Owners of budget and mid-budget smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO often face intrusive ads that appear in system applications. This is a fee for the affordable cost of the device, as the company compensates for the low margins by showing advertising content. However, it is absolutely not necessary to tolerate constant pop-ups, banners in the “conductor” or recommendations in the “cleaner”.
Fortunately, MIUI and its successor HyperOS allow for flexible privacy and personalization settings. By disabling a few hidden switches and restricting access to data for system services, you can make smartphone use comfortable and clear of unnecessary visual noise. In this article, we will discuss all the current methods of combating advertising that work in 2026-2026.
Disabling the MSA system advertising service
The main source of intrusive banners in the shell interface is the MIUI System Ads (msa) process, which analyzes your actions and selects advertising offers, and completely disabling this component is the first and most important step to a clean interface.
To start, you need to go to the smartphone settings menu. Find the Password and Security section and select Access to Personal Data. From the app list that opens, find msa and put the slider inactive. The system will warn you of the consequences, but the basic functions of the phone do not require this service.
Press Stop for 10 seconds and wait until the countdown is complete. If you fail to turn it off the first time, repeat the procedure 2-3 times, since Xiaomi servers can temporarily block the request to disconnect. After successful deactivation, the slider will turn gray and the status will indicate “Not allowed”.
⚠️ Attention: After disconnection MSA In some regions, personalized widgets “Global Search” or recommendations in the browser may stop working, but the basic functions of the smartphone will remain fully functional.
What to do if the switch button is inactive?
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Disabling MSA eliminates up to 80% of all system advertising, including banners in standard utilities.
Set up standard Xiaomi applications
Even after the main ad module is disabled, individual system applications can continue to show recommendations, each with its own personalization settings that must be manually disabled to achieve maximum effect.
Start with the Security app, which often shows news and offers. Open the app, click on the settings gear in the top right corner. Find the Receive recommendations section and turn off this option. It is also recommended to turn off the Add shortcut to the desktop to avoid unnecessary icons.
Then go to the Explorer app. Click on the menu (three bars) and select Settings. Here you need to find the "Recommendations" item and deactivate it. In the Music and Video app, the same settings are in the profile menu or general settings of the application, where you need to look for the phrases "Show ads" or "Recommendations".
- 📱 Topics: Go to profile → Settings → Hide popular themes and turn off personalization.
- 🌐 Browser: Menu → Settings → Confidentiality and security → Disable notifications and personalization.
- 📂 Downloads: Three dots → Settings → Show recommended files (turn off).
☑️ Verification of system applications
Managing personalization and advertising identifier
Xiaomi smartphones, like pure Android devices, use an advertising ID to target ads, resetting or restricting the use of this ID makes advertising less relevant and in some cases completely stops its display in system services.
Go to Settings → Password and Security → Privacy. Find the Advertising Services section. You need to activate the Advertising ID Restrict Use Switch. Then click Reset Advertising ID. This procedure generates a new random number, resetting the accumulated profile of your interests.
Also on the same menu, you should check your user experience settings, and often there are hidden items that allow you to send app usage statistics to a developer, and turning them off not only increases privacy, but also reduces the frequency of pop-ups asking you to rate an app or service.
| Parameter | Where to find out. | Action. | The effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advertising ID | Confidentiality | Drop it. | Resetting the profile of interests |
| Personalization | Password and security | Turn it off. | Targeting off |
| User experience | The phone. | Turn it off. | Termination of telemetry |
| Autosynchronization | Mi Account | Set up | Control of data |
Disabling push notifications and news
One of the most annoying forms of advertising is push notifications, which appear even when the screen is locked, which can advertise games, products from online stores or partner news, and can be managed through the notification center and customization of specific applications.
Hold your finger on an unnecessary notification and select Notification Settings, where you can completely disable the app from sending notifications, or select No Sound and No Icon modes, and pay special attention to apps with names like MIUI Daemon, Mi Video, or GetApps.
To turn off your desktop news feed (Google Discover or Yandex.News), swipe right on the home screen. Click on the settings gear or three dots in the corner of the tape and select Ribbon Settings. Turn off the Cards or Recommendations switch. This will remove the information noise when you unlock your phone.
It is also important to check the settings of the GetApps app (similar to Xiaomi’s Google Play). Go to profile → Settings → Notifications and disable all items related to promotions and recommendations. This app is often a source of pop-ups with suggestions to install other programs.
⚠️ Warning: Disabling notifications from system applications (e.g., “Security” or “Downloads”) may cause you to miss important virus alerts or complete file downloads.
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Use Do Not Disturb at night to completely eliminate any notifications and banners while you sleep.
Using DNS to Block Advertising
The most effective method to remove ads not only in the system, but also in the browser and some applications is to use a private DNS filtered, which does not require the installation of third-party programs and works at the network connection level.
Go to Settings. → Connection and Sharing (or Additional Settings) Find Private DNS-Select the option Host Name of the provider DNS And you type in the address of the server that's blocking the ads. One of the most popular and reliable is dns.adguard.com.
After saving the settings, the phone can lose the connection to the Internet for a second, and then restore it. Now all requests to known advertising servers will be blocked at the DNS level. This will significantly speed up the loading of pages in the browser and clear the interface of banners.
dns.adguard.comIf you use third-party applications to speed up the internet or VPN, make sure they don’t conflict with private DNS settings. In some cases, network settings (Settings → Connection & Sharing → Wi-Fi, mobile networks, and Bluetooth resets) may be required if there are connection issues.
Does it work in games?
Additional methods and resetting settings
In rare cases, when standard methods do not help, a deeper cleaning of the system may be necessary, this is true for devices that have been installed with Chinese firmware with global flashing, or if an advertising virus has penetrated the system through third-party APK-file.
Check the list of installed apps for suspicious programs without an icon or with a name like System Service, Update, Flash Player, which are often the source of pop-up ads on the desktop, and removing such applications usually solves the problem.
If the ad comes on suddenly after you installed an app, try to remember what you installed in the last few days. Deleting recently installed programs can help identify the source of the problem. It's also worth checking the application permissions: no flashlight or calculator app should be eligible for "Above Other Windows."
- 🔍 Permissions verification: Settings → Annexes → Permits → Over the other windows.
- 🗑️ Cache Deletion: Cleaning the cache in the Security app can remove temporary advertising files.
- 🔄 Reset: In extreme cases, a full reset to factory settings with pre-saving data will help.
⚠️ Warning: Before performing a full reset (Wipe Data), be sure to back up all important data, as the phone’s internal memory will be completely cleared.