Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often encounter intrusive banner ads in standard applications, a phenomenon that has become a hallmark of the shell of MIUI and its successor HyperOS, causing irritation among users accustomed to pure Android. Advertising can appear in folders, when unlocking the screen or in the built-in browser, which significantly reduces the comfort of using the device.
Fortunately, the company allows you to disable most of the advertising integrations by regular means, without requiring root rights or flashing on global versions. The deactivation process requires sequential passage of several settings menus, since there is no single “Switch off everything” button. In this article, we will discuss in detail each step necessary to clean the interface of your gadget from marketing noise.
It is worth noting that some advertising modules are deeply integrated into the system processes for monetizing budget smartphone lines. However, turning off advertising does not disrupt the basic functions of the phone, but only removes visual debris. Before starting the procedure, make sure that your device is connected to the Internet, as some settings require checking the status of your Mi Account.
Disabling System Advertising through MSA
At the heart of Xiaomi’s advertising ecosystem is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) system service, which is responsible for collecting user preferences and displaying banners in the interface, the first and most important step will be to disable the authorization of this service.
To do this, go to the settings menu and find the Passwords and Security section. In the list of options, select Access to Personal Data (or Authorization and Review), search the msa app in the list and switch the slider to an inactive state, the system will warn you of the consequences, but this is a standard lock procedure.
⚠️ Attention: When you try to shut down msa, the system may display a countdown timer several times (usually 10 seconds) and say "Stop." This is a psychological barrier.
After the successful MSA shutdown, the number of ads in the system will be drastically reduced, but to achieve full effect, it is recommended that other system services that can transmit analytics also be limited, which will increase not only visual comfort, but also the energy efficiency of the device.
☑️ Checking the ad-off
Set up standard Xiaomi applications
Even after the main service is disabled, individual embedded apps can continue to show promotional recommendations, such as Explorer, Music, Video and Cleanup, each with their own hidden settings that need to be changed manually.
Start with the Security app, which is often a source of pop-ups. Open it, click on the settings gear in the corner, and find Receive recommendations. Uncheck this option. Similar steps should be repeated for the Explorer app: go to settings, select About app, and turn off receiving recommendations.
The situation is similar in the Topic app. Go to the user profile (human icon), then to the settings (cogs) and find the Ads Show switch. It should be deactivated. Also, check the Downloads app, where in the settings (Settings → About app) you should remove the tick from Show recommended content.
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If after disabling the ad in the "Themes" application it still appears, try clearing the cache of this application through the "Applications" menu → "Application Management".
Keep in mind that system updates can reset some of these settings, checking these points periodically after a major MIUI or HyperOS update will help keep the interface clean. Below is a table summarizing the paths to settings across different applications.
| Annex | The path to adjustment | Parameter for deactivation |
|---|---|---|
| Security | Settings (cogs) | Receive recommendations |
| Conductor | Settings → About the annex | Recommendations |
| Topics | Profile → Settings | Showing ads |
| Downloads. | Settings → About the annex | Showing recommended |
Resetting advertising ID and analytics
To get a deeper purification of targeted advertising, you need to look at the advertising ID, which is a unique code that is assigned to your device to track interests and create advertising profiles, and its reset and restriction of use significantly reduces the relevance of the ads shown.
Go to Passwords and Security → Privacy → Advertising Services. Here you need to activate the Limit Tracking (or “Disable Ad Personalization”) switch. Immediately after that, click Reset Ad ID. This action generates a new random ID, breaking the link to previously accumulated data.
Also, you should turn off the transfer of data about the use of the device. In the same menu, passwords and security, find the use and diagnosis item and turn off the sending of data, which will prevent the transfer of technical statistics to the manufacturer's servers, which is also part of the data collection ecosystem.
Blocking ads in the browser and notifications
Advertising on Xiaomi often comes via the Mi Browser browser or in the form of push notifications from system services. Xiaomi's standard browser is known for its aggressive policy of showing news and banners on the homepage.
To protect yourself, open your browser, click on three dots (menu) and go to Settings → Privacy and Security. Here you should turn on Ad Blocker and clear browsing data. In the Home page, it is recommended to turn off all news feeds and recommended sites, leaving only the search bar.
Pay special attention to notifications. Go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Application Notifications. Go through the list of system applications (especially Mi Video, Mi Music, GetApps) and turn off notifications for those that are not critical, often through them come offers to install games or buy goods.
⚠️ Warning: Do not disable notifications from system processes with unknown names unless you are sure of their purpose.This may cause sync or security updates to fail.
An alternative solution is to install a third-party browser, such as Brave or DuckDuckGo, which have built-in tracking mechanisms. Using third-party software is often more effective than fighting built-in restrictions.
Disabling GetApps and the App Store
GetApps is one of the main sources of spam on Xiaomi devices, and not only does it offer game installations, it also sends out notifications about discounts and new items, even if you don’t use them.
To start, turn off app auto-update via Wi-Fi in the store’s settings to reduce its activity in the background. Then go to Settings → Apps → All Apps, find GetApps and select Notifications. Completely prevent this app from sending any notifications.
If you don't use the GetApps store at all (preferring Google Play), you can try to remove or disable it. In some regions and firmware versions, the Remove button may not be active, in which case you can use the command via ADB, but this requires a connection to a PC.
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.xiaomi.mipicksThis command will remove the app store for the current user, without affecting!