How to permanently remove ads on Xiaomi: the complete guide to MIUI 14/13/12

Advertising in Xiaomi smartphones is one of the most annoying features of the MIUI branded shell. Even after buying the device, users encounter banners in settings, push notifications from Mi Browser, and built-in advertising in system applications like Security or Themes. The manufacturer positions this as “personalized recommendations”, but in practice it is just a way to monetize budget devices.

In this article, we will look at all the current ways to disable ads on Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones, from basic MIUI settings to radical methods using ADB and modified firmware. We will focus on the nuances for different regions (global / Chinese version) and firmware versions (MIUI 12/13/14). If you are tired of intrusive banners, this guide will help clean the interface once and for all.

Why is Xiaomi getting ads and can it be removed?

Unlike pure Android, the MIUI shell integrates ad modules at the system level.

• 📱 System applications: Security, Themes, Mi Video, Mi Music.
• ⚙️ Settings of the device: banners in the About phone section or Additional.
• 🔔 Push notifications: from Mi Browser, Mi Store and Xiaomi services.
• 🌍 Regional features: more advertising in Chinese firmware than in global.

Can we take it out? Technically, yes, but it would require:

1. Disable personalized recommendations in settings (partially helps).
2. Remove or freeze system applications with advertising (ADB or root is needed).
3. Install custom firmware (e.g. Xiaomi.eu or LineageOS).

⚠️ Note: On devices with Chinese firmware (for example, for the market) CN) Some methods may not work because of manufacturer restrictions, and in this case, the only radical way is to flash it to a global or European version. MIUI.

Next, we’ll look at the simplest (no root) to the most complex (unlock the bootloader) methods, starting with the first section and moving on to the next one if the ads are left.

Method 1: Disabling personalized advertising in MIUI settings

The safest and most official method is to deactivate the options associated with the ad impressions, which works on all versions of MIUI 12/13/14 and does not require additional tools.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Google → Advertising.
2. Click Reset Advertising ID and confirm the action.
3. Go back to the basic settings and go to Settings → Memory → Cleanup.
4. Slap the icon. ⚙️ (gear) in the upper right corner and disable the Recommendations option.
5. Then go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (shoot 7 times to activate the developer mode).
6. Return to Settings → Additional → Special Options → Advertising and turn off all sliders.

Is the display of recommendations in the "Cleaning" disabled"|

Is the advertising ID reset in Google | settings?

All options in the "Special Opportunities" section are turned off → Advertising"|

Rebooted smartphone to apply changes

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This method removes up to 60% of ads, but does not affect banners in system applications (for example, in Themes or Mi Video).

Method 2: Remove Advertising through ADB (without root)

If the standard settings didn’t work, the next step is to use Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a method that doesn’t require superuser rights, but allows you to disable the system apps responsible for displaying ads.

You'll need:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux.
• 📱 USB-cable (preferably original).
• 🛠️ Utility. ADB (You can download from the official Android website).

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on the smartphone Developer Mode (click 7 times on the MIUI version in Settings → About phone).
2. Activate USB Debugging in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Connect the phone to the PC and confirm the debugging permission.
4. Open the command prompt (or Terminal on macOS/Linux) in the ADB folder.
5. Enter the command to check the connection: Adb devices should appear the name of your device.
6. Follow the commands to disable the adware modules: adb shell pm hide com.miui.systemAdSolution adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.midrop adb shell pm hide com.miui.analytics adb shell pm hide com.miui.msa.global
7. Reboot your smartphone.

⚠️ Attention: MIUI 14 Some packages may have different names. To find out the actual names, use the command: adb shell pm list packages. | grep -i "miui\|xiaomi\|ad Look for suspicious packets with ad, analytics, or msa.

After applying these commands, advertising in the settings and most system applications will disappear. However, some services (such as Mi Browser) may continue to show banners - they need to be customized separately (see the next section).

Method 3: Set up Mi Browser and other Xiaomi apps

Even after the system ad has been turned off, some Xiaomi apps continue to show banners.

Mi Browser (and other Xiaomi browsers)

By default, Xiaomi's browser loads the start page with news and ads to fix this:

1. Open Mi Browser and go to Settings → Homepage.
2. Select an Empty Page or specify your URL (e.g., google.com).
3. In the Settings section → Confidentiality offline: 🔍 Personalized recommendations 📊 Collection of data on use

Settings → Applications → Mi Browser → Memory

Mi Video and Mi Music

These apps show ads before playback and in the interface, to remove them:

• 🎬 In Mi Video: Go to Settings → About the program and disable Recommendations and Autoplay.
• 🎵 In Mi Music: Turn off Show recommendations and cloud recommendations in settings.

Topics (Themes)

Themes app is one of the main sources of advertising, to minimize banners:

1. Open the Topics → Profile → Settings.
2. Turn it off: 🖼️ Recommendations on the home screen 🔔 Notifications on new topics

ADB

Mi Browser|

Topics (Themes)|

Security (Security) |

Mi Video|

Other (write in the comments)

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If you don't use these apps, the best option is to remove or freeze them through ADB or Titanium Backup, which is guaranteed to remove all ads from them.

Method 4: Use of third-party utilities (without root)

If manual methods don't work, you can use specialized utilities that automate the process of disabling ads and operate without superuser rights.

Top.-3 Advertising Removal Programs on Xiaomi:

Recommended algorithm:

1. Download Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot Tools from GitHub.
2. Connect your phone to your PC in USB Debugging mode.
3. Start the utility and select the Debloat option.
4. In the list, find and tick all applications with the words Ad, Analytics, MSA, MiuiDaemon.
5. Press Uninstall Selected and restart the device.

⚠️ Warning: Do not disable system services called com.android or com.qualcomm, which can cause your phone to fail. If you are not sure, use Disable mode instead of Uninstall.

After you use the utility, the ads should disappear from the settings, system applications and notifications. If there are separate banners left, read the next section about hosts.

Method 5: Blocking Ads through Hosts File

The hosts file in Android is responsible for redirecting domain names, and if you add the addresses of Xiaomi's ad servers to it, the system will stop loading banners, which works without root, but requires ADB.

Instructions:

1. Download the current block list for Xiaomi (e.g., from here).
2. Connect your phone to your PC and execute a command to replace the hosts file: adb push path to file hosts /data/local/tmp/hosts adb shell "su -c 'mount -o rw,remount /system &&cp /data/local/tmp/hosts /system/etc/hosts &&chmod 644 /system/etc/hosts'"
3. Reset the device.

Step-by-step (on the example of Xiaomi.eu):

1. Unlock the bootloader through the official Xiaomi tool (you will need a Mi Account and wait 7-30 days).
2. Download the firmware Xiaomi.eu for your model from the official website.
3. Install TWRP Recovery via Fastboot: fastboot flash recovery twrp.img fastboot boot twrp.img
4. In TWRP, run Wipe → Format Data (Warning: This Will Delete All Data!).
5. Install the downloaded firmware through Install.
6. Reset the device.

⚠️ Note: Installing custom firmware will void warranty and may lead to a device blink if the wrong version is selected.Be sure to check the firmware compatibility with your model before the procedure (for example, Redmi Note 10 Pro and Redmi Note 10 Pro China are different devices!).

Advantages of this method:

• ✅ Total absence of advertising (including system notifications).
• ✅ Regular updates from the community.
• ✅ Additional features (e.g., themes in Xiaomi.eu).

Disadvantages:

• ❌ Difficulty of installation for beginners.
• ❌ Risk of data loss or damage to the device.
• ❌ Some features (such as Mi Pay) may not work.

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Method 7: Root and Modification of System Files (for Advanced)

If you're willing to go to extremes, getting root permissions will give you access to deep customization.

• 🗑️ Completely remove advertising modules from /system/app.
• 🔧 Change system permissions for applications.
• 🛡️ Use Xposed Framework or Magisk to block ads.

Instructions for obtaining root:

1. Unlock the bootloader (see Method 6).
2. Install Magisk via TWRP: adb push Magisk-v26.4.zip /sdcard/twrp install /sdcard/Magisk-v26.4.zip
3. Install Root Explorer or Titanium Backup to remove system applications.
4. Find and remove packages: /system/app/SystemAdSolution/system/priv-app/Analytics/system/app/MSA

To block ads at the DNS level:

1. Install the AdAway module for Magisk.
2. Activate it in the Magisk settings.
3. Update the lock lists in AdAway.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 13/14 Some root methods may not work due to Anti-Rollback Protection.Pre-procedure check the compatibility of your model on the XDA-Developers forum.

On some models (such as the Xiaomi 12/13 series), NFC and some sensors stop working after getting root, which is due to Qualcomm’s hardware protection. If these features are critical, use root-free methods.

What if the advertisements returned after the update?

After the MIUI update, many settings are reset and the ads may reappear.

• 🔄 Turn off automatic update: Settings → The phone. → Updating the system → ⚙️ → Deactivate "Car Update"
• 📥 Use manual update checks and install them only after checking for feedback on forums (e.g., reviewing reviews, 4PDA).
• 🔧 Create a backup of the hosts file and a list of disabled packages (via ADB): adb pull /system/etc/hosts C:\backup\hosts
• 🛡️ Install Magisk to block system application updates (e.g., Disable Flags).

If you do have an ad after the update, repeat the steps from Method 2 (ADB) or Method 5 (hosts), and in case of extreme cases, you can roll back to the previous version of MIUI via Fastboot.

FAQ: Frequent questions about advertising on Xiaomi