How to permanently remove advertising from the shell Xiaomi: from simple settings to radical methods

Why is there so much advertising in MIUI and can it be removed?

Xiaomi’s MIUI shell has long been known for its aggressive approach to monetization through advertising. Even in the new Redmi Note 12, Poco X5 or Mi 13 flagships, users are faced with banners in the settings menu, push notifications from Mi Browser, ads in Security and even in the Weather, and the problem is not limited to budget devices, advertising has penetrated even premium series.

The main reason for this behavior is the business model of Xiaomi, where the company’s main income is not from the sale of smartphones (their margins are minimal), but from services and advertising. According to Xiaomi reports for 2023, Internet services revenue grew by 12% to more than $3 billion – and the lion’s share of this amount is generated by advertising in MIUI.

The good news is that you can remove ads from MIUI completely, both through legal methods through settings and radical ones (install custom firmware or modified versions of MIUI). Bad news: some ways require unlocking the bootloader, which will void the warranty. In this article, we will analyze all the current methods, from the simplest to the most effective.

Method 1: Disabling personalized advertising in MIUI settings

The safest and fastest way to reduce the amount of advertising is to disable personalization in your Mi Account settings, which will not remove the ads completely, but will reduce the amount of advertising you have. 60-70%. The method works on all devices with MIUI 12/13/14 (including Redmi 10, Poco F4, Mi 11 Lite and others.).

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Mi Account (if not authorized, log in).
2. Go to Mi Account → Account settings → Personalization recommendations.
3. Turn off the “Personalized Recommendations” slider.
4. Go back and select Authorization Management → Advertising, then turn off Personalized Advertising.
5. Reset the device.

The effect will be noticeable in 12-24 hours: banners in Security will disappear, the number of push notifications from Mi Browser and Mi Video will decrease, but advertising in system applications (for example, in Themes or Mi Pay) will remain.

Personalized recommendations in Mi Account|Personalized advertising in authorizations|Notifications from Mi Browser|Auto-Update Mi App Store Apps-->

Method 2: Manually disabling advertising in each system application

MIUI embeds advertising modules in almost all standard applications, from the Weather to the Camera, and to remove banners, you need to manually disable their impressions in each of them.

Important: In some regional versions of MIUI (for example, for India or China), menu items may be called differently or missing. If you do not have the right section, try updating the application through the Mi App Store or installing its APK with APKMirror (the global region version).

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If Mi Browser ads return after the update, install an alternative browser (like Brave or Firefox) and make it the default browser in Settings → Applications → Default Apps.

Method 3: Use ADB-commands for deep disabling advertising

If manual settings didn’t work, you can go further and disable system-level advertising services with ADB (Android Debug Bridge), a technique that requires a smartphone to be connected to a PC, but doesn’t violate warranty or require a bootloader to be unlocked. Works on all devices with MIUI 12+ (including Redmi K50, Poco F3, Mi 10T).

Instructions:

1. Download Platform Tools from the Android site and unpack it into a folder on your PC.
2. On your smartphone, turn on Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times to activate Developer Mode), then go back to Settings → Additional → For Developers and turn on “Debugging by USB”.
3. Connect your phone to your PC, open the command prompt (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) in the folder with the platform-tools and do:

adb devices

(Your device should appear. If not, install Xiaomi USB Drivers.)

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.systemAdSolution

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.xiaomi.midrop

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.browser

These commands disable the main MIUI advertising modules. Once you do, restart the device.

• 🚫 Banners disappear in Settings and Security.
• 📱 Push notifications from Mi Browser and Mi Video are stopped.
• ⚠️ Possible bugs with Mi Drop (file transfer function).

⚠️ Note: Disabling system applications through ADB This can cause some functions to work in an unstable way (e.g. Mi Drop or Quick Share).If you have problems after executing commands, return everything back with the adb shell pm enable-user command. --user 0 [packet].

Method 4: Install custom firmware (for advanced users)

If you’re willing to sacrifice the warranty and want to get rid of ads forever, installing custom firmware (like LineageOS, Pixel Experience, or a modified MIUI without ads) is the best solution, a method that requires unlocking the bootloader, which Xiaomi officially supports, but resets the device to factory settings.

Step-by-step:

1. Unlock the bootloader: Go to the official unlock site and log in. Download the Mi Unlock Tool and connect your phone in Fastboot mode (press Power + Vol Down when the device is off). Follow the program instructions (wait time unlock up to 720 hours for new accounts).
2. Install custom recovery (TWRP): Download the current version TWRP For your model from the official website, run it through fastboot flash recovery. twrp.img.
3. Sweep custom firmware: Download firmware (for example, xiaomi.eu - modified). MIUI without advertising) from the forum xiaomi.eu.Reboot in TWRP, Backup and sew it. ZIP-firmware.

Pros of the method:

• 🎉 Total lack of advertising (including system applications).
• 🔧 Ability to fine-tune the interface.
• 📱 Regular updates from the community.

Cons:

• ⚠️ Loss of warranty (officially).
• 🔄 Risk of "bricking" in case of firmware errors.
• 📵 Possible problems with work NFC, cameras or sensors (depending on firmware).

Disconnection in settings MIUI|ADB-team|Custom firmware (TWRP)|I will not do anything, I will not be disturbed by advertising.-->

⚠️ Note: Firmware from xiaomi.eu does not contain advertising, but may conflict with some banking applications (due to lack of Google certification).If you use Sberbank Online or Tinkoff, check the work of these applications after firmware.

Method 5: Alternative launchers and ad blockers

If the unblocking of the bootloader seems too risky, ADB-The teams didn’t help – you can go a workaround: install an alternative launcher (for example, Nova Launcher or Lawnchair) and an ad blocker at the level of the system. DNS or VPN.

Option 1: Advertising-free launchers

• 📱 Nova Launcher – allows you to hide system applications with ads (for example, Topics or Mi Video).
• 🎨 Lawnchair – launcher with gesture support and no built-in advertising.
• 🔍 Rootless Launcher – imitates Pixel Launcher and hides unnecessary icons.

Option 2: Ad-blockers

• 🛡️ AdGuard – Blocks Advertising at Level DNS (It's rootless. You can manually set it up. DNS-server 94.140.14.14 (AdGuard) DNS).
• 🌐 Blokada – Blocks Advertising Domains through VPN (no root).
• 🔒 NextDNS – allows you to create a custom filter for blocking advertising MIUI.

Example of AdGuard DNS configuration:

1. Open Settings → Connections → Private DNS.
2. Select “DNS Provider Host Name” and type in dns.adguard.com.
3. Reset the device.

This method will not remove ads from system applications completely, but will significantly reduce their amount in the browser, games and some MIUI services.

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DNS-level ad blockers (such as AdGuard) do not require root rights, but may conflict with some banking applications due to the use of VPNs.

What if the adverts returned after the MIUI update?

Xiaomi regularly releases updates that can reset ad settings or add new ad modules. If banners reappear after the update, follow the following steps:

1. Check your Mi Account settings: Sometimes updates reset the Personalized Guidelines box. Repeat the steps from Method 1.
2. Update. ADB-Teams: New versions MIUI You can add new promotional packages. Check the current list of commands on the forums (for example, 4PDA or Xiaomi.eu).
3. Reverse to the previous version: If the update brought too much advertising, you can roll back through TWRP (backup required).
4. Install a patch: Forums often post Magisk-modules to block ads in new versions of MIUI.

Example: After upgrading to MIUI 14.0.5, many Redmi Note 11 users are faced with the return of banners in Settings.

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.systemAdSolution.wrapper

If you are not sure about your abilities, wait for the patch to come out from the community or use an ad blocker (for example, AdGuard).

FAQ: Frequent questions about MIUI advertising