Users of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often encounter intrusive content that the system offers “for convenience”: this can be pop-ups with news, offers to download apps or “hot” topics on the desktop. While this seems useful to some, experienced gadget owners are most often hampered by unnecessary visual noise.
The MIUI shell and the new HyperOS have many built-in services that generate this content. Fortunately, engineers have left the option to completely deactivate these features without obtaining root rights. This does not require complex code manipulation, but requires care, since the switches are scattered across different menus.
In this guide, we'll take every source of recommendation, and we'll go from system ad settings to hidden menu items to make your interface clean and minimalist, and you can forget about randomly clicking banner ads forever.
Disabling MSA System Advertising
The main source of intrusive content is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) system application, which is responsible for collecting data about your preferences and showing personalized advertising in standard applications, and turning it off is the first and most important step in cleaning the system.
To find the right switch, you need to go to the authorization menu. Open Settings, then select Passwords and Security. In the list that opens, find Access to Personal Data (or Authorization and Security in older versions), and it takes a little patience, because the list of applications is alphabetical and quite long.
Find the msa service in the list and put the slider inactive. The system will warn you that some functions may stop working, and start a countdown of 10 seconds. After the time has expired, click Stop. If the first time failed (an error occurred), try repeating the procedure 2-3 times in a row.
⚠️ Attention: After disconnection MSA Event Horizon or My Day widgets may stop updating or show a blank screen because they are tied to this service.
In parallel, you should disable related services that also collect statistics. In the same menu, "Access to personal data", find and turn off the following services:
- 📊 Analytics – collects data on device usage.
- 📢 Mi Video (if you don’t use it) – Responsible for recommendations in the video gallery.
- 🔍 Search – a global search that often pops up advertising links.
These actions will significantly reduce the number of background processes, but in order to have a full effect, you also need to prevent the system from using your ads for personalization.
💡
After the MSA is turned off, it is recommended to restart the smartphone so that the changes take effect in all system processes.
Setting up the lock screen and wallpaper
The lock screen is the first thing you see when you turn on your smartphone. In recent versions of MIUI, there are often news, weather and advertising slides from the Wallpaper Carousel service, which you can remove through the lock screen settings.
Go to Settings → Lock screen. Here you are interested in the wallpaper carousel (or "Glance" in global versions). Inside this menu, you need to turn off the wallpaper carousel switch. This action will return a static picture or standard wallpaper to the lock screen.
Also in this section, check your notification settings. Often this is where you hide “useful apps” or newsletter recommendations. Make sure that the Notifications and Status bar → Lock screen doesn’t tick the content from third-party apps.
| Function | Where to find out. | What's off? |
|---|---|---|
| Wallpaper carousel | Settings → Lock screen | Slideshow and news on a locked screen |
| Recommendations of the annexes | Settings → Passwords and security → Access to data | Tips for installing software (MSA service) |
| Personalization | Settings → Passwords and Security → Privacy | Data collection for targeted advertising |
If you want to leave beautiful wallpaper, but without advertising, just select a static image in the gallery and set it as wallpaper for the lock screen manually.
Cleaning the desktop and folders
One of the most annoying things about the shell is that you have recommended apps in folders, and you create a Tools folder, and then (suddenly) a shortcut to install a game or a GetApps service, and you can fix that.
Open any folder on your desktop that has ads. Click on the folder name (or the three dots/settings icon inside the folder, depending on the version of MIUI). In the menu that opens, find the Recommended Apps or Ads switch and turn it off. Shortcuts disappear instantly.
In addition to folders, recommendations can appear as widgets. Often, if you press on the empty space of the screen for a long time, the system suggests adding an event horizon or a ribbon widget. Be careful when adding widgets: avoid those that are marked with a zipper icon or have a browser logo.
⚠️ Note: In some regions (India, Indonesia) there may be hidden ads in folders that are not removed in the standard way.
Also worth checking is the launcher settings. Go to Settings → Desktop. It's helpful to turn off the Show Cards option (swipe to the right of the home screen), which is usually packed with news and ads that only get in the way.
Third-party launchers such as Nova Launcher or Microsoft Launcher can be used to completely clean the desktop, completely replacing the standard interface and ensuring that Xiaomi does not have built-in advertising.
☑️ Checking the cleanliness of the desktop
Disabling recommendations in standard annexes
Advertising integrations are deeply embedded in Xiaomi’s standard utilities: “Conductor,” “Music,” “Security,” and “Downloads” all can show promotional material. Each app takes a minute to set up, but produces great results.
Start with the Safety app. Open it, click on the gear (settings) in the top right corner. Find Receive recommendations and turn it off. Also, remove the checkmark from the Improvement Program.
The Downloads app is similar. Click on three dots in the corner → Settings → Show recommended content. Turn off this switch and the news feed in the downloads disappears.
The Music and Video app also has recommendations. In the settings of these players (via profile menu or gear), look for the "Online Services" or "Recommendations" sections, disabling these features will leave you with only local files, which is the preferred option for many users.
If you use a standard Mi Browser, go to its settings (three bars → Settings → Privacy and Security). Turn off Personalized Recommendations and Notifications from sites.
Hidden browser settings
Managing Notifications and Notifications from Applications
Often, "recommendations" are meant to refer to spam notifications from the apps themselves, which are allowed by the default system. MIUI has a powerful but confusing notification manager.
Go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Notification management. This is a complete list of all installed applications. Go through the list and find system services such as Security, MIUI Daemon or GetApps.
Within the settings of each suspicious app, turn off notification categories related to Promotions, News or Recommendations. Leave only critical ones, such as End Scanning for antivirus.
- 🔔 Important notifications – leave only for messengers and calls.
- 🚫 Promotional ID — Reset the advertising ID in your privacy settings to reset the profile the system has built about you.
- 📉 Background activity – limit background work for applications you rarely use.
There's also a Smart Notifications feature that groups messages, and sometimes it's a group that includes ad mailings, and check the grouping settings in the Notifications and Status bar.
💡
Complete cleaning of advertising requires a comprehensive approach: from system services to the settings of each individual application.
Additional measures: DNS and advertising restrictions
If standard methods are not enough, you can use more advanced but safe ways to block, and one of the most effective is using a private DNS.
Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing (or “Wi-Fi”) → Private DNS. Select “DNS Provider Host Name” and enter the address: dns.adguard.com. Save settings.
This method blocks network-level advertising for all apps and browsers, and it often blocks calls to ad modules in Xiaomi system applications, making the interface cleaner.
dns.adguard.comAnother useful step is to turn off automatic updates in the GetApps store. Go to the store, go to profile → settings. Turn off Auto App Update and Notifications. This will prevent new features from suddenly appearing that can bring back ads.
Remember that MIUI updates may return some ad settings to their original state. Check the key items described in this article periodically, especially after major Android or shell updates.