Xiaomi smartphone owners often face intrusive marketing content that appears in the most unexpected places of the system. Especially annoying is the situation when advertising on the lock screen overlaps important information or simply interferes with the aesthetic perception of the interface. Owners of the Redmi Note 8 model are familiar with this problem, since the MIUI shell actively uses advertising integrations to monetize budget devices.
Fortunately, the developers have left users with the ability to manage these settings, although they have hidden them quite deep in the menu. Disabling the MSA service (MIUI System Ads) is a key step that blocks the main stream of banners. In this article, we will discuss in detail the algorithm of actions that will help you clean the smartphone interface of unnecessary visual noise.
You don't need to have superuser rights or install third-party launchers to do this, but you need to do a few things consistently in the standard settings menu. Below are the proven methods that are relevant to the current versions of MIUI firmware installed on the Redmi Note 8.
Analysis of advertising sources in MIUI
Before you start to shut down, you need to understand where the content is coming from. MIUI uses multiple channels to broadcast ads. The main source is the MSA system service, which is responsible for collecting data and showing targeted ads in standard applications.
And then there's a separate mechanism called Get Recommendations, which is often turned on by default in the lock screen settings section, and it's responsible for creating beautiful, but intrusive, text-based images when you turn on the display.
Also worth mentioning are personalized ads in system utilities like Explorer, Security, and Downloads, which don’t always appear on the lockscreen, but they work in the background and consume CPU resources.
Understanding the structure of the advertising system allows you to target the sources of annoyance, so you don't have to hope that one switch will remove everything at once, so we'll use a holistic approach.
Disabling the MSA service through account settings
The first and most important step is to deactivate the main advertising recommendation service, a process that requires care, as the interface may try to dissuade you from making that decision.
To start, open the Settings menu and go to Password and Security, where you will need Personal Data Access, and in the list that opens, find msa and turn the switchboard off.
⚠️ Note: The system may ask you several times and show a countdown timer in the 10 This is the standard retention procedure, just wait until the time ends. Once you turn off the msa service, you should also check your authorization settings. Go to the Mi Account section and make sure that the privacy settings do not tick the box on automatically receiving promotional offers. ☑️ Checking the shutdown MSAGo to Password and Security Find access to personal data Disconnect msa Toggle 10 Timer seconds Confirm action Completed: 0 / 5 The effect of this action is not always instantaneous. 24 hours to update policies completely and stop downloading advertising modules to the Redmi Note device 8. If your goal is to remove the images and banners that appear when the screen wakes up, you need a lock settings section. This is the Wallpaper Carousel feature, which is often the source of advertising content. Go to Settings → Always screen and lock. Find the Wallpaper Carousel. Inside this menu, you need to turn off the wallpaper carousel. This action will completely stop the change of images when you lock. Next, being in the same section, pay attention to the Receive Recommendations option. This item is often hidden in the submenus or located slightly below the screen, which prevents from blocking the main text on the screen. Often, along with beautiful photos of nature or cities, the service broadcasts banner ads and news items that cannot be ignored. Once you make changes, be sure to restart the device so that the new settings apply to all system processes. On the Redmi Note 8, this is especially important because of the interface caching features. MIUI Actively collects data about your usage habits to build an advertising profile, to minimize the number of targeted ads, you need to limit the collection of this data. Open Settings and select Password and Security. Go to Privacy. You are interested in the item Special permissions or Access to usage data. MIUI Daemon and Services and Reviews. Limit their access to data or completely ban statistics collection. This will reduce the relevance of advertising, and in some cases its number. System component Function Recommended Action MSA Main advertising engine Disable access to data MIUI Daemon Data Collection usage statistics Limit access Service and reviews Send error reports Disable Auto Collection Xiaomi App Store Disable notifications Don't be afraid to disable these services, they do not affect the stability of the Redmi Note 8 smartphone. Their main task is analytics and marketing, not providing basic usage statistics Limit Service access and reviews Send error reports Send to errors Send to GetApps Auto Collection Apps, even to the security of applications, some applications can continue. Click on the gear icon in the top right corner. Find Receive recommendations and deaktivate it. This will remove ads from the main antivirus and optimizer window. Then open the Downloads app. There is also a settings menu (three dots) in the top right corner. Remove the tick from Show Recommended Files or similar Content Manager. 💡Periodically clear the cache of advertising services through the menu "Apps» → «All applications» → «Clear the data" if you notice the return of banners. In the Explorer application, the algorithm is similar: the settings menu → Disabling recommendations, which allows you to make standard tools comfortable and free of unnecessary visual debris, and it should be noted that after updating the firmware settings can get lost. In this case, the procedure will need to be repeated again, as new versions MIUI often returns default settings. DNS There is a more advanced method that works at the network connection level. DNS (Private DNS) It allows you to block requests to known ad servers before they reach your smartphone. → Connection and sharing → Private DNS. Select the Host Name option of the provider DNS and enter a trusted server address, such as dns.adguard.com. dns.adguard.com This method is effective not only for system advertising, but also for blocking banners in the browser and some applications. DNS It will stop working, the Internet on the phone may disappear. ⚠️ Note: When using a third party DNS Internet speeds may change slightly. If you notice connection problems, return the setting to Auto mode. On the Redmi Note 8, this method works consistently and does not require the installation of additional software. It's a great alteriva for those who want a clean experience without digging deep into the menu (FAQ) Will the ads come back after the firmware update? Yes, with a major update. MIUI (For example, switching from version 12 to 13) to privacy settings and services MSA You'll need to recheck the access points and get recommendations. MSA? Absolutely safe. MSA is solely responsible for displaying advertising and collecting marketing data. Disabling it does not affect calls, messages, cameras or other important features of Xiaomi’s smartphone. Why did the ads come back a week later? Some apps may request that recommendation services be turned on again when they first start after an update. It's also worth checking if you've recently installed applications from unreliable sources that may have added their ad modules. Can you remove ad apps completely? Can you remove system components like MSA You can't use standard tools, you can only turn them off. ADB-It requires skills and can lead to loss of warranty or unstable system performance. Does blocking ads affect the speed of the Redmi Note 8? Yes, the positive impact. Disabling background ad loading and analytics processes frees up RAM and reduces CPU load, which can make the MIUI interface a little more responsive.