Xiaomi smartphone owners often face intrusive advertising that appears in various system applications and even on the desktop. Redmi Note 7, being a popular budget model, was no exception, having received a shell MIUI with integrated advertising modules.
Ad blocks can be streamed through widgets, app folders, or pop up as banners while using the phone. Fortunately, the company hasn't blocked the ability to disable these features, although it has hidden the desired switches in the depths of the menu.
In this article, we will discuss all the methods to get rid of unwanted content, learn how to disable msa system services, adjust personalization settings and block advertising identifiers, which will return your gadget to its original appearance and increase speed.
Reasons for Advertising in MIUI System
The main reason for the emergence of advertising integrations is the business model of Xiaomi: the manufacturer sells smartphones at a minimum margin, and profits from the sale of additional services and advertising inside the MIUI software shell.
Advertising content is implemented at the system process level, and is managed by a dedicated service that collects data about your preferences and shows targeted ads, and algorithms analyze installed applications and the frequency of their use to offer the most relevant product or service.
⚠️ Warning: A complete shutdown of system services may cause some built-in features to function unstable, such as recommendations in folders or news feeds.
Understanding how these modules work helps to configure the device correctly, disabling does not require superuser rights or flashing, just change the settings in the corresponding menu sections.
Disabling the MSA service, the main source of advertising
MSA (MIUI System Ads) is the primary component for translating advertising content into the interface, and without disabling this process, any other manipulations may not be effective, and the deactivation process requires care as the system will try to get it back.
First, you need to go to your phone settings. Find the Password and Security section and select Access to Personal Data. In the list that opens, find the msa string and put the switch in the inactive position.
☑️ Checking the shutdown MSA
The system will issue a warning and start a countdown (usually 10 seconds) and you have to wait until the timer ends and press the Stop button again. Often the first time you fail, and you have to repeat the procedure 2-3 times until the system accepts your choice.
After a successful shutdown, it is recommended to restart the device, which ensures that all background processes associated with the advertising modules are completed. If the switch is activated again by itself, repeat the procedure after the restart.
Set up personalization parameters and recommendations
In addition to the MSA service, the personalization system is responsible for the appearance of promotional materials, it collects data about your actions to form advertising offers, and disabling this feature will significantly reduce the amount of targeted content.
Go to Settings, then select Password and Security, find Privacy and scroll down to Advertising Services, and turn off the option to Receive Personalized Recommendations.
- 📱 Go to the device's privacy settings.
- 🚫 Find and disable the advertising ID.
- 🔄 Drop the commercial. ID clean up the accumulated data.
- ✅ Check that the personalization switch is inactive.
It's also worth checking the settings of each folder on your desktop. When you open the application folder at the top, you often see a line with recommendations. Click on three dots in the corner of the folder and remove the tick from the recommendation item.
Why do you need an advertising ID?
Cleaning the desktop and widgets
Often, ads are hidden inside the widgets that are installed by default on the Redmi Note 7 desktop. Especially aggressive is the Horizon widget or news feed that downloads articles and promo blocks from the Internet.
To remove the extra, pinch the empty space on your desktop or pinch your fingers to go into edit mode. Select a news or weather widget that displays banner ads, and click on the cross to remove it.
| Type of widget | source of advertising | Action. |
|---|---|---|
| Application folder | Recommendations below. | Disable in folder settings |
| Mi browser | Newsfeed | Remove from the desktop |
| Conductor | Banners in the file section | Disable in the application settings |
| Music by Mi | Pop-ups | Prohibit notifications |
If you use a theme downloaded from Themes, it may also contain ad integrations.Go back to the standard Classic or Default theme to rule this out.
Disabling notifications in system applications
Even after the core services are disabled, some applications, such as Security, Downloads or Music, may continue to show notifications with offers.
Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps. Search under Security, go to Notifications, and disable all categories except critical ones (such as Blocking or Viruses). Advertising categories are commonly referred to as Recommendations or Marketing.
⚠️ Warning: Do not turn off antivirus notifications completely, otherwise you will no longer receive threat alerts.
A similar procedure is worth doing for Downloads, which often sends push notifications about hot offers, leaving only notifications about the completion of downloading files.
Using DNS to Block Advertising
An effective way to combat advertising is to change DNS-This allows you to block requests to known ad servers even before the content is uploaded to the device.
Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select DNS Host Name Mode and type in dns.adguard.com. Save settings.
dns.adguard.comThis method works globally for all apps and browsers. AdGuard DNS will automatically filter out advertising requests. However, if you use public Wi-Fi with browser authorization, it can be difficult to display the login page.
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If the Internet stops working after changing the DNS, try switching to the mobile network and back, or temporarily return the DNS settings to automatic mode.
Additional browser settings and themes
The built-in Mi Browser browser is one of the main sources of visual noise. Even after cleaning the cache, it can show news on the homepage, and it is recommended that you either turn off the display of news in your browser settings, or install an alternative browser, such as Chrome or Firefox.
In the theme settings, you should also check the wallpaper carousel section, which constantly changes the wallpaper on the lock screen and often loads advertising images. Turn it off from the wallpaper menu → wallpaper carousel.
- 🎨 Remove third-party themes from Themes store.
- 🚫 Turn off the “Wallpaper Carousel” function in the screen settings.
- 🌐 Install an ad blocker in your browser (e.g. AdGuard).
- 🗑️ Clear the system launcher cache.
A comprehensive approach that includes disabling MSA, configuring DNS and cleaning notifications makes the Redmi Note 7 virtually ad-free, making the device faster and the battery more economical as background processes stop loading heavy media files.
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The combination of disabling MSA and using a private DNS blocks up to 95% of all ads on Xiaomi’s system without the need to install third-party apps.