How to Get Rid of Advertising on Xiaomi: From System Banners to Push Notifications

Advertising in Xiaomi smartphones is one of the most annoying features of the MIUI branded shell. Even after buying the device, users encounter banners in settings, push notifications from Mi Browser, ad units in standard apps and pop-ups from Xiaomi services. The manufacturer has integrated advertising mechanisms so deeply that simply disabling the Personalized Ads option in settings often doesn't solve the problem.

In this article, we will analyze all possible sources of advertising on Xiaomi, Redmi, Poco and Black Shark devices, and provide 5 proven ways to completely remove them – from standard settings to radical methods like flashing. We will pay special attention to hidden advertising services, which continue to work even after all visible options are turned off. MIUI 12-14 or more new versions, including global and Chinese builds.

1. Where does Xiaomi advertising come from: all sources

Before you take down ads, you need to understand what the mechanisms are, and MIUI is responsible for that.

• 📱 System services – msa (Miui System Ads), analytics and mipush, which collect data and show banners in settings, notification menus and on the lock screen.
• 🌐 Standard apps – Mi Browser, Mi Video, Music, File Manager and even Calendar – contain built-in ad modules.
• 📲 Push notifications – come from Xiaomi services (e.g. Mi Community, Mi Store) and partners (e.g. Booking.com, AliExpress).
• 🔄 Updates and recommendations – pop-ups with a suggestion to update the software, install new applications or activate functions (Mi Pay, Mi Cloud).
• 🎯 Personalized offers – advertising based on your activity (search queries, browsing history, geolocation).

It is important to understand that even after disabling all visible options in the settings, some ads may remain in the background, for example, msa continues to work in the background, and some applications (for example, Mi Browser) load ad units through their own channels, so a comprehensive approach will be required to completely remove them.

⚠️ Note: On devices with Chinese firmware (for example, Xiaomi 13 Ultra) CN) There are many more ads than the global versions. Some methods (e.g., disabling through the Internet) ADB) They may not work without first unlocking the loader.

2. Method 1: Disabling Advertising through MIUI Settings

So, to start with, the simplest method is to manually disable ad options in your settings, which is not going to remove ads completely, but it's going to cut ads by 60 to 70 percent, and it's going to be good for users who don't want to go into technical detail.

Instructions for MIUI 12-14 (may vary slightly depending on the model):

1. Go to Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Account.
2. Choose Personalization and Advertising (or User Experience Program in Global Versions).
3. Turn off all switches: 🔘 Personalized recommendations 🔘 Interest-based advertising 🔘 Participation in the improvement programme MIUI

Settings → Additional → Special features → Advertising Notices

Mi Browser

Mi Video

• 📰 Recommended content
• 🔔 Push notifications
• 🌍 Personalized advertising

After this, ads in settings and some apps will disappear, but push notifications from Xiaomi services and banners in Mi Browser may remain, and this method does not block advertising in games and third-party applications.

Method 2: Blocking Advertising through ADB (without root)

A more effective method is to disable advertising services via Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which does not require root rights, but requires connecting a smartphone to a computer.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows, macOS or Linux.
• 🔌 Cable USB Type-C (preferably original).
• 🛠️ Utility. ADB (You can download from the official website of Android Developers).
• 📱 Included debugging by USB smartphone.

Step-by-step:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone. Press 7 times on MIUI Version until the notification “You are a developer” appears.

USB-debugging

• Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
• Activate the debugging switch over USB.
• Connect your smartphone to your computer and confirm your trust in the device.
• Open the command prompt (or Terminal on macOS/Linux) in the ADB folder.
• Follow the commands in turn (after each press Enter): adb shell pm hide com.miui.systemAdSolution adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.midrop adb shell pm hide com.miui.analytics adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.market adb shell hide pm hide com.miui.msa.global adb shell settings put global shell settings hidden_api_policy 1
• Reboot your smartphone.

These commands disable the main ad services and hide them from the system, and if after the reboot some features (like Mi Drop) stopped working, that’s OK, because they were part of the ad infrastructure.

Download Platform Tools from the official website

Unpack the archive into a separate folder

Enable the developer mode on Xiaomi

Activate debugging over USB

Connect your phone to your PC with the original cable-->

⚠️ Note: Some models (e.g. Xiaomi) 12T The pm hide command may not work due to limitations. MIUI 14+. In this case, use an alternative method with pm uninstall. -k --user 0 (Example: Adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.analytics).

Method 3: Removing Advertising Using Root Rights

If you're willing to take drastic measures, getting root rights will remove ads at the system level, which is the most effective method, but it has risks:

• 🚫 Loss of warranty (if the device is under warranty).
• 🔓 Risk of disrupting the system when incorrect actions.
• 🔄 Need to be re-unblocked after updates.

To obtain root rights to Xiaomi, you will need:

1. Unlock the bootloader through the official Mi Unlock Tool (requires Xiaomi account binding and waits 7-30 days).
2. Install custom Recovery (e.g., TWRP).
3. Switch to Magisk for root rights management.

After obtaining root rights, follow the following steps:

1. Install an application to remove system components, for example: 📱 SD Maid (SystemCleaner section) 📱 Root App Deleter 📱 Titanium Backup (for freezing applications)

com.miui.systemAdSolution


com.xiaomi.mipicks




com.miui.analytics




com.miui.msa.global




com.xiaomi.market




com.miui.hybrid




com.miui.hybrid.accessory




com.xiaomi.midrop

Settings → Applications

DNS-level ad blocker

AdGuard

Blokada

This method removes ads by 95 to 99 percent, including hidden banners and push notifications, but after the MIUI update, some services may be restored and removed again.

5. Method 4: Installation of custom firmware (radical method)

If you want to get rid of MIUI and all its advertising mechanisms, the best option is to install custom firmware based on Android (for example, LineageOS, Pixel Experience or ArrowOS).

• 🔓 Unlocked loader.
• 📥 Compatible firmware for your model.
• 🔧 Ability to work with TWRP fastboot.

Advantages of custom firmware:

• ✅ Complete absence of advertising and system restrictions MIUI.
• ✅ Cleaner and faster Android without unnecessary services.
• ✅ Regular security updates (unlike Xiaomi, which often delay patches).

Disadvantages:

• ❌ Loss of some functions MIUI (Always-on Display, Game Turbo).
• ❌ Risk of “bricking” the device with incorrect firmware.
• ❌ No official support (guarantee removed).

List of popular firmware for Xiaomi:

You can find instructions for installing custom firmware on the XDA Developers or 4PDA forums. The process may be different for each model, so it’s important to follow a specific guide for your device.

💡

Custom firmware is the only way to get rid of advertising forever, but it requires technical skills and removes the warranty.

Method 5: Blocking Advertising at the DNS and Network Levels

If you do not want to interfere with system files, but want to block advertising at the level of Internet traffic, use the following: DNS-filter VPN It's ad-blocking. It works for you:

• 🌍 Advertising banners in the browser and applications.
• 📱 Push notifications from advertising networks.
• 🎮 Advertising in games (partially).

The best tools for blocking:

• 🛡️ AdGuard – an application with support DNS-System-level filtering and locking. You can set custom rules to block Xiaomi domains (e.g. api.ad.xiaomi.com, tracker.ai.xiaomi.com, tracker.ai.xiaomi.com).
• 🔒 Blokada is an open source ad blocking and tracker without root. VPN, but not encrypting traffic.
• 🌐 NextDNS or Control D – Cloud DNS-services with customizable filters. You can add blocklists for advertising Xiaomi.
• 🦊 Brave Browser – a browser with built-in ad and tracker blocking (alternative to Mi Browser).

Example of AdGuard configuration:

1. Download AdGuard from the official website (not from Google Play, as there is a stripped-down version).
2. Activate the module. DNS-filtering.
3. Add custom rules to block Xiaomi domains: ||api.ad.xiaomi.com^ ||tracker.ai.xiaomi.com^ ||sax.sina.com.cn^ ||ad.mi.com^ ||data.mistat.xiaomi.com^
4. Turn on the filter for mobile applications in the settings.

This method does not remove system advertising (banners in settings), but effectively blocks network requests related to displays of ads in apps and browsers.

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If some apps stop working after setting up AdGuard (for example, images are not loaded in Mi Community), add their domains to the whitelist in the filtering settings.

7. Additional tips: how to avoid ad returns

Even after successfully removing the advert, it may return after:

• 🔄 Updates MIUI (System services are being restored).
• 🔧 Resetting settings (all changes are reset).
• 📥 Installation of new applications (some of them contain advertising) SDK).

To prevent the return of advertising:

• 🔕 Turn off automatic updates MIUI: Go to Settings. → The phone. → Update System. Click on three dots in the upper right corner and select Update Settings. Turn off Auto Boot over Mobile and Auto Install.
• 📵 Freeze system app updates: Use App Freezer (requires root) or disable updates for Mi Browser, Mi Video and other standard apps on Google Play.
• 🔍 Check Active Services Regularly: ADB Execute the adb shell dumpsys package | grep "com.miui" to find working advertising modules.
• 🛡️ Use alternative apps: Replace Mi Browser on Chrome or Firefox.Install VLC Instead of Mi Video, use Google Files instead of File Manager.

If the ad does return, repeat the steps from Method 2 (ADB) or Method 3 (root).

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing ads on Xiaomi