Users of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often encounter intrusive ads that appear at the most inopportune moment, and it is especially annoying when, after installing new wallpaper or screen design, the system starts offering to buy a premium theme or shows banner ads in the Themes interface. This is not a bug, but a feature of MIUI firmware and the new HyperOS, designed to monetize free devices.
Fortunately, the developers have left the option to disable most of these notifications manually. The process doesn't require rooting or flashing the device to the global version. It only takes you care and about 10-15 minutes to set up the system once and forget about intrusive sentences. In this article, we'll look at all the methods, from simple switches in settings to deeper changes in system parameters.
It is important to understand that pop-ups can come from different system services: msa, GetApps, Security or the Themes app itself. Therefore, to achieve the perfect result, you need to go through all the points of our instructions. Ignoring even one service can lead to the fact that advertising will continue to bother you in the form of push notifications or full-screen banners.
Disabling Advertising in the Application Topics
The main source of pop-ups is the built-in Theme app, which is responsible for visual design and often uses aggressive marketing. To remove ads here, you need to change the settings of the app itself. Open the Topics menu on your desktop or search for it.
In the upper right corner of the screen, click on the profile icon(s) or the three-dot icon, depending on the version of the shell. In the menu that appears, select Settings. Here you are interested in the About us or immediately visible switches section. Find the option to Show ads or Receive recommendations and put the slider inactive.
⚠️ Note: After disabling advertising, the application interface may become less informative from the point of view of new products, but pop-ups and banners that overlap the content will disappear.
It’s also worth clearing the app cache to reset your accumulated advertising identifiers. Go to Smartphone Settings, select Apps → All Apps, find Themes and click Clear → Clear Cache. This action is safe and won’t delete your installed themes, but update the app data.
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If you change design frequently, back up your current theme before clearing the data so you don’t lose custom icon settings.
Configuring the MSA system service
MIUI System Ads (msa) is the main engine of advertising throughout the Xiaomi ecosystem, which analyzes your actions and decides when to show a banner, and turning off this service is a critical step for comfortable use of your smartphone.
To start, go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to Personal Data. Search the msa service and turn off the switch. The system will warn you that some features may stop working and prompt you to wait 10 seconds. Click Cancel. If you fail the first time, try repeating the procedure 2-3 times, as the server may not respond instantly.
Once permissions are revoked, you must prevent the service from running in the background. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications. Find msa (may be called MIUI System Ads) in the list. Go inside and do the following:
- 📱 Click Auto Start and turn it off so that the service doesn’t start with the phone.
- 🔋 Select Energy Saving and Set No Limits (paradoxically, but in some versions) MIUI This helps to control the process, or vice versa, limit background activity, if such an option is available in your version of the OS.
- 📂 Press Clear Clear. → Clean all the data to reset the accumulated statistics.
☑️ Checking the shutdown MSA
Some users prefer to remove this component completely through ADB, but for most cases, simply revoke the rights. If you choose to use the method with a computer, the removal command looks like this:
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.msa.globalUsing this command requires the USB debugging mode enabled and the ADB installed on the PC. Be careful: removing system components can lead to system disruptions if you are not sure of your actions.
Managing Notifications from GetApps and Other Services
The GetApps app store (formerly the App Store) is another source of pop-ups, often sending notifications about “hot” games or promotions that appear on top of other apps, and you can turn them off in the store’s notification settings.
Open GetApps, go to your profile (human icon) and select Settings. Find App Auto Update and Notifications. You need to disable all recommendations, promotions and news items. Only leave critical system notifications if any.
It's also worth checking out other system applications that can generate spam. Often the ads come from Cleanup, Explorer, or Music. Go through the list of installed system applications in the settings and check their notification rights.
For Explorer and Cleanup, the algorithm is similar: go to the application settings through the three-dot menu and look for the option to Receive recommendations. In new versions of HyperOS, these settings can be placed in the general advertising menu.
Global Disconnection of Advertising Personalization
Modern versions of MIUI 13/14 and HyperOS have a single ad management center, which simplifies the task by allowing you to disable targeted advertising for all services at once, but this option is not always visible immediately and may require activation through additional menus.
Go to Settings → Passwords & Security → Privacy. Scroll down to Advertising Services (or Ad Personalization) and you will see the Ad Personalization switch here. Turn it off.
Once you shut down, the system will prompt you to confirm the action, which will prevent you from sharing your activity with your advertising partners, but the ads won't disappear completely, they'll just become less relevant, so you have to combine this with previous methods.
| Service | Where to look for settings | What's off? |
|---|---|---|
| Topics | Profile → Settings | Showing ads |
| GetApps | Profile → Settings | Push notifications |
| Security | Settings (cogs) | Receive recommendations |
| Conductor | Menu → Settings | On content |
Note that after major system updates, the paths to settings may change. If you do not find an item, search the settings by entering the keyword "advertising" or "recommend".
Blocking advertising in the browser and system widgets
Even after setting up the system, ads can pop up via the Mi Browser browser or desktop widgets. Xiaomi's built-in browser is known for its aggressive push notification policy from sites.
The best solution is not to use Mi Browser as your primary browser. Install Chrome, Firefox, or Brave and make them the default browser. If you use a built-in browser, go to its settings, look for the Privacy and Security section, and enable pop-up blocking. Also turn off notifications from sites in the Settings section.
Hot Apps or Glance widgets can also be a source of visual noise. To remove them, press the empty space on your desktop, select Add widgets or screen settings. Find the wallpaper carousel widget and remove it or turn it off in the screen locker settings.
⚠️ Warning: Wallpaper carousel often activates automatically when you first turn on your phone. Check lock screen settings: Settings → Lock screen → Wallpaper carousel and turn off the function.
For advanced users, there is a method of blocking ads at the DNS level, which allows you to cut off ads in all applications at once, including those that do not have ad settings.
dns.adguard.comTo apply this method, go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select “DNS Provider Host Name” and enter the address above. Save settings. This action can slightly increase network response time, but effectively cut off most ad traffic.
What to do if the advertisement remains (FAQ)
If you've done all the steps, but pop-ups are still popping up, it may be the third-party app you installed recently that often features free utilities, flashlights or "accelerators" showing ads on top of other windows.
Check the list of newly installed apps. Try removing those that are suspicious. Also look for apps that have "Above Other Windows" resolution. This permission can be found in Settings → Applications → Special Features → Display on top of other apps. Disable this right for all suspicious programs.
How to find hidden advertising in running processes?
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Integrated approach: combination of disconnection MSA, settings for each application and DNS-Filtering gives 100% results.
In rare cases, advertising can be a sign of infection of the device by a miner virus or Trojan. If the phone behaves strangely (heats, brakes, spontaneously opens sites), it is recommended to check it with an antivirus, for example, Dr.Web or a built-in scanner in Security.