommendations. This will remove the banners that often appear when you open these programs.
Music and Video (Mi Video) apps also have built-in news feeds, go to a user profile or settings inside these apps and find the switch that displays online content or news, and disabling these features will speed up the launch of media players.
Why is the ad coming back?
Disabling Advertising Personalization
Xiaomi collects data about your smartphone usage to generate personalized promotional offers, and even if you have disabled banner displays, data collection can continue in the background, and to stop this, you need to change your privacy settings.
Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Privacy. Go to Advertising Services (or Advertising) where you need to disable Ad Personalization, which will break the link between your device ID and your advertising profiles.
Also on this menu is often a button Reset the ad ID, clicking on it generates a new random ID, which makes the previously accumulated data about your preferences irrelevant for advertisers.
And there's also the User Experience Program, which sends you usage reports, and it's in the Settings menu. → Passwords and security → Confidentiality → Disabling this item will not only increase privacy, but it can also slightly reduce the load on the processor.
Blocking ads in the browser and notifications
Users often confuse MIUI system advertising with advertising notifications from sites they accidentally subscribed to in the browser. If the lock screen or notification curtain constantly pops up messages about “wins” or “viruses”, the problem lies in the browser settings, not the system.
Open your browser (be it Chrome, Mi Browser or Yandex) and go to settings. Find Notifications or Sites. In the permission list, disable access to all suspicious sites. The best option is to "Block Notification Requests" globally.
For deeper cleaning, you can use DNS-filter. Go to Settings. → Connection and sharing → Private DNS. Enter dns.adguard.com. This method blocks connection-level advertising for most apps and browsers without requiring additional software installation.
⚠️ Attention: Use of third-party DNS-servers may cause some local services to fail or the Internet to slow down if the server is geographically far away".