Owners of budget and mid-budget smartphones often face intrusive ads that are built into the shell of MIUI. The Redmi 9T, despite its excellent autonomy and performance, was no exception to the rule.
Fortunately, Xiaomi engineers have now made it possible to manually disable most of the ad modules, so you don't need to get super-user rights or flash the device on global versions, but you just need to go through a few settings menu items consistently to make your smartphone comfortable.
In this article, we will discuss in detail all known ways to block advertising content on Redmi 9T. We will touch on disabling the MSA system service, setting up personalized recommendations and cleaning standard applications from intrusive banners.
Disabling the MSA system advertising service
The main source of intrusive ads in the MIUI shell is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) system application, which is responsible for loading and displaying banner ads in various corners of the interface, and the first step to clean the system will be to deactivate it.
First, you need to find the appropriate item in the authorization and security menu. Please note that the off button may be inactive at the first press - this is special protection against random actions. You will need to wait 10 seconds, after which the button will be available for re-pressing.
The sequence of actions is as follows: open Settings, then go to Passwords and Security. In the list, find Access to Personal Data (or Authorization and Security in older versions). In the list of applications that opens, find msa and switch to an inactive state.
⚠️ Note: If the system gives an error "failed to disable" on the first attempt, repeat the action through 1-2 minutes, often required. 2-3 attempts to successfully shut down the service.
Once you successfully disable msa, the number of ads in the system will be significantly reduced, but this service is responsible for only a part of the ads, so you need to configure other components of the system to fully achieve the result.
Set up personalized recommendations
The second important step is to disable personalization features. Xiaomi collects data about your preferences to show more relevant ads in apps like Music, Video, and Browser, which disables this feature makes ads less accurate and often removes them from the interface entirely.
To find this setting, go back to the Passwords and Security menu and select Privacy, and at the bottom of the list is Advertising Services, and you click on it and you'll see the Personalized Advertising switch, and you'll have to turn it off.
Also on the same menu, it is recommended to disable the “Get recommendations” option, which will prevent the system from offering you new applications or content based on usage history, not only removing advertising, but also slightly reducing the load on the processor, as background statistical collection processes will be stopped.
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Check this section periodically after major MIUI updates, as privacy settings may be reset to factory values.
Cleaning the “Security” and “Lowloader” application
The Security app is the system control center most commonly used for memory cleaning and antivirus checks, and unfortunately, this is where pop-ups recommend installing games or cleaning up “junk” that isn’t really there are most often.
To turn off the ads, open the Security app. Click on the gear icon in the top right corner of the screen to enter the settings. Find the Receive recommendations section and deactivate it. This will remove banners from the app's home page.
You should pay special attention to Download if you use a standard download manager, go to its settings through three dots in the corner and also find the Show Recommended Content switch, which will prevent news feeds and ads from appearing in the download interface.
☑️ Verification of system applications
We remove advertising in folders and on the desktop
One of the most annoying things about MIUI is that there are ad cards inside the folders on your desktop. When you create an app folder, the system can offer "Recommended Apps" that are visually similar to your icons but are ads.
To get rid of this, create any folder on your desktop or open an existing one. Click on the folder name to enter the name editing mode. In the same interface, a Recommended Applications switch will appear. Turn it to the "Off" position.
Also, check the settings of the desktop itself. Press your finger on the free screen to call the edit menu, and select Settings. Here you can turn off the Wallpaper Carousel (if you don't need one), which often contains advertising slides, and configure the widget display.
| System component | The path to adjustment | What's off? |
|---|---|---|
| Systemic advertising | Passwords and security → Access to personal data | msa |
| Personalization | Passwords and security → Privacy | Personalized advertising |
| Security Annex | Security → Cog (settings) | Receive recommendations |
| Desktop | Application folder → The name of the folder | Recommended annexes |
Disabling Advertising in Standard Applications
Xiaomi’s standard apps, such as Music, Video and Explorer, also contain built-in ad modules.They can display banners when launched or in the bottom menu. Disabling these features will greatly improve the user experience.
In the Mi Music app, click on the menu icon (three bars) in the top left corner, select Settings, then Advanced Settings. Here you need to find and turn off "Show Ads" and "Receive Recommendations." Similar actions must be performed in the Video (Mi Video) app.
The File Manager app is similar: Open the menu, go to Settings → About (or immediately to the settings, depending on the version), find the Recommendations section and disable recommendation receipt, which will remove the news feed that often opens when the app starts.
⚠️ Note: Application interface may vary slightly depending on the version MIUI. If you do not find the item right away, carefully study all subsections of the settings menu of a particular application.
What to do if the advertising settings return?
Using DNS to Block Advertising
There's a more advanced way to combat ads that doesn't require a deep digging into each application's settings, which is to use a private DNS with a filter function, which blocks ad requests at the network level without letting them go to the device.
To set up, go to Settings → Connection and Sharing (or “Wi-Fi”). Find Private DNS (Private DNS). Select the option “DNS Provider Host Name” and enter the address: dns.adguard.com. Save settings.
This method is effective not only in system applications, but also in some games and browsers. DNS-filtering may slightly increase the response time of the network or cause the inoperability of some sites that are blocked by the provider.
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AdGuard’s DNS is a silver bullet that removes up to 90% of ads across the system at once, but requires a stable internet connection.