How to turn off ads on Xiaomi Redmi 8: the full guide

Budget smartphone owners often face intrusive notifications that appear in the most unexpected places of the interface. Redmi 8, despite its popularity and reliability, was no exception to the rules of marketing policy of the company. Built-in advertising is designed to compensate for the low cost of the device, but for many users it becomes the main irritant that prevents comfortable operation of the gadget.

Fortunately, the modern MIUI shell provides flexible content management tools, so you don't have to have super-user rights or reflash the device to get rid of most banners, but you just have to go through a few things in your system and application settings to get your screen digitally clean.

In this article, we will take a detailed look at each step required to completely clean a smartphone of advertising debris. We will look at hidden switches, system application settings, and DNS-level blocking techniques. Complete disabling of the advertising ID (OAID) is a critical first step, without which other settings may not be effective. Follow the instructions carefully to return the device to its original clean interface.

Disabling system advertising through account settings

The first and most important step is to change the status of your account in the system, and this is where the key switch is stored, allowing or prohibiting the display of personalized content, and without this action, all subsequent manipulations can be temporary.

Go to the settings menu and find the password and security section, and you'll need to find the ad item here. The interface may vary slightly depending on the firmware version, but the logic remains the same across all Redmi devices.

You need to find the "Receive recommendations" or "Recommendations" option and put the slider in an inactive state. The system can request confirmation of the action, warning that the content will become less relevant.

Once this feature is disabled, the MSA system service will no longer receive your preferences, which will not remove the ads completely, but will make them less intrusive and frequent, and it is important to do this step before you start fine-tuning individual applications.

Setup of the system application Security

The Security app is the central control node in the MIUI shell, which most often displays ad offers to users when cleaning up memory or checking for viruses, and to remove these pop-ups, you will need to change the settings of the application itself.

Open the Security app and click on the gear icon at the top of the screen. In the menu that opens, look for "Get recommendations." Turn off this switch. It's also worth checking the Cleanup section, where a separate switch may be hiding to show promotional material after the cleaning process is complete.

• 🛡️ Open the Security app and go to settings through the gear icon.
• 🚫 Find and disable the “Receive recommendations” option in the general settings menu.
• 🧹 Go to the Cleanup section and make sure that the advertising notifications are also disabled there.
• ⚙️ Check the Acceleration section as there may be extra banners hiding there too.

⚠️ Note: After updating the firmware, the security settings may reset to factory settings. It is recommended to check this section periodically, especially if you notice the return of pop-ups.

You should also look at the Antivirus section inside the same app, which often activates the Get Base Updates feature, which can load ad units, and turning off this option is not critical for security if you use trusted application sources.

Managing Advertising Notifications in the Downloads App

The system download manager is another source of annoyance that is often overlooked: When you complete a file download or just open the task manager, users can see suggestions to install games or applications, and you can remove them through a hidden debugging menu.

To access hidden settings, you need to follow a sequence of steps: Open Downloads. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Settings. Next, look for About or version information.

On the screen with the version of the program, you need to quickly click 5-10 times on the logo icon or version name. After a few clicks, a pop-up notification will appear “You became a developer” or “Debug mode enabled.” Now go back to the download settings menu.

There's a new item, Show recommended content, which will turn it off. This will instantly stop banners from appearing in the Download Manager. If it doesn't show up, try repeating the procedure faster or restarting the application.

Cleaning up Mi Browser and Music apps

Xiaomi’s standard multimedia apps and browsers are often oversaturated with content. Mi Browser can show news feeds and ads on the homepage, and Music app can offer subscriptions. Let’s consider how to minimize their impact.

In your browser, go to settings (three menu bars). Find the Privacy and Security section. You need to turn off Personalized Recommendations and Notifications. You should also select a minimalist view without a news feed in the Home Page section.

For the Music app, the algorithm is similar: settings, Advanced Settings, then Get Recommendations. Disabling this feature will remove banners with concerts and merchandise that appear between tracks or on the player's home screen.

Remember that the Themes app is also a powerful source of visual noise: Go to the user profile inside the theme app, open the settings and disable all items related to advertising and recommendations, which will make the design directory more stringent.

Blocking Advertising through Private DNS

The most effective operating system-wide method is to use a private DNS, which allows you to block requests to known ad servers before content is uploaded to the device.

On Android 9 and above, which is installed on Redmi 8, this feature is natively built in. You don't need to install third-party apps or get root rights. You just need to write the address of a special server in the network settings.

dns.adguard.com

To activate, go down the path: Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select the option “DNS Provider Host Name” (or “Manual”) and type in the address dns.adguard.com. Save the changes.

• 🌐 Go to the connection settings and find the Private section. DNS.
• ✍️ Enter dns.adguard.com in the manual field.
• ✅ Save settings and restart your smartphone to apply changes.
• 🚫 Check the Internet and the lack of advertising in the applications.

⚠️ Attention: Use of third-party DNS-servers may have a slight effect on network response speed in rare cases. If you notice problems connecting to certain sites, return the setting to Auto mode».

This method blocks ads not only in the system, but also in many free apps and games, but it is powerless against ads that are part of the content (for example, on YouTube or embedded in the interface of a particular application rigidly).

Disabling MSA and system services

MSA (MIUI System Ads) is the primary process for loading and displaying ads on the system, and completely disabling or freezing this service is a radical but very effective step.

Find a service called MSA (MIUI System Ads) in the list of applications. Go to its settings and turn off the "Receive recommendations" option. Then try clicking the "Disable" button. The system will resist: it will show a countdown timer (usually 10 seconds) and require confirmation.

You'll have to wait out the timer and confirm your intention to turn off the service several times. If the "Disable" button is inactive (gray), it means that the application has active permissions or it is running. In this case, first click "Stop", then turn off all permissions (especially access to the network and storage), and only then try to turn off.

It's also a good idea to check the Data Obtaining and Analysis (MAB) app, which is another system process that collects statistics, and you can also try to disable it in a similar way, although it affects advertising less than the MSA.

Additional settings and FAQ

After doing all of the above, your Redmi 8 should be much cleaner. However, there are still a few places in the MIUI shell where notifications may be hidden, such as the Music and Video app, which may require separate attention to permissions.

It is also recommended to disable ad personalization in Google settings. Go to Settings → Google → Advertising and select “Disable Ad Personalization” or “Reset Ad ID” to prevent ads from being targeted by Google services.

To sum up, fighting ads on Xiaomi is a mindful process. Going through all the settings will make your budget smartphone a handy tool without too much visual noise. Check app updates regularly, as MIUI developers are constantly changing the location of the switches.