Pop-ups on Xiaomi smartphones are one of the most annoying features of MIUI firmware, which can ruin the experience of even flagship models. Advertising in settings, notifications about βusefulβ services, offers to install applications β all appear without your consent and distract from work. Worse, some windows block the screen, requiring mandatory interaction, which is especially critical during games or watching videos.
Complicating the problem, Xiaomi has integrated advertising mechanisms deep into the system: they can appear not only in standard applications like Browser or Music, but also directly in the Notification Panel or Settings. However, the good news is that most of these windows can be turned off without root rights using hidden MIUI options and third-party tools. In this guide, we will analyze all the current ways, from basic settings to advanced methods for experienced users.
1. Disabling advertising in MIUI system applications
The first step is to remove ads from standard Xiaomi programs like Browser, Music, Video and Themes, which are the most common apps that show intrusive banners and pop-ups, and the process of disabling is the same for most of them:
- Open the application where the advertisement appears (e.g. Browser).
- Go to Settings β Additional (or About Program)
- Find Advertising Preferences or Personalized Advertising and turn off all sliders.
- In some applications (such as Music), you may need to further disable Show recommendations.
The path for the Topics app is different: Settings β About β Disable Ads. If there is no such item, update the app via Google Play - in the latest versions, the option appears after the update.
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If there is no ad-disabled setting in the app settings, try resetting it: Settings β Apps β App Management β [App Name] β Storage β Clear Data. This will reset all personal settings, but often removes ads.
It's important to understand that these settings don't block ads completely, they just reduce the amount of ads, and you'll need additional steps to remove them completely, which I'll talk about later.
2. Block notifications from system services
Many pop-ups on Xiaomi come via system notifications that masquerade as βhelpful tipsβ or βMIUI recommendations.β
- Go to Settings β Notifications and Status bar β Notification management.
- In the list, find apps with names: π± MIUI System (or System Notifications) π Update (if you do not want to see update notifications) π¨ Topics (advertising themes and wallpapers) π GetApps (Xiaomi app store)
turn off the slider
Notify us not to show notices
Pay special attention to MIUI System, which is the main source of annoying windows with suggestions to activate certain functions. If important alerts (for example, about low battery charge) disappear after turning off some notifications, return the settings for the specific application.
What if notifications are returned after rebooting?
3. Use of the βAdvertising-Freeβ mode (for global firmware)
Global versions of MIUI (e.g. MIUI Global or MIUI EU) have a hidden feature called βAd-Free Modeβ that disables most banner ads and can be activated via Settings:
- Open the Settings. β The phone.
- Click on the MIUI version several times until you get a message: You are a developer!
- Return to the main Settings menu and select Additional β Special Opportunities β Ad-free mode.
- Activate the slider and restart the device.
This method does not work on all firmware versions. If there is no ad-free mode, try an alternative method:
- Install Activity Launcher from Google Play.
- Open it and find it in the Settings list.
- Inside, find the.settings.AdvertisementSettings activity and run it.
- Turn off all available options.
MIUI Global
MIUI China
MIUI EU (castom)
Another custom firmware
I don't know.-->
4. disable personalized advertising through your Xiaomi account
Even if you have disabled ads in your phone settings, Xiaomi can display them based on your account data, and to completely ban personalized ads, you must:
- Go to Settings β Xiaomi Account β Mi Account.
- Select Account Settings β Personalization and Advertising.
- Turn off the sliders: π Personalized recommendations π Advertising identification π Showing interest-based advertising
Shut down.
Important: Once you disable these options, the ads wonβt disappear completely, but they will become less intrusive and not based on your data.If you donβt have a Xiaomi account, you can skip this step.
Settings in Xiaomi account are disabled
Advertising is disabled in each system application
Checked notifications from MIUI System
Reboot the phone to apply changes-->
5. Blocking Advertising via DNS or VPN
If system methods don't work, you can block Xiaomi's ad servers at the network level, and there are two reliable ways to do this:
Method 1: Changing the DNS
- Go to Settings β Connections and Sharing β Private DNS.
- Select the host name of a private DNS and enter one of the addresses: π dns.adguard.com (blocks ads and trackers) π 1dot1dot1dot1.cloudflare-dns.com (Cloudflare with blocking malicious sites)
Save the settings and restart the phone.
Method 2: Using a VPN with ad blocking
Install one of the apps that filter traffic:
- π‘οΈ AdGuard (there is a free version with restrictions)
- π‘οΈ Blokada (open source, blocks ads without any kind of content) VPN-connection)
- π‘οΈ 1.1.1.1 from Cloudflare (simple interface, no registration required)
Once installed, activate ad blocking in your application settings, which work at the network level, so you block ads not only in MIUI, but also in third-party applications.
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Changing DNS or using a VPN are the only ways to block ads in apps that donβt have built-in settings (like in Weather or Calendar).
6. Removal of pre-installed applications (without root)
Many pop-ups are due to pre-installed Xiaomi apps that cannot be removed by standard means, but can be disabled or removed without root rights using the Android Debug Bridge (ADB).
For this:
- Enable USB Debugging in Settings β About Phone β MIUI Version (click 7 times) β Additional β For Developers β Debugging over USB.
- Connect your phone to your computer and install ADB (instructions are available at developer.android.com).
- Open the command line and type: adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.analytics adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.xiaomi.midrop adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.systemAdSolution These commands remove analytics and advertising modules for the current user.
The full list of Xiaomi junk packages that can be safely removed:
| Package name | What is responsible for? | Can I remove it? |
|---|---|---|
| com.miui.analytics | Analytics and advertising displays | Yes. |
| com.xiaomi.midrop | Quick file transfer function (rarely used) | Yes. |
| com.miui.systemAdSolution | Systemic Advertising in MIUI | Yes. |
| com.android.browser | Standard browser (can be replaced with Chrome) | Yes. |
| com.miui.videoplayer | Standard video player | Yes (if you use the alternative) |
Warning: Do not delete packets that you do not know the purpose of, which may cause system instability.
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If the pop-ups are back after you delete the packets through ADB, check for system updates. Some packets are restored after you update MIUI.
7. Advanced methods: custom firmware and root
If none of these things work, there are two radical solutions: custom firmware or root rights, which require technical skills and may take away your warranty, but give you complete control of the system.
Option 1: Install MIUI EU or other custom firmware
MIUI EU is a modified version of the firmware from European developers, which removes all advertising modules and unnecessary Chinese services.
- π No system advertising and pop-up windows.
- π Weekly updates with error corrections.
- π Support for all European languages.
For installation:
- Unblock the bootloader through the official Xiaomi website (requires an account and wait 7-30 days).
- Install TWRP Recovery (instructions are available on the 4PDA forum).
- Download MIUI EU firmware from miui.eu and run through TWRP.
Option 2: Getting root rights and manually removing ads
With root rights, you can:
- ποΈ Remove any system applications.
- π§ Change hosts files to block ad domains.
- π Use Magisk modules like AdAway or Xiaomi Debloater.
To obtain root:
- Unlock the bootloader (as in the version with custom firmware).
- Install Magisk via TWRP.
- In Magisk, install the Xiaomi Debloater module and select which system components to disable.
β οΈ Note: obtaining root rights voids the warranty and may lead to security issues (e.g., bans in banking applications.