How to disable ads in the Xiaomi browser: the full guide

Xiaomi’s current MIUI and HyperOS smartphones are famous for their functionality and affordable price, but their use is often overshadowed by intrusive advertising content. It’s especially annoying when banners, pop-ups and videos start appearing right while surfing in a standard or third-party browser, not only distracting from reading news or watching videos, but also consuming mobile traffic, and reducing overall device performance due to the background load of heavy scripts.

Advertising in the Xiaomi ecosystem is implemented at various levels, from system applications to the built-in mechanisms of the browser itself, which is often based on the Chromium engine. The user agreement of many pre-installed services implies consent to display targeted ads, if not change the privacy settings manually. Fortunately, engineers have left the ability to deactivate most advertising modules, including the MSA system service (MIUI System Ads), which is responsible for collecting data and displaying promo materials.

In this article, we will discuss in detail all effective methods that allow you to completely remove ads from the browser on your smartphone. We will consider both the standard means of setting up the system, and the use of advanced methods such as changing the browser. DNS-It is important to understand that a comprehensive approach will give the best result, so it is recommended to follow all the steps described consistently.

Disabling MSA System Advertising

The first and most important step is to deactivate the MSA system service, which is the main source of advertising traffic on Xiaomi devices. It is this process that collects data about your preferences and broadcasts advertising not only in the interface, but can also affect the behavior of the browser. First, you need to go to the settings menu of your device and find the Password and Security section or Advanced Settings, depending on the version of the MIUI shell.

Inside the security menu, you'll need to find Access to Personal Data or Authorization and Review, which displays a list of all system services that have access to your data, search for a service called msa and switch the switch to an inactive state, and the system will alert you that a shutdown may affect some functions, and start a countdown of 10 seconds.

After the timer has expired, you need to press the "Cancel" button. Often, the first time you can not turn off the service due to software errors or poor connection, so the procedure may need to be repeated 2-3 times. Completely disabling the MSA does not remove the ads instantly, but blocks the main channel of its receipt on the device, making subsequent browser settings more effective.

• 📱 Go to Settings. → Password and security → Access to personal data.
• 🔍 Find the msa service in the list and uncheck the tick.
• ⏳ Wait for the 10-second timer to end and confirm the review.
• 🔄 Repeat the procedure if the system has given an error or the timer has reset.

⚠️ Attention: After the service is disconnected MSA The ads may not disappear immediately, but within 24 hours, and this is due to the caching of advertising identifiers on the company's servers.

Some users have noted that new versions of HyperOS may have changed the path to this setting, so you should search for settings by typing in "msa" or "advertising." If standard methods fail to disable the service, you can use special scripts through ADB, but this requires a connection to a computer and basic command-line skills.

Setup of the built-in blocker in the Mi browser

Xiaomi’s standard browser, known as Mi Browser, has built-in functionality to block unwanted content that is often disabled or configured incorrectly by default. To activate protection, open the browser app and click on the menu represented by three horizontal bars at the bottom or top of the screen.

You need to find the Privacy and Security menu in the settings menu, and that's where the key traffic filter switches are located, you need to activate the Ad Block option, and once you turn on this feature, the browser will automatically hide known banner ads on the sites you visit, which will significantly speed up the loading of pages.

Additionally, it is recommended to enable protection against phishing and malicious sites, as ad networks are often used to distribute malware. It is also worth checking the notification settings: many sites request permission to display push notifications, which are in fact disguised ads.

• 🛡️ Activate the switch Ad Blocking in Privacy Settings.
• 🚫 Include protection against phishing and fraudulent sites.
• 🔔 Check the Notification Permits List and Remove Extra Websites.
• 🧹 Periodically clear the browser cache to reset advertising identifiers.

It is worth noting that the built-in blocker is effective against standard banner ads, but can skip video ads on YouTube or complex scripts on news portals. The browser engine regularly updates the filter databases, but for maximum protection it is better to combine this method using the filter database. DNS-filtering, which will be discussed below.

💡

If you use Incognito mode, make sure that the extensions or lock settings are applied in this mode as they sometimes only work in the main session.

Using a Private DNS to Block Advertising

The most effective and versatile way to remove ads from all Android apps and browsers, including Xiaomi, is to use a private Domain Name System (DNS), which works at the network level: when your phone tries to download an ad banner, the request is sent to a special server, which instead of an ad address returns an empty response, which allows you to block ads even where conventional blockers are powerless.

To set up DNS on Xiaomi, you don’t need to install third-party apps. Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing (or Wi-Fi and the Internet) → Private DNS. The default is “Auto” or “Disabled.” You need to select the DNS Host Name option and enter the address of one of the trusted services, such as dns.adguard.com.

Once you save the settings, you need to reboot your smartphone or turn on and off flight mode to reconnect with new options. Private DNS saves traffic and speeds up page loading, since heavy ad scripts simply don't load. This solution works globally for the entire device, including Chrome browsers, Samsung Internet, Opera and the built-in Mi Browser.

It is important to understand that when using private DNS Some sites or applications may not work properly if they rely on ad networks to function (although this is rare). DNS (c) means Disconnected or Auto.

💡

Use of the DNS-AdGuard servers (dns.adguard.com) are the “gold standard” for Xiaomi users, providing blocking up to 90% of ads without installing additional software.

Installation of specialized browsers

If Xiaomi’s built-in browser seems too overloaded with features and news feed, a great alternative would be to install a dedicated browser with a powerful built-in blocker. The market offers many solutions that are focused on privacy and speed, ignoring the telemetry collection characteristic of MIUI products.

One of the best options is Brave, which blocks trackers and ads out of the box without the need for complex settings. It also knows how to compress traffic and speed up page loading. Another popular choice is Firefox for Android, which supports installing extensions. On mobile Firefox, you can add the famous uBlock Origin addon, which is considered the benchmark in the world of ad blocking.

Another worthy candidate is DuckDuckGo, which focuses on privacy and automatically removes trackers. Installing such a browser solves the problem of advertising dramatically: you just stop using a leaky standard browser. All your bookmarks and passwords can be easily imported from the old application on the first run.

• 🦁 Brave Browser: maximum speed and built-in lock.
• 🦊 Mozilla Firefox: Support for extensions like uBlock Origin.
• 🦆 DuckDuckGo: Focus on privacy and cleanliness.
• 🛡️ Vivaldi: flexible settings and built-in tracker blocker.

⚠️ Note: When installing a new browser, Xiaomi may insist on returning to the standard app. Ignore these pop-ups and select "Use by default" for the new browser when requesting.

Switching to an alternative browser also often solves the battery drain problem, as advertising scripts consume a significant amount of CPU resources, and you get rid of the news feed and other information noise that is usually present on the Mi Browser start page.

Disabling Personalized Recommendations (MSA and PA)

In addition to direct advertising, Xiaomi actively uses a personalized recommendation system that analyzes your actions and offers content in system applications, including desktop folders and widgets. These recommendations often contain links to advertising applications or games.

Go to Settings → Password & Security → Access to Personalized Data. Find Personalized Recommendations and turn it off. It’s also worth checking the Security and Explorer settings, as they often have their own news feeds built in, which require a separate deactivation in the settings menu of a particular app (usually three dots in the corner of the screen).

In some regions and firmware versions, GetApps (formerly Mi Apps) is a separate service that also provides advertising notifications, and if you don’t use the app store, you can completely disable notifications in the Notifications → Notification Management section, which will prevent pop-ups with offers to download games or software.

Remember that after major system updates (such as switching from MIUI 13 to 14 or HyperOS), some privacy settings may be reset to factory values, so it makes sense to check these items periodically to make sure that the protection is still active.

Additional measures and cleaning of the cache

After completing all the settings, it is recommended to completely clean the system of accumulated debris. Advertising modules often store data in the cache, and even after disabling services, old banners can be displayed from the phone's memory for a while. Use the built-in Security → Cleanup app to delete temporary files.

Also, you should separate the data from the browser itself. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications, find your browser and choose Clear Data → Clear Cache. Important: do not confuse with Clear All Data, as this action will delete your saved passwords, history and bookmarks.

If you use third-party launchers or widgets on your desktop, check their settings. Often, it is the Hot Apps or Guidelines widgets that are the source of visual noise. Remove unnecessary widgets from your desktop by replacing them with a standard clock or calendar.