Users of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often encounter intrusive content that appears in the most unexpected places of the interface. Advertising banners can pop up when unlocking a device, in application folders or directly on the desktop. This is a consequence of the MIUI System Ads (msa) system service, which is activated by default in firmware for many regions, including Russia and the CIS countries.
Fortunately, Xiaomi has left users with the option to disable most of its advertising modules through standard settings, although it has tried to hide these options. Completely eliminating visual noise requires sequential actions across menu sections. In this article, we’ll look at how to deactivate msa and configure each shell component to turn a smartphone into a clean workspace without unnecessary distractions.
Disabling MSA System Advertising
The central element in charge of displaying ads in the MIUI and HyperOS shell is the system application msa (MIUI System Ads), which collects data about your behavior and broadcasts ads in the interface, the first and most important step will be to disable the recommendation of advertising content in the security settings.
To start, you need to go to the smartphone settings menu and find the Password and Security section. In some firmware versions, this item may be called simply Security or be located inside the Security app with a green shield icon. You need to find the Access to Personal Data or Special Permissions section, which displays a list of system services.
In the list that opens, find a process called msa. Click the switch opposite it to deny access. The system will alert you that some features may stop working correctly, and will prompt you to wait 10 seconds before confirming an action. This is the standard procedure for protecting against accidental shutdown.
⚠️ Note: After disabling msa, the ad won't disappear instantly. It takes 5 to 10 minutes for the system to apply the changes. In rare cases, the process can automatically turn on again after the reboot, so it's worth checking again.
If you don't find msa on the list, you might have an alternative mechanism for your shell version, so try to find MIUI Daemon or GetApps and limit their background activity, but in 95% of cases, msa is the main source of banners.
☑️ Checking the ad-off
Setting up the desktop and folders
Even after the main ad module is disabled, some interface elements may continue to show recommended content, often in the application folders on the desktop, where the "Recommended Apps" line may appear at the bottom, and to remove it, you need to change the settings of the desktop shell itself.
Press your finger on an empty desktop area to call the edit menu, or just click on the gear icon if it's available. From the menu that opens, select Settings. Here you're interested in Desktop or Home Screen. Find the Recommended Applications Switch and put it inactive.
You also have to look at widgets and news feeds. MIUI Often activated Google Discover tape or own tape Mi Video/Mi Music that appears when swiped to the left of the first screen, and these elements may also contain advertising inserts.
- 📱 Open the desktop settings through a long press on an empty area.
- 🚫 Find and disable the “Recommended Apps” option in folders.
- 🗞️ In the “Additional” section, turn off the news feed on the left if you don’t need it.
- 🧹 Clear the desktop of “Hot Apps” or “Themes” widgets if they are present.
With these changes, app folders will look cleaner and random banners will no longer cornen your eyes when you open directories, which is especially important for users who prefer minimalist design and order on the screen.
Cleaning up Xiaomi’s standard apps
Advertising in the Xiaomi ecosystem is built not only into the desktop, but also into standard utilities, and apps like Explorer, Music, Video, Cleanup and Security often contain their own promotion modules, and to completely remove ads, you need to go to the settings of each one separately.
Start with Explorer. Open it, click on the menu (three bars) and select Settings. Find Receive Recommendations or About Service and turn off all ad-related switches. Similar steps should be repeated for Music and Video apps: go to settings, find the Additional Settings section, and uncheck the Receive Recommendations box.
Pay special attention to the app Security. It often shows pop-ups suggesting that you clear memory or speed up your phone, which are actually advertising. Go to the app settings (cog in the corner), select Get recommendations and disable this feature. It is also useful to disable Advanced Cleanup if it offers additional modules.
⚠️ Attention: In some regions, the ad settings in the apps may be hidden.If you don't see the "Get recommendations" switch, try changing the region in the phone's general settings to "India" or "USA," perform a disablement, and then return your region.
Don’t forget to check the Themes app. It also has a Receive Recommendations option in its settings, which is responsible for showing banners on the theme store’s home page. Disabling this option will make the store more rigorous and functional.
What to do if the settings are reset?
Disabling personalized advertising
Beyond explicit banners, MIUI and HyperOS collect data about your actions to generate personalized advertising offers, at the account and analytics services level, and disabling this feature won’t completely remove ads, but it will make them less intrusive and random.
To manage these settings, go to Settings → Password and Security → Access to Personal Data. You can find Mi Video, Mi Music, MIUI Daemon and other analytics-related system services and deny them access to data. However, a deeper setting is in the Privacy section.
In the Privacy menu, find Advertising Services (or Advertising) where the Personalized Advertising switch will be available, disabling it will reset your Advertising ID (OAID) and prevent companies from using your data for targeting, and clicking Reset Advertising ID to completely clean up your accumulated profile.
| Parameter | Where to find out. | Recommended action |
|---|---|---|
| msa | Password and security → Access to data | Turn it off. |
| Receive recommendations | Settings of each application (Music, Video, etc.) | Turn it off. |
| Personalized advertising | Privacy → Advertising Services | Turn it off. |
| Auto-launch | Applications → Permits → Auto-Stop | Limitation for system services |
These measures significantly reduce the amount of telemetry collected, and while it is difficult to completely stop collecting data in proprietary shells, such actions make smartphone use more private.
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Use Do Not Disturb mode or special profiles to limit background activity of ad units at night when you are not using your phone.
Using DNS to Block Advertising
One of the most effective methods of combating advertising, which works at the level of the entire Android operating system, is the use of a private DNS. This method allows you to block advertising requests even before they reach your screen, without the need to install third-party applications.
In modern versions of Android (starting with 9.0), this feature is built into the system. Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing (or Wi-Fi and the Internet) → Private DNS. Select the DNS provider hostname option and enter the address of a trusted blocker, for example: dns.adguard.com.
After saving the settings, the phone will redirect everything. DNS-requests through AdGuard servers that filter known ad domains, which will help to remove ads not only in system applications, but also in the browser and in some games.
- 🌐 Go to the network settings and find the section DNS.
- ⌨️ Enter the address dns.adguard.com in the manual field.
- ✅ Save the settings and check the internet.
- ⚡ If the site is not open, try using an alternative. DNS, e.g. 1.1.1.2 (Cloudflare for family).
It is important to understand that this method can sometimes slow down page loading or block useful content if the filter is too strict, in such cases you can temporarily disable private DNS or add exceptions to the router configuration if you are an advanced user.
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Use of private use DNS — It is a system solution that blocks ads in all applications at once, but requires a stable Internet connection to work. DNS-server.
Additional measures and global settings
If previous steps have not completely cleaned the interface, it is worth checking the global settings of the system. Sometimes advertising can come through notifications from system applications or through the Mi Account. Check the Notifications section in the settings and disable notifications for suspicious system services such as Mi Credit, Mi Store or GetApps if you do not use them.
It also makes sense to disable automatic app updates through GetApps, as new ad modules may come along with updates. Go to GetApps → Profile → Settings and disable auto-update. Better update apps via Google Play.
In a pinch, if the ad has become unbearable, you might consider installing a third-party launcher, such as a Nova Launcher or Microsoft Launcher.This will completely replace the desktop and folders, killing native MIUI ads at the root, although system applications (Music, Explorer) will still require separate customization.
⚠️ Attention: Installing third-party launchers can change the way menus and animations look, some features such as "fast apps" or gestures MIUI, may not work properly or require additional settings in the section "Special features».
A comprehensive approach that combines disabling msa, setting up DNS and manually cleaning apps is guaranteed to save you 99% of ads. Your smartphone will work faster and your battery will be spent more economically, as advertising modules will stop constantly loading data in the background.