Modern smartphones brand Xiaomi, and Redmi Note 9 Pro in particular, are famous for their excellent ratio of price to performance. However, when buying an affordable device, the user often faces intrusive marketing, built right into the shell of MIUI. This phenomenon has become a kind of payment for the democratic cost of the gadget, but many owners prefer to return the cleanliness of the interface.
Banner ads can appear in system applications, desktop folders, and even when you unlock the screen. This is not only annoying, but also consumes traffic, as well as battery power. Fortunately, the architecture of the Android Operating System in conjunction with MIUI allows you to fine-tune privacy settings and disable most ad modules.
In this detailed guide, we’ll take you through all the ways to eliminate unwanted content, learn how to deactivate the MSA system service, remove recommendations in folders, and configure your browser, and follow these steps to make your Redmi Note 9 Pro as comfortable and as noise-free as possible.
Disabling the MSA System Service
The centerpiece of the MIUI advertising ecosystem is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) system application, which is responsible for collecting your preferences and displaying targeted banners across different parts of the system, the first and most important step being to disable it through authorization settings.
To start, you need to go to the smartphone settings menu. Find the Passwords and Security section and select Access to Personal Data. From the app list that opens, find msa and put the slider in an inactive position. The system will warn you of the consequences, but it is necessary to remove ads.
⚠️ Warning: When you try to disable a service, the system may display a countdown timer several times (usually 10 seconds) suggesting that you cancel the action. MIUI, requiring confirmation of your decision.
If you fail to turn off the service the first time, repeat the procedure. Sometimes you need to wait 24 hours after the first attempt to make the button active. After successfully disabling the MSA, the number of ads in the system interfaces will be significantly reduced.
In addition to the core module, it is worth checking the permissions for other system services, often advertising features GetApps or Mi Video, and restricting their access to personal data also contributes to increased privacy.
Setting up the desktop and application folders
One of the most annoying features of MIUI is the appearance of the “Recommended” section inside the folders with applications on the desktop, and after creating a folder and putting several icons there, the system automatically loads the list of recommended games and programs, which is essentially an advertising feed.
To remove this block, open any folder on your desktop. At the bottom of the screen, next to the folder name, you'll see a small switch or menu item. Click on it to expand additional options. You need to find Recommended (or "Promoted apps") and turn it off.
Once you disable this feature, folders will be clean and only contain shortcuts to the apps you installed, which not only removes ads, but also speeds up the opening of folders, since the system does not need to download external data.
- 📱 Open the folder with applications on the desktop.
- ⚙️ Click on the folder name or settings icon at the bottom.
- 🚫 Find the Recommended Switch and turn it off.
- ✅ Check that the list of recommended apps has disappeared.
Also worth looking at are widgets and newsfeeds, which are swipe left on the desktop opens Google Discover or Mi Video, which can also have sponsored content, and these feeds are managed through desktop settings caused by a long tap over the free area of the screen.
Cleaning up Mi Browser and Security Apps
Xiaomi’s standard browser and Security app are the main channels for delivering advertising content. In the browser, news and advertising blocks are often built into the homepage. To correct this, you need to change the display settings.
Open your browser and go to settings (profile icon or three dots). Find the Home Page or News Feed settings section. Turn off all options related to getting news and recommendations. This will turn the start page into a minimalist search bar.
⚠️ Note: In the Security app, ads may appear after checking the system or clearing the memory. Don't click on the bright banners at the bottom of the screen, they lead to the app store.
For the Security app, the procedure is to run the scan, then click on the settings gear in the corner, find Receive recommendations and deactivate it, and that will remove the promotional offers from the scanner interface.
An alternative solution is to install a third-party browser like Chrome or Firefox and install it by default.This will completely eliminate interaction with the advertising modules of Xiaomi’s native browser.
💡
Use Second Space mode to create a clean environment without being tied to your main Mi Account if you want to completely isolate yourself from personalized ads.
Disabling personalized advertising in your Mi Account
The global setting that affects all devices linked to your profile is in the Personal Data section, where you can prevent companies from using your data for targeting, which won't take away ads completely, but will make them less intrusive and unrelated to your interests.
Go to Settings -> Passwords and Security -> Access to Personal Data. Find Ad Services. Inside this menu, turn off the Personalized Ads option. It is also recommended to reset the advertising ID.
Resetting your advertising ID resets your accumulated profile of interests, which confuses the algorithms and temporarily stops showing relevant ads, and it is recommended to perform this procedure periodically to preserve privacy.
Also, in the same section, you should disable participation in the User Experience Program, which sends technical statistics on smartphone usage to the developer's servers, and while this helps improve MIUI, for the average user, it's just unnecessary traffic and a potential risk of leaking data about usage habits.
Managing notifications and push-mailing
Even after the basic services are disabled, some apps may continue to bother you with push notifications of an advertising nature, often Xiaomi’s own services, such as Mi Community, Mi Video or GetApps.
To control notifications, go to Settings -> Notifications and Status bar -> Notification Management. Go through the list of system applications. If you don't use Xiaomi's video service, feel free to turn off notifications completely.
Pay special attention to GetApps (formerly Mi Store), which is the manufacturer's Google Play, and has a Notifications section in its settings where you can uncheck "Shares", "Recommendations" and "App Updates" with only critical messages.
- 🔔 Go to the notification management settings.
- 📉 Find apps (Video, Music, GetApps).
- 🛑 Disable the categories "Marketing" and "Recommendations".
- ✅ Keep only security notifications active.
Also check the settings for the Themes app. Theme store often sends notifications about new paid or promotional wallpapers. Disabling these notifications will avoid the temptation to spend money on visual design.
☑️ Checking system cleanliness
Table: Comparison of methods of disabling advertising
Different anti-advertising methods have different effectiveness and implementation complexity. Below is a comparative table of the main ways we have covered. This will help you choose the best cleaning strategy for your Redmi Note 9 Pro.
| Method | Efficiency | Difficulty | Impact on the system |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSA shutdown | Tall. | Low. | Minimum |
| Folder setup | Medium | Low. | Improves the interface |
| Resetting advertising ID | Temporary. | Low. | It doesn't. |
| Disabling notifications | Tall. | Medium | Reduces information noise |
As you can see from the table, an integrated approach gives the best result. performing one action may not lead to the desired purity of the interface. It is recommended to consistently apply all the methods described above.
Remember that after major MIUI updates, some settings may reset to factory values, in which case the procedure for disabling MSA and other services will have to be repeated, a feature of the company's policy aimed at monetizing devices.
Additional settings and hidden functions
For advanced users, there is a way to clean the system more deeply, such as disabling the Analytics application, which collects usage statistics, and it is located along the Settings -> Passwords and Security -> Access to personal data.
Another important aspect is the lock screen, and if you have a wallpaper carousel on, the images of news and advertising will change on the locked screen, and you can turn this off in the lock screen settings by choosing static wallpaper instead of a carousel.
⚠️ Note: When disabling system processes through ADB (For advanced users, there is a risk of disrupting the smartphone. Be careful to remove packages that have "ads" in their names, but are part of the system interface.
Also check the settings of the Downloads app. Sometimes, after downloading files from the Internet, a banner ad may pop up in the notification curtain or in the app itself. In the bootloader settings, you should turn off receiving recommendations.