How to permanently remove ads on Xiaomi MIUI 12

Xiaomi smartphone owners often face intrusive notifications, pop-ups and banners that appear in standard apps and on the desktop. MIUI 12, despite its visual enhancements and security features, is set up by default to actively promote ad content.This can annoy users accustomed to a clean Android interface and distract from everyday tasks.

Fortunately, the company's engineers have made it possible to disable most of the ad modules, although they have hidden these settings deep enough. The deactivation process does not require obtaining superuser rights (Root) or flashing the device, you only need to be careful and follow the steps described in this manual consistently.

In this article, we will discuss all known ways to eliminate marketing noise: we will touch on disabling the MSA system service, setting up standard applications like Music and Explorer, and blocking advertising identifiers. Follow the instructions to return your gadget to its original purity and performance.

Disabling the MSA system advertising service

The centerpiece of MIUI 12 is the MIUI System Ads app, which collects your preferences and broadcasts ads to different parts of the interface, and disabling it is the first and most important step in the clean screen battle.

To start, you need to go to the smartphone settings menu. Find the Password and Security section and select Access to Data. From the app list that opens, find msa and switch the slider to an inactive state. The system will warn you that this may affect the operation of certain functions, but for the average user it is safe.

⚠️ Note: When you try to shut down the msa service, you may need to wait 10 seconds for the "Disable" button to become active.

If you fail to turn off the service on the first attempt, repeat the procedure 2-3 times. Sometimes the system resists changing the settings, but the persistence of the user usually leads to success. After disabling msa, the number of pop-ups should be significantly reduced.

In parallel with the main ad module, you should disable the Mi Video Ads service, which is responsible for showing video videos in standard applications, find it in the same data access list and deny network connection, this action will prevent video ads from downloading even with an active Internet connection.

Set up standard Xiaomi applications

Even after the system service is disabled, some embedded applications may continue to show recommendations and banners, which is because each application has its own personalization settings, and let’s look at how to remove ads from the most popular built-in utilities.

Start with the Security app, which often issues junk or virus notifications with ads, and open the app, click on the gear icon in the top right corner, and find the "Get recommendations" item, and turn the switch to "Off." Similar actions should be done in the Music, Video, Themes, and Explorer apps.

• 🎵 In the Music app: click on the menu (three bars), select Settings, then Advanced Settings, and turn off Show Ads».
• 📂 In Explorer: go to Settings, select About App and remove the tick from Get Recommendations».
• 🎨 In the Topics app: open a profile, click Settings and turn off Show Ads and Personal Recommendations».
• 📺 In Video: Go to profile, then to settings and disable the options of Online Recommendations and Get Notified».

Also, remember the folders on the desktop. MIUI 12, when you open the application folder, you can see the Recommended Apps block. To remove it, just click on the folder name to rename it (or enter edit mode), and find the Recommended Apps switch, and then turn it off.

Disabling personalized advertising

MIUI uses an advertising ID to track your actions and find relevant ads, and resetting and disabling this feature won’t remove ads completely, but will make them less intrusive and personalized.

To manage your advertising ID, go to Settings → Password & Security → Privacy. In this section, look for Advertising Services (or Advertising ID). Here you need to turn off the Personal Advertising slider. After that, click Reset Advertising ID.

Also in the Privacy section, check the list of apps that have access to your data. scroll down to the "Special Permits" or "Permissions Management" section, and make sure that suspicious or unnecessary apps don't have access to your contact list, location, or microphone without your explicit need.

Notifications in the browser and push spam

Often the source of annoying notifications is not the system services of Xiaomi, but the permissions issued to web browsers. Sites can request the right to send notifications, and the user often without looking agrees to this, resulting in spam on the lock screen.

To solve the problem in the standard Mi Browser browser (or any other browser, such as Chrome), go to the browser settings. Find the Notifications or Site Settings section. There will be a list of resources that are allowed to send push notifications. Clear this list by removing any suspicious or unknown sites.

If you don’t use a standard browser from Xiaomi, consider installing an alternative solution like Firefox or DuckDuckGo that has built-in ad-block trackers.This will not only remove spam, but also speed up page loading by blocking heavy ad scripts.

Using DNS to Block Advertising

One of the most effective and elegant ways to remove ads throughout the system, including games and third-party apps, is to configure Private DNS. This method works at the network connection level and blocks requests to known ad servers without letting content on the device.

In MIUI 12, private DNS is set up via the developer menu or standard network settings. Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS (in some versions, the path may differ: Advanced Settings → Private DNS). Select Host Name of the DNS Provider.

dns.adguard.com

Enter dns.adguard.com in the input field and save the settings. After that, the smartphone will redirect everything. DNS-Requests via AdGuard servers, which automatically filter out ad traffic, are universal and do not require additional applications.

⚠️ Note: When using Private DNS Some apps or sites may stop displaying content correctly if they use the same domains for advertising and useful data. DNS or add an exception.

Additional measures and expert advice

There are more radical but effective ways to combat intrusive marketing, such as turning off automatic news in the Card widget (the left screen of the desktop), swipe right, click three dots in the corner, and select Settings where you can turn off Receive Recommendations.

Also worth noting is GetApps (formerly Mi Apps), an app store from Xiaomi that often sends notifications about discounts and new items, and if you don’t use the store, you can simply delete it, or at least disable all notifications in the app’s system settings.

• 📱 Turn off Memory Acceleration in the battery settings if it causes unnecessary pop-ups.
• 🔒 Check the permissions for the Security app – sometimes it requests access to a call list to detect spam, which may be unnecessary.
• 🔄 Check system updates regularly as new security patches MIUI Often loopholes for aggressive advertising are closed.

An integrated approach combining disabling system services, setting up applications and using DNS-filtering, allowing you to enjoy the work of the smartphone without unnecessary visual noise. Your Xiaomi will work faster, and the battery will be spent more economically, as the background advertising processes will not consume resources.

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Tip: After all the settings, restart your smartphone, which is necessary for all system services to update their configuration files and stop the background loading of advertising modules.

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The most effective method is a combination of disabling MSA and setting up Private DNS, which removes 99% of ads without losing the functionality of the system.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)