How to remove MSA on Xiaomi without root rights: expert guide

Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphone owners often face intrusive system advertising that appears in standard apps and interfaces, a process that is handled by a system component called MSA (MIUI System Ads), whose primary goal is to monetize budget devices, but for the user this often means unnecessary notifications and slowdowns.

The good news is that you can remove or disable this service even without getting root rights. With standard MIUI or HyperOS shells, you can significantly reduce the activity of ad modules, and with the help of a computer and the ADB tool, completely deactivate them.

In this article, we will discuss proven methods of combating system advertising, how to properly configure the developer parameters, what packets to hide through ADB, and why simple deletion of files is not always effective. Full deactivation of MSA is possible only by disabling the relevant system services, not deleting files.

What is MSA and why it interferes with the smartphone

MSA is an acronym for MIUI System Ads. It is a legitimate system process integrated into the MIUI shell that is responsible for collecting usage statistics and displaying advertising content. It runs in the background, consuming CPU and RAM resources, which can adversely affect the autonomy of the device.

Many users confuse this process with viruses or malware, but it is a regular component of the system, whose task is to analyze your actions in standard applications such as Explorer, Music or Browser to offer relevant advertising. Disabling this service will not disrupt the basic functions of the phone, but will make the use of the interface cleaner.

It is important to understand that it is easy to remove APK-A file without superuser rights is not going to work because it's protected by system permissions. However, we can make the system forget it exists or prevent it from running, and this is done by disabling the relevant services and hiding the packets.

⚠️ Note: Before making any changes to system settings or use ADB-While the procedure is safe, an accidental power failure or user error can lead to unpredictable results.

Preparation of the device for the shutdown procedure

Before you start the action, you need to prepare your smartphone. First of all, make sure that the device is on debugging mode via USB. Without this setting, the computer will not be able to send commands to the phone. To activate, go to Settings → About phone and quickly press the MIUI build number seven times.

Once you have been notified that you have become a developer, go back to the main settings menu and find the option Additional → For Developers. In the list that opens, activate the USB Debugging Switch. It is also recommended to enable the option “Debug over USB (Security Settings)” if it is available in your firmware version, although this is not always required for a basic MSA disable.

You will also need a computer (Windows, macOS or Linux) and USB-Good quality cable. You need to install drivers on your PC. ADB. The easiest way to download the ready-made Platform Tools package from the official Android website or use minimalist installers ADB Drivers. check the connection by connecting the cable and confirming the debugging request on the smartphone screen.

• 📱 Turn on Developer Mode by pressing 7 times on build number.
• 🔌 Activate debugging on USB developer menu.
• 💻 Install the drivers. ADB Platform Tools on the computer.
• 🔋 Charge the device to at least 50% to avoid shutdown.

It is important to use an original or certified cable. Cheap cables often only support charging and don't transmit data, which will lead to errors when trying to connect to a computer. If the computer can't see the phone, try another one. USB-port.

Disabling Advertising through MIUI System Settings

The first and easiest step is to turn off the main ad services through the regular menu. This won't remove the MSA completely, but will significantly reduce the number of pop-ups. Start by turning off recommendation receipt. Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to personal data.

In the application list, find msa and turn off the slider. The system will alert you to a 10-second countdown timer before turning off. Press "Disable." If the first time fails (the system can write "Disabled to Receive Information"), try repeating the procedure 3-5 times in a row until the timer appears.

Then you turn off MIUI Daemon, which also collects statistics, and find it in the same menu and deny access. After that, go to the settings of each standard application (Security, Explorer, Downloads, Music, Video) and find the "Receive recommendations" item by turning it off. This will remove the ad blocks from the application interface.

Some users note that after updating the firmware settings can be reset, in which case the procedure must be repeated, it is also worth checking the settings of the application Security, as this is often the source of push notifications about "viruses" or "junk" that are actually advertising.

Using ADB for deep cleaning of the system

If the usual methods did not help to get rid of intrusiveness completely, Android Debug Bridge (ADB) comes to the rescue, which allows you to send commands directly to the operating system, bypassing the user interface, and you can disable or hide system packages that can not be removed in the usual way.

Connect your smartphone to your computer, open the command prompt (cmd) or terminal in the ADB folder, and enter the adb device command. The phone screen should show a window requesting debugging permission — click "Always Allow" and "OK." If a device with device status appears on the list, the connection is successfully installed.

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.misys


adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.statementservice




adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.analytics

These commands disable system analysis and MIUI services related to advertising. The disable-user command does not physically remove the application, but makes it invisible to the system and the user, stopping it from working. This is safer than completely removing it, since in case of problems, the component can be easily returned by the enable command.

After completing the commands, it is recommended to restart the device. If after restarting you notice unstable work of standard applications (for example, the theme store or browser stopped opening), you can return the changes. --user 0 <packet>.

Alternative methods and third-party utilities

For those who don’t want to mess with the command line, there are graphical shells for ADB. Programs like Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot Tools or Universal Android Debloater allow you to manage system applications through a user-friendly interface. They automatically identify the connected device and offer a list of packages to remove or disable.

However, using third-party software carries risks: you trust the program to access your system, and an error in the script of such a utility can lead to the "fixing" of the phone or the removal of critical components. Manual method through the console described above gives full control over the process and allows you to see the exact responses of the system to each action.

Another method is to use ad-blocking apps like AdGuard or Blokada, which work at the DNS or local VPN level, filtering traffic and preventing ad servers from downloading content, which does not remove MSA, but effectively blocks it from working on the network.

💡

Use an ad-blocking DNS (e.g., dns.adguard.com) in your private DNS settings on Android 9 and higher, which will block ads in many apps without installing additional software.

Possible problems and solutions

In the process of disabling MSA users