Ownership of the powerful Xiaomi Note 10 Pro smartphone is often overshadowed by intrusive banner ads that appear in the most unexpected places. Owners of flagship devices with a high-resolution screen 1080x2400 pixels rightly expect a clean interface without unnecessary interruptions. However, the MIUI shell on which the system is based is set by default to monetize user traffic through built-in ad modules.
Understanding how the Chinese giant’s ad ecosystem works is the first step to neutralizing it.The system uses special service apps to collect your preferences and target offers. Fortunately, the Android architecture allows you to manually deactivate these components without losing warranty or having to obtain root rights.
In this article, we will take a detailed look at each level of protection for your digital space, going from standard privacy settings to deeper system constraints that are hidden from the average user. Full disabling of the MSA (MIUI System Ads) module is a key step in blocking up to 90% of all advertising in the system. Follow the instructions carefully to regain control of your gadget.
Disabling the main advertising module of the MSA
The central element responsible for displaying banners in standard applications is the MSA system service, which analyzes your actions and loads advertising content into folders, menus and system utilities, and to turn it off, you need to find the corresponding item in the menu of authorization settings and accounts.
The deactivation process requires care, as the system will try to hold the user back by offering various reasons for not turning off.The interface may react with a delay, and the confirmation button sometimes becomes active only after the countdown timer has expired. This is not a bug, but a specially implemented mechanism. UX-Design to reduce the number of shutdowns.
You will need a stable Internet connection, as the status of the service is synchronized with the manufacturer's servers in real time, and after successful execution of the procedure, the phone may need to restart to apply changes.
- 🔍 Open Settings and go to Password and Security.
- 🔍 Select Access to Personal Data or Special Permits.
- 🔍 Find the msa app in the list and turn the switch to the "Switched off" position".
- 🔍 Wait for the timer to end (usually 10 seconds) and press the Disconnect button.
⚠️ Warning: If after switching the slider, the system gives an error "Can not get data" or the button is not pressed, try again 3-5 Often it takes several attempts to successfully synchronize with the server.
☑️ Checking the shutdown MSA
After successfully disabling the core module, you will notice that the interface is much cleaner, but some embedded applications may still contain promotional elements, as they use their own content display mechanisms.
Setup of system applications and folders
Even after MSA is disabled, individual system utilities such as Explorer, Music, or Themes can continue to show ad units, which is because each application has its own privacy settings and recommendations, and you have to go through each one individually.
Special attention should be paid to desktop folders, and there is a feature called Recommended Applications in the MIUI shell that automatically loads third-party icons into groups you create, which annoys many users who are used to a strict organization of space.
To clean the folder, you have to click on the folder name to open the list of applications, and find the "Recommendations" switch. Disabling this option instantly removes intrusive icons. A similar situation is observed in the Security application, where often pop up offers to clear the memory or speed up the phone, accompanied by banner ads.
- 📁 Open any folder on your desktop, click on the name and turn off the Recommendations.
- 🎵 Go to the Music app, click on the menu (three bars), select Settings and turn off Show ads.
- 📂 In the Explorer app, go to Settings → About the application and remove the tick from the item Get recommendations.
Remember that system updates may return some default settings, and checking these points periodically will help keep your device clean.
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Use alternative launchers such as Nova Launcher or Lawnchair to completely eliminate the possibility of MIUI advertising widgets appearing on the desktop.
Notification and personalization management
Another channel for commercial content is push notifications from system services, which can come even when you are not using a particular application, most often offers to install games, subscribe to a subscription or news from Xiaomi partners.
To block these messages, you need to configure notification settings, it is important to distinguish between system notifications about the status of the battery or network and advertising mailings. MIUI has a separate section responsible for personalizing advertising based on your actions.
Disabling personalization does not stop ads from showing completely, but it does make them less targeted and frequent, and it also limits the collection of your interests to build an advertising profile.
| Service | The path to adjustment | What to turn off |
|---|---|---|
| Mi Video | Profile → Settings | Online recommendations |
| Topics | Profile → Settings | Showing ads |
| Cleanup | Settings → Cleaning | Receive recommendations |
| Downloads. | Settings (cogs) | Showing content |
Regularly reviewing installed applications will also help identify spam sources, and users often install programs themselves, which then generate pop-ups on top of other windows.
Resetting the advertising identifier
Each Android device is assigned a unique Advertising ID (AAID) that is used by marketing companies to track your actions across apps and generate ad feeds, and resetting that ID breaks the link between your current activity and your previous history.
This procedure is recommended to be done periodically, especially if you notice a sharp increase in the number of targeted advertising.This does not remove the ads completely, but resets the accumulated profile of interests.
To do this, go to Google’s settings section, where you can manage your ad preferences, and in some versions of MIUI, this may be called “Advertising” or “Privacy.”
- 🆔 Go to Settings. → Google → Advertising.
- 🆔 Click on the Reset Advertising Identifier button.
- 🆔 Confirm the action in the pop-up window.
- 🆔 You can also select the option to Disable Advertising Personalization.
⚠️ Note: After resetting your ID, you may notice that the ads have become less relevant or odd.This is normal behavior by a system that has lost the context of your previous search queries.
Using DNS to block
One of the most effective methods of combating advertising at the operating system level is the use of the DNS over TLS protocol, which allows you to redirect requests to ad servers through a filter gateway that simply does not return the address of the banner advertising.
Unlike installing third-party apps, this method works at the network connectivity level and requires no additional rights. It is effective for both Wi-Fi and mobile Internet. On the Xiaomi Note 10 Pro, this feature is built into the connection settings.
To set up, you will need a reliable address DNS-servers that specialize in ad blocking, such as AdGuard DNS. Entering the address in the appropriate field activates traffic filtering.
dns.adguard.comOnce you enter the address, the system will check the connection. If the server is available, you will see confirmation. From now on, all requests to known advertising domains will be blocked, which will speed up the loading of pages in the browser and clean the application interface.
What to do if the Internet stops working?
It is important to understand that this method is not a panacea: Ads that are downloaded from the same domains as content (as in YouTube or Instagram) will not be blocked, but MIUI system banners often use separate domains that are successfully filtered.
Additional System Limitations
There are deeper settings available through the developer menu or special commands that limit background ad activity, but using these techniques requires caution, as improper settings can lead to unstable Android.
One of the safest methods is to limit background activity for services that are already disabled but still in the system, and even if the application is turned off, its processes can remain in memory, and forced stopping and clearing of data helps to consolidate the result.
Also worth paying attention to is GetApps (formerly Mi Apps), the official app store from Xiaomi, which is often the source of push notifications about promotions. If you do not use this store, it can be safely disabled or removed updates.
- 🛑 Find GetApps app in the list of all programs.
- 🛑 Click Disable or Delete if the system allows.
- 🛑 In the developer menu, turn off the option to Receive Notifications of Recommendations.
⚠️ Note: Do not remove system applications through ADB or root rights if you're not sure what they're supposed to do, and removing critical components can lead to a cyclical phone reboot).
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A comprehensive approach combining MSA disabling, DNS setup and manual application cleaning gives the best result in the fight for a clean interface.