How to remove ads on Xiaomi Poco M3: expert guide

Xiaomi’s Poco series of smartphones are famous for their powerful hardware for relatively little money, but the Poco M3 model released a few years ago remains popular. Users often encounter intrusive advertising that appears in system applications, when unlocking the screen or even in the form of pop-ups. This is not a bug, but a feature of the MIUI shell (or POCO Launcher), which monetizes budget devices.

You can completely eliminate all banners, but you need a comprehensive approach, since there is no one magic button. In this article, we will discuss proven methods that will help you clean the interface from debris, speed up the system and return comfortable use of Android. We will look at both standard settings and more advanced technical solutions.

It is important to understand that some actions require care to avoid accidentally disrupting important system processes. Below is a step-by-step guide that is relevant for versions of MIUI 12, MIUI 13 and newer that can be installed on your Poco M3.

Disabling System Advertising through MSA

The first and most important step is to deactivate the MSA (MIUI System Ads) service, which is responsible for loading and displaying banner ads in standard applications, and without disabling this service, any other manipulations will have only a temporary effect.

To access the management of this service, you must first activate the hidden developer mode. Find the About Phone option in the settings and quickly click on the MIUI version seven times in a row. Once the "You became a developer" notification appears, you can go to the main settings menu.

Next, follow the Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to Personal Data. In the list that opens, find the msa app and turn off the access slider. The system will warn you of the consequences, you will need to wait 10 seconds and confirm the action with the “Revoke” button. If you did not succeed the first time, try repeating the procedure 3-5 times.

Once the rights are successfully revoked, ads in the system folders and desktop should disappear, but this will not affect embedded applications such as Explorer or Music, but they need separate settings.

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Disabling the MSA service is a fundamental step without which other settings may not be effective.

Setup of built-in Xiaomi applications

Each standard Poco M3 app has its own ad settings that are enabled by default. To get to full comfort, you have to walk through each of them. It takes a few minutes, but the result is worth it.

Start with Explorer. Open the app, click on the menu (three bars), select Settings, and find About. Inside, you'll have a "Get recommendations" section that you need to deactivate, and you'll have a similar procedure for Music, Video, and Downloads.

• 📂 Conductor: Menu → Settings → About the annex → Receive recommendations (Off).
• 🎵 Music: Menu → Settings → Advanced settings → Receive recommendations (Off).
• 🎬 Video: Profile → Settings → Receive recommendations (Off).
• 📥 Downloads: Three dots → Settings → Show recommended content (off).

Don't forget to check the settings of the Security app, which often hides "clean" notifications and game installation recommendations, go to the app settings (cog in the corner) and turn off "Get recommendations."

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After disabling advertising in applications, it is recommended to restart the device so that all changes take effect and the cache is updated.

Blocking Advertising via DNS (AdGuard DNS)

One of the most effective and safest methods of combating advertising in the browser and many applications is the use of DNS filtering, which does not require the installation of third-party programs and works at the network connection level.

On Poco M3 running Android 10 and up, this feature is built into the system. Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select the DNS Provider Host Name mode and enter the address: dns.adguard.com. Save settings.

This method blocks requests to known ad servers if a site or app tries to load a banner, DNS-The filter will not allow it to do so, which significantly speeds up the loading of pages in the Chrome browser or MI Browser.

It is worth noting that this method does not block ads within Google and YouTube apps, as they are served from the same domains as the main content.

Managing Notifications and Push Advertising

Users often confuse in-front advertising with intrusive push notifications from installed apps. Many free programs, especially flashlights, QR scanners and simple games, abuse this right by showing ads in the notification curtain.

To identify the intruder, wait for the ad to appear, and without opening it, press your finger on the notification text and select "More information" or the gear icon, the system will show which application sent the signal, and then you can go to the notification settings of this application and completely disable them.

⚠️ Warning: Be careful when disabling notifications for instant messengers and email clients. By disabling everything, you risk missing important messages from colleagues or confirmation codes from banks.

It is also recommended to check the "Special Features" section in the settings, some malware disguises itself there or gains permission to display on top of other windows, and if you see an unfamiliar app without an icon or with a suspicious name, delete it immediately.

Cleaning up from advertising viruses and miners

If the ad appears on the desktop as separate icons or pops up over all windows at random points in time, chances are your Poco M3 It's infected with an ad virus, and often these programs get into the system with the help of adware. APK-files from unverified sources.

First, try to find a suspicious app in the installed list. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Carefully look at the list. Viruses often don't have a name (empty field) or use a transparent icon, hiding at the end or beginning of the list. If you find one, delete it immediately.

If normal deletion is not possible, turn on Safe Mode. To do this, press the turn off button, and when the "turn off" icon appears on the screen, press it with your finger. The phone will suggest that you go to Safe Mode. In this state only system applications work, which allows you to safely remove the virus.

Use of third-party blockers

For advanced users who lack standard tools, there are specialized blocking apps, the leader in this niche is AdGuard. However, due to Google Play policy, a full version with HTTPS filtering is not available there.

It is recommended to download the application from the official website of the developer. After installation, AdGuard will offer to configure the application. HTTPS-This will allow you to block ads even within certain applications and in the YouTube browser (in the web version), the process requires the installation of a certificate, which is a safe procedure for local filtering of traffic.

Alternatively, Brave or DuckDuckGo, which have built-in tracker and ad blockers, can be used as the main browsers, significantly reducing the amount of garbage encountered on the Internet.

⚠️ Attention: Installation APK-Files from unknown sources always carry risks. download blockers only from official developers' sites to avoid replacing the program with a virus.

Resetting settings as a last resort

If none of these methods worked and the ads continue to annoy, there may be critical errors or deep-hidden changes in the system, in which case the effective solution would be a complete factory reset.

Before you do that, make sure to back up all your important data: contacts, photos and documents. Reset will remove absolutely everything from the internal drive. Go to Settings → About phone → Reset → Erase all data.

Once reset, the phone will go back out of the box. When you first set up, don't be in a hurry to restore all the apps from Google's backup at once. You'd better install them manually, checking each for intrusive ads, which will help identify the source of the problem if it was in one of the apps.

Remember that the Poco M3 is a budget device and its hardware resources are limited. Excessive background processes and advertising scripts can significantly slow down the interface. Regular cleaning and proper setting will prolong the life of your smartphone.