Redmi smartphones are known for their excellent value for money, but owners of Xiaomi Redmi 4X devices often face intrusive advertising. The built-in MIUI marketing recommendation system can be annoying, popping up in application folders, browsers and even standard utilities. It is not just visual noise, but a process that consumes CPU resources and traffic.
Fortunately, the company’s engineers have made it possible to deactivate most of its ad units without having to root or flash the device. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at every step you need to make your smartphone a clean and fast tool. Importantly, removing system ads completely requires you to disable MSA (MIUI System Ads) services.
The following steps will not take more 10-15 You can get a minute of your time, but the result will make a huge difference in the user experience, and we'll go from basic account settings to fine-tuning system applications?
Disabling advertising services in the Mi Account
The first and most important step is to avoid personalized ads at the level of your Mi Account, which prevents the company’s servers from collecting data about your preferences for targeted impressions, and without this step, other settings may be less effective, as server policy will remain the same.
You need to go to the settings menu and find the account section, and the path may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI, but the logic remains the same, and you need a stable Wi-Fi or mobile Internet connection to synchronize the changes.
Click on your profile icon at the top of the settings screen. Next, select Mi Account and scroll down to Authorization and Security, and that's where the switch that manages your marketing emails hides.
- 📱 Go to Settings. → Mi Account.
- 🔒 Choose Authorization and Security.
- 🚫 Find the Advertising Services (or “Get Recommendations”) and disable it.
- ✅ Confirm the action in the dialog window that appears by clicking Disable.
⚠️ Warning: once this option is disabled, the system can think for a few seconds before confirming.
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If the Advertising Services switch is missing, try logging in to your Mi Account again first or updating system services through the Security app.
Deactivation of the MSA System Service
MSA (MIUI System Ads) is the main system process for displaying banner ads in standard applications. On Redmi 4X, with its modest features, this service can be seen by periodic slowdowns of the interface, disabling this component is a key step in optimization.
To find the setting you want, you need to go to the advanced settings menu, which is often hidden from the eyes of the average user in MIUI, and you need to find password and security, and then go to Access to Data.
In the app list, find msa. By default, the slider opposite it is activated. Click on it to deactivate. The system will issue a warning that some features may stop working correctly, but for basic smartphone use this is not critical.
☑️ Checking the shutdown MSA
Now, interestingly, if you try to turn off the MSA, the system will ask you to wait 10 seconds before you confirm, and this is an artificial delay designed to dissuade the user from doing this, just wait until the timer ends and press the confirmation button again.
Set up standard Xiaomi applications
Even after the core services are disabled, individual apps can continue to show recommendations. In MIUI, each standard application has its own ad settings. On Redmi 4X, Explorer, Music and Themes are the most active in this regard.
Let's look at the cleaning process with System Explorer. Open the app, click on the menu (three bars) and select Settings. Find About or just "Recommendations" and uncheck the box. Similar steps should be repeated for other media applications.
| Annex | The path to adjustment | What to turn off |
|---|---|---|
| Conductor | Menu → Settings → About the application | Recommendations |
| Music. | Menu → Settings → Advanced settings | Receive recommendations |
| Topics | Profile → Settings | Personal recommendations |
| Downloads. | Menu → Settings | Show recommended |
Keep in mind that system updates can reset some of these parameters, and checking your application settings periodically will help keep the interface clean, especially with the Themes app, which is updated frequently.
Why does Xiaomi need advertising?
Removing ads in the browser and folders
The standard Mi Browser browser and desktop folders are two other sources of visual noise, and when you open folders, you often see a line called "Recommended Apps," which you can easily remove without deleting the folders themselves.
To turn off the ad in the folders, click on any folder on your desktop to open it. At the top of the screen, the folder name will appear, and maybe a setting icon or just a name. Click on the folder name again or the gear icon (if any) to open the display settings.
- 📂 Open any folder on your desktop.
- ⚙️ Click on the folder name or settings icon.
- 🚫 Find the Advertising Recommendations (Promoted Apps) switch).
- 🔌 Turn the slider to the "Off" position".
The browser is more complicated, and the best way to do this is to use third-party solutions like Chrome or Firefox and install them with default browsers. If you use a built-in browser, go to its settings and turn off push notifications from sites.
⚠️ Warning: When you clean your browser data or reset your phone, the folder settings may go back to factory settings.
Using DNS to Block Advertising
There is a more advanced method that doesn't require a deep digging into the settings of each application, and using a filtered DNS (Domain Name System) allows you to block ad requests at the network level, which is effective for Redmi 4X, as it reduces the load on the communication channel.
Modern versions of Android (starting with 9.0) have a built-in “Private DNS” feature. Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select “DNS Provider Host Name” mode and enter the address: dns.adguard.com.
dns.adguard.comThis method blocks most known ad servers, but it's worth remembering that some free apps may stop working properly if they rely on display ads to function, so you can temporarily shut down DNS.
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Using a private DNS (dns.adguard.com) is the fastest way to remove 90% of ads from the entire system without installing additional software.
Resetting the advertising identifier
The final touch in the fight for privacy is to reset an advertising ID, each smartphone has a unique GAID (Google Advertising ID) that advertisers use to track your interests, and the periodic reset of this code confuses targeting algorithms.
Go to Google Settings via Settings → Google → Advertising. Here you will see the Reset Ad ID button. Press it. It is also recommended to disable the Ad Personalization option if it is active.
This procedure is recommended to be done every few months, and it will not speed up the Redmi 4X directly, but will reduce the amount of relevant, intrusive advertising you see on the web and apps.