Owners of the Redmi Note 7 often encounter intrusive pop-ups that appear at the most inappropriate moments, such as ads during unlocking the screen, in standard applications or even on top of the interface of other programs, which is annoying and reduces the overall productivity of the gadget.
But don't panic or think your device is infected with a virus. Most of the time, these notifications are sourced from the built-in MIUI shell system services, which are set up by default to collect data and display content. Fortunately, developers have left users the option to manually deactivate these features through settings.
In this article, we will discuss in detail all the steps of cleaning up Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 advertising debris, you will learn which services are responsible for displaying banners, how to find and disable third-party applications-viruses, and get answers to frequently asked questions on system optimization.
Reasons for the appearance of intrusive advertising in MIUI
The main source of annoying notifications in Xiaomi smartphones is the system program msa (MIUI System Ads), which analyzes your actions in the interface and selects personalized advertising content. Even if you have not installed any suspicious applications, msa can run in the background, consuming battery resources.
Additionally, ads can come from standard ecosystem applications such as Explorer, Music or Cleanup, which often have their own recommendation modules built in, which are activated each time they run, and users sometimes inadvertently allow notifications to be displayed to third-party sites via a browser.
⚠️ Warning: If ads appear on top of your desktop or in games where they shouldn't be, chances are you accidentally installed a malicious application from an unverified source, in which case disabling system services won't help, you need to manually search and remove the culprit.
Another reason could be the activated Receive Recommendations feature in various settings sections, which is often enabled by default when you first start a device or after you update your firmware, and turning off this option is the first step to a clean interface.
Disabling system advertising through account settings
The most effective way to remove most banners is to disable the personalization of ads in your global account settings, which requires Internet access, as changing the setting requires communication with the Xiaomi authorization server.
Go to the Settings menu, scroll down to Password and Security, and select Access to Personal Data. From the list that opens, find the msa service and put the switch to an inactive state, the system will alert you that some features may stop working, and start a countdown timer for 10 seconds.
After the time has expired, press the Stop button. It is important to perform this procedure 2-3 times in a row, since the server may not accept the request to disconnect from the first time. If the switch returns to its original position, just repeat the action.
☑️ Checklist of msa shutdown
You should also check your Mi Account settings. Go to Settings → Mi Account → Advertising and Privacy. This will prevent companies from using your preferences for targeted marketing.
Cleaning Standard Applications from Recommendations
Even after disabling the msa service, some built-in utilities can continue to show news feeds or offers.To completely clean the Redmi Note 7, you need to go through each key application and disable the recommendation feature.
Let’s look at the main system programs, where advertising settings are hidden:
- 📂 Explorer: Open the application, click on three bars in the corner, select Settings → About the application and remove the tick from the item Get recommendations.
- 🧹 Security (Cleanup): Launch the app, go to settings (cogs), find the Receive recommendations section and disable it.
- 🎵 Music: In the app, click on the menu, select Settings → Advanced settings and disable ad display and receive recommendations.
- 🌤️ Weather: Open the app, go to the settings and find Receive recommendations, then deactivate it.
Don’t forget that the interface may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI. If you haven’t found an item, try updating the app through the GetApps store or Google Play.
What to do if the recommendation item is missing?
These steps will take no more than 5-10 minutes, but the result will be worth it. The interface will be significantly cleaner, and the speed of applications can even increase due to the lack of downloading advertising modules.
Managing Notifications in the Browser
Users often confuse Xiaomi system ads with spam notifications from sites they accidentally subscribed to in the browser. If you constantly get messages about winnings, viruses or news, the problem lies in the browser settings.
To solve the problem in the standard Mi Browser or Chrome browser, you need to go to the notification settings. In Chrome, this is done through the Settings menu → Privacy and Security → Site settings → Notifications. Here you will see a list of all sites that are allowed to send notifications.
Look carefully at the list and remove any suspicious resources, usually sites with names like News, Update, or obscure domain names. Click on the site and select Delete or Block.
⚠️ Warning: Never click on links in such notifications or download the proposed files.This is a classic method of spreading mobile fraud and malware.
It is also recommended to install a reliable ad blocker, such as AdGuard or Brave Browser, which will filter traffic at the system or application level.
Search and Remove Viral Applications
If the ads appear as floating windows on top of other applications or block the screen, then malware has settled in the system. QR-codes, memory cleaners or photo editors.
To find the culprit, look at the list of installed apps. Viruses often don't have an icon or name, or use a transparent icon to get lost in the list. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps and scrolle through the list carefully.
Compare the date of installation of the application with the time of the advertisement, if you notice a program that you did not install, or an application with a strange icon immediately after the problem began, this is a candidate for removal.
| Sign of virus | Where to find | Action. |
|---|---|---|
| Absence of icon | List of all annexes | Immediate removal |
| Advertising on the desktop | Recent annexes | Clear the data and delete |
| Pop-ups in games | Launched processes | Stop the process |
| Unknown name of the package | Application Manager | Check it out on Google Play |
To remove it, you may need to enter Safe Mode. To do this, press the power button, and then hold your finger on the "Switch off" item on the screen for a long time until you prompt you to go to Safe Mode. In this mode, only system applications are downloaded, which allows you to safely remove the pest.
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Useful tip: Before removing a suspicious app, take a screenshot of its page in the settings. If the app recovers after the reboot, a screenshot will help you find its exact name on the Internet to find a special removal tool.
Blocking Advertising through DNS and Hosts
For advanced Redmi Note 7 users, there is a more radical method, which is to block ad servers at the network level. DNS-server or by editing the hosts system file (root rights required).
The easiest way to avoid superuser rights is to use a private DNS. Android 9 and higher (and Redmi Note 7 runs on current versions) has a built-in feature. Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS.
Select the option “DNS provider hostname” and enter the address of a trusted blocker, for example: dns.adguard.com. Once saved, all requests to known ad servers will be blocked at the network level.
dns.adguard.comThis method is effective not only for system advertising, but also for banners in the browser and some applications. However, keep in mind that when using a private DNS, the local Wi-Fi network may stop working if the router is configured to specific gateways.
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Using a private DNS is a “silver bullet” that blocks up to 90% of ads across the system without the need for root rights and the complex setup of each application separately.