How to completely remove ads on Xiaomi Redmi Note 5: from banners in MIUI to push notifications

Why Redmi Note 5 is getting ads and can it be removed forever?

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 smartphone based on MIUI It's known for its value for money, but many users are faced with intrusive advertising in the interface, and banners appear in settings, app menus, lock screens, and even system notifications, and the reason is because of the monetization of the branded shell: Xiaomi integrates advertising modules into MIUI regions with low prices for devices, including Russia and CIS.

The good news is that most ads can be turned off without rooting or complicated manipulation. The bad news is that some banners (like the Security app) require deep customization or alternative methods. In this article, we will discuss all the working methods for the Redmi Note 5 (the whyred model), including hidden settings and circumventing the limitations of MIUI 9-12.

It’s important to understand that removing ads completely can require trade-offs, such as disabling MIUI personalization will deprive you of some features (like search recommendations). But if you’re annoyed by banners in Settings → About Phone or pop-up notifications from Mi Video, the following methods will help clean up the interface.

Method 1: Disabling personalized advertising in MIUI settings

The easiest and safest method is to deactivate personalization in system settings, which will remove most of the targeted ads, but will not affect banners in Xiaomi apps (such as Mi Browser or Mi Music).

Instructions:

• 📱 Open the Settings. → Xiaomi accounts.
• 🔍 Select your account (or create it if you are not registered).
• ⚙️ Go to Account Settings → Privacy.
• 🚫 Turn off sliders: Personalized recommendations (remove banners in the MIUI). Interest-Based Advertising (Blocks Targeted Notifications).

After applying the changes, restart the phone. → Topics or About Phone should disappear in 10-15 minutes.If banners are left, clear the Settings app cache (Settings) → Annexes → Application management → Settings → Warehouse → Clear the cache).

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If you do not have a Privacy option in your region, try changing your account region to India or Singapore in the MIUI settings (see Method 3).

Method 2: Manual disabling of advertising in system applications

Some Xiaomi apps (e.g. Security, Mi Video, Mi Browser) have their own ad modules, which can be disabled individually:

For Downloads, you can't remove ads, you'll have to replace them with an alternative (like Files by Google). If you have banners left after you turn them off, try:

• 🔄 Clear the application cache (Settings) → Annexes → [name] → Warehouse → Clear the cache).
• 📥 Update the app through the Mi App Store (sometimes new versions remove ads).
• 🚫 Remove application updates (if it is system-based, click on it) ⋮ → Remove updates).

Method 3: Redesigning MIUI Region to Reduce Advertising

In some regions (e.g. the European Union or India), Xiaomi is cutting down on advertising due to local data protection laws, and you can take advantage of this by changing the system region:

Backup data (via Mi Cloud or locally)

Remember current network settings (APN, VPN)

Make sure that SIM-The card is unlocked (if roaming is used)

Disable two-factor authentication in your Xiaomi account (temporarily)

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Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Additional → Language and Region.
2. Choose a region and set up India (or Singapore).
3. Reboot the phone.
4. After rebooting, open Settings → Xiaomi Accounts → Account Settings → Privacy and disable all advertising options (they may appear after changing the region).

⚠️ Note: Changes in the region may:

• 📵 Interrupt mobile network (manual input required) APN).
• 🕒 Reset some settings (e.g. date/time format).
• 📱 Uninstall some pre-installed apps (e.g. Mi Pay for Russia).

If you have network problems after changing your region, return the original region and use another method (for example, blocking through ADB).

Method 4: Blocking Advertising through ADB (without root)

For power users, there is a method to disable ads via Android Debug Bridge (ADB) that blocks the system components responsible for displaying banners, but requires a connection to a PC.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed ADB-driver.
• 📱 Included debugging by USB Redmi Note 5 (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times press to unlock Developer Settings, then enable Debugging by USB).
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original).

Instructions for ADB Shell (alternately):

adb shell pm hide com.miui.systemAdSolution


adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.midrop




adb shell pm hide com.miui.analytics




adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.ab




adb shell settings put global hidden_api_policy 1

These teams:

• Disable the system module of advertising (systemAdSolution).
• Block analytics Xiaomi (reduces targeted advertising).
• Hide hidden APIs that can be used to display banners.

⚠️ Attention: After update MIUI These settings can reset. To return the ads, use commands:

adb shell pm unhide com.miui.systemAdSolution


adb shell pm unhide com.xiaomi.ab

Method 5: Install custom firmware (for advanced)

If none of these methods worked, the radical solution is to install custom firmware without advertising.

• 📱 LineageOS – pure Android without unnecessary modules.
• 🔧 Pixel Experience – firmware with Google Pixel interface.
• 🛡️ MIUI by Xiaomi.eu - modified MIUI Advertising-free and Chinese-based.

Installation process:

1. Unlock the bootloader through the Mi Unlock Tool (requires a wait of 7-30 days).
2. Install custom recovery (TWRP) via fastboot flash recovery twrp.img.
3. Download the firmware (for example, from Xiaomi.eu) and transfer to the phone.
4. Boot in. TWRP (Power + Vol Up and stitch ZIP-file.

⚠️ Attention: Installation of custom firmware:

• 🔨 Cancellation of warranty (unless the stock firmware is returned).
• 📉 It can cause data loss (do backup through the TWRP!).
• 🔋 Increases battery consumption (some custom firmwares are not optimized for the Snapdragon 636).

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Castom firmware is the last resort. Before installing, check the stability reviews of a particular build for Redmi Note 5 (whyred) on the 4PDA or XDA Developers forums.

More tips: how to reduce advertising without deep settings

If you don’t want to dig into the settings, try these simple steps:

• 📵 Use an ad blocker in your browser (e.g. AdGuard or uBlock Origin for Mi Browser).
• 🛡️ Install. DNS-filter (c Settings) → Wi-Fi → Change the network → Additionally. → DNS specify 1.1.1.3 or 94.140.14.14).
• 🔕 Disable notifications from unnecessary apps (Settings) → Notifications → Management of notifications).
• 📥 Replace system applications with analogues: Mi Browser → Google Chrome or Firefox, Mi Music. → Spotify or VLC. Mi Video → MX Player.

It is also worth checking Settings → Applications → Applications Management for suspicious services (for example, com.xiaomi.mipicks or com.miui.hybrid) and disabling them forcibly.

FAQ: Frequent questions about ads on Redmi Note 5