Owning a Xiaomi smartphone is often overshadowed by intrusive marketing that is built into the shell of MIUI and the new HyperOS. Users regularly face a situation when you lock your device or turn on the screen, unwanted content appears, whether it is news, app recommendations or bright banners. It is annoying, distracting and creates the feeling that you are not using your personal gadget, but the advertising showcase of the Corporation.
Fortunately, Android has the flexibility to control most of these processes. Removing ads on the lock screen is not just a matter of aesthetics, but also a way to improve interface speed and keep data confidential. In this article, we will take a look at all the available methods, from simple menu switches to advanced system services settings.
Before you start to manipulate the content, it is important to understand the nature of these notifications, most often they are the system application MSA (MIUI System Ads) or the function "Wallpaper Carousel", understanding which component generates content will help you choose the most effective way to deal with it without risking damage to the stability of the operating system.
Disabling recommendations and news in system applications
The first step towards a clean interface is to disable embedded recommendations in standard utilities, which are often the source of pop-ups and banners that appear at unexpected moments. MIUI allows you to flexibly customize the behavior of most pre-installed applications, but these settings are often hidden in the depths of the menu.
Start with the Security app, which is the control center of the system, go to the settings (cog icon) and find the "Get recommendations" item. Turn off this switch to stop the flow of news about viruses (often fake) and suggestions to clear memory.
Pay special attention to the Themes app. Even though it is used to design the interface, this is often where the settings for showing promotional materials on the lock screen are hidden. In the settings for the themes, find the "Advanced Settings" section and uncheck the "Show Ads" and "Receive recommendations" boxes, which will significantly reduce visual noise.
- 🛑 Open the Security app and turn off all recommendation notifications in the settings.
- 📂 In File Manager, go to settings and stop showing recommended content.
- 🎨 In the “Themes” app, remove the ticks from the items responsible for advertising and personalization.
- 📱 For the application “Downloads” is also relevant to disabling the display of recommended files.
⚠️ Warning: After updating the firmware, some settings may reset to factory values. Periodically check the specified sections to make sure that the adverts do not return.
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If you can’t find the item in the settings, search by settings by entering the keyword “advertising” or “recommendations” (if the interface is in English).
Managing MSA Service and Personalized Advertising
MSA (MIUI System Ads) is the main engine of the advertising machine in Xiaomi smartphones, it collects data about your preferences and generates personalized offers based on this, and turning off this service is a critical step, although the system will prevent this from happening by requiring confirmation of your actions several times.
To access service management, go to Settings → Passwords & Security → Access to Personal Data. In the list that opens, find msa and turn off the switch. The system will start a countdown (usually 10 seconds), then require you to confirm the cancellation of authorization. Click on “Cancel authorization.” If you fail the first time, repeat the procedure 3-5 times – this is a known interface bug that often requires persistence.
In parallel with disabling the MSA, it is recommended to limit the personalization of advertising at the account level.This will not remove the ads completely, but will make it less intrusive and tied to your interests. To do this, in the same menu “Access to Personal Data” or in the “Privacy” section, find the settings of the advertising ID and reset it or disable use.
| System component | Location on the menu | Action. | Risk of discharge |
|---|---|---|---|
| msa | Access to personal data | Disable access | High (repeats required) |
| Daemon | Access to personal data | Disable access | Medium. |
| Mi Video | Application settings | Take the ticks off. | Low. |
| GetApps | Store settings | Turn off the fluffs | Low. |
☑️ Checking the shutdown MSA
It's worth noting that a complete shutdown of system services can rarely affect widgets or automatic scripting. However, for most users, the rejection of MSA is completely invisible, except for the disappearance of advertising. If you notice strange behavior of the system, access to data can be returned back, although it is unlikely to be necessary.
Setting up and disabling the wallpaper carousel
The Glance feature is the most frequent source of ads on the lock screen, automatically changing the background image and adding news widgets and banners on top of it, and many users accidentally activate this feature when they initially set up their smartphone without fully understanding its purpose.
To completely disable, go to Settings → Lock screen. Find the wallpaper carousel (or "Glance for Mi") and switch the slider to the "Off" position. After that, only the static image that you chose will remain on the lock screen, and no third-party content will appear again.
If you want to keep the wallpaper change feature, but remove the ads, it's possible, but it requires finer customization. Inside the wallpaper carousel menu, find the "Switch frequency" section and select "Do not change." Also check the settings for "Recommended Content" inside the Carousel app itself and turn off all the information flows. However, it's easier and more reliable to simply deactivate the service completely.
- 🖼️ Go to the lock screen settings through the main menu of parameters.
- 🚫 Find the wallpaper carousel section and completely disable the function.
- 📉 If you cannot turn off, limit the frequency to “Never».
- 🔒 Make sure that the news feed widgets do not appear on the lock screen.
⚠️ Note: Some global firmware versions may call it "Glance" or "Carousel Wallpaper" and the function does not change its essence, but broadcasts content to a locked screen.
Why can't the wallpaper carousel just be removed?
Disabling notifications in the Mi Browser browser
Often users confuse system advertising with notifications that come from websites via a browser. The standard Mi Browser (or Chrome, if installed by default) may have permission to display push notifications from the resources visited. These notifications appear even on a locked screen, creating the illusion of system advertising.
To solve this problem, open your browser settings. In Mi Browser, go to the menu (three bars) → Settings → Notifications. Here you will see a list of sites that are allowed to send notifications. Go through the list and turn off all suspicious resources or use the Clear Data and Block Notification buttons for all sites at once.
Also, in the browser settings, it is recommended to disable the “Receive news and notifications” function in the general section, which will prevent the appearance of a news feed in the browser itself and reduce the likelihood of accidentally subscribing to spam resources when surfing the Internet.
An alternative solution is to install a third-party browser that is more strictly dice-related, such as Firefox or Brave.They have built-in tracker and ad blockers, which reduces the risk of getting into sites that impose a subscription to notifications.
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Ads on the lock screen are often not system-based, but push notifications from the site, checking browser permissions solves 50% of the problems.
Resetting the advertising ID and data cleanup
Even after all the settings, your phone may still have cached preferences in its memory. The advertising ID is a unique code that is assigned to your device to target ads. Its periodic reset helps to “reset” the profile that the algorithms have collected about you.
To reset, go to Settings → Passwords & Security → Privacy → Advertising. Here you will see the option “Reset Ad ID.” Click on it. It is also recommended to disable the option “Personalized Ads” if it is active. This action will break the link between your current behavior and previously collected statistics.
Additionally, you should clear the data of Google Play services that are also involved in the targeting process. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps → Google Play Services. Select Memory and click Clear Cache. Fear not, this will not delete your accounts or apps, only temporary files associated with the operation of the services.
- 🔄 Reset the advertising ID in the privacy section.
- 🧹 Clear the cache of Google Play services to remove old targeting data.
- 📉 Turn off personalization of ads in Google account settings.
- 🗑️ Periodically clean the cache of the system application "Security».
This is especially true if you recently bought your phone from hand or restored it from a backup where you could have saved your old ad preferences settings, and a clean start in this regard guarantees more private use of the device.
Using DNS to block advertising at the network level
The most effective method, which works not only in the system but also in the application, is to use private DNS filtering, which requires no root rights and allows you to cut off the channels of communication with advertising servers at the network connection level.
Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. The default is “Auto.” Select “DNS Host Name” (or “Manual”) and type in the address: dns.adguard.com. Save settings. Now all requests to known advertising domains will be blocked at the network level.
dns.adguard.comThis method is universal and suitable for all versions of Android since version 9. It not only removes advertising in the interface, but also speeds up the loading of pages in the browser, since the browser does not need to wait for a response from advertising trackers. If after turning on DNS some applications stopped working (rarely, but sometimes), you can add them to the exclusion or temporarily disable DNS.
⚠️ Attention: When using private DNS Make sure you have a stable internet connection. DNS will become unavailable, the Internet on the phone may stop working until the settings are changed back.
Use of the DNS-Filtering is a professional approach to solving a problem, and unlike manually disabling toggles, it blocks the fact that advertising content is downloaded, saving traffic and battery power.