How to remove ads on Xiaomi Redmi 9: step-by-step instructions

Xiaomi smartphones and their budget line of Redmi have won the market thanks to excellent price-performance ratio, but users are often annoyed by intrusive advertising built into the shell of MIUI. Owners of the Redmi 9 model are especially often faced with sudden pop-ups in system applications, browser and even desktop.

Complete removal of advertising debris requires sequential execution of several actions in different settings sections. System advertising is broadcast through special service applications, which are activated by default immediately after the purchase of the device, ignoring these settings leads to constant consumption of traffic and reduced speed of the gadget.

In this guide, we’ll take a look at all the effective ways to clean banners and promotions from the interface. You’ll learn to disable the main ad module, customize personalization, and block trackers at the DNS level. After completing all the steps, your Redmi 9 will become significantly cleaner and more responsive.

Disabling the MSA system service

The main source of annoying pop-ups is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) system application, which is responsible for downloading and displaying banner ads in standard utilities, and to get rid of advertising, you first need to disable the authorization of this service, and then remove its rights.

The deactivation process requires care, because the off button only becomes active through a standby timer, an artificial restriction designed to make it difficult to abandon advertising services, but it is easy to bypass by just waiting 10 seconds. If you turn off the Internet before you try again, the process will go faster and without connection errors.

Follow the following steps to block the service:

• 📱 Open Settings and go to Password and Security.
• 🔒 Find the access to personal data (or "permissions").
• 📉 In the list, find the msa application and transfer the switch to the "Off" position".
• ⏳ Wait 10 seconds until the Disconnect button is active and confirm the action.

⚠️ Warning: If the system gives an error "Failure to disable", do not panic. 2-3 Once you have made sure that the Internet connection is stable, or, conversely, temporarily turn off Wi-Fi.

Customization of personalization and recommendations

In addition to the explicit MSA service, the recommendation personalization function is responsible for collecting your preferences and showing relevant offers, it analyzes the history of using applications to offer content in folders and system widgets, and disabling this feature significantly increases the level of privacy.

The path to these settings may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI firmware installed on your Redmi 9. In the newer versions of the shell, Xiaomi has put these settings into a separate security menu. Older versions may hide them deeper in the overall system settings.

To completely disable data collection, do:

• 🛡️ Go to the Safety app (green icon with lightning).
• ⚙️ Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Settings.
• 📊 Find the Advertising Personalization or Recommendations section.
• 🚫 Turn off all switches related to getting recommendations and personalization.

You should also check the settings of the desktop itself, and if you press the blank space of the screen and select Settings, you can remove the tick from "Get recommendations," and that will remove the news feed and the advertising widgets from the left screen.

Cleaning Standard Apps from Advertising

Ad integrations are embedded deep in Xiaomi's standard utilities: Explorer, Music, Video and even the Theme app can display banners. Fortunately, each has a hidden switch to remove that visual noise.

Start with the Explorer app. Open it, click on the menu (three bars) and select Settings. Inside, find About apps and turn off the Receive Recommendations slider. A similar procedure is required for the Music app: go to the menu, select Settings -> Advanced Settings, and uncheck the "Show Ads."

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In the application "Themes" advertising can be removed if in the "Profile" section click on the settings and disable "Personal recommendations", although completely hide banners in the theme store is not always possible without third-party launchers.

For the video application (Mi Video), the algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. Open the application and go to the Profile (human) tab.
2. Press the Settings gear.
3. Find the Settings section and turn off the Online Recommendations option.
4. Also in the About section of the program often hides the ad switch.

Don't forget to check the Downloads app. Sometimes the ads appear there as a "Recommended Files" banner. Turn off the recommendation feature in the app's settings.

Blocking Advertising through DNS (Private DNS)

The most effective method that works globally for the entire device is to use Private DNS (Private DNS). This method allows you to redirect all requests of advertising servers to nowhere, blocking the loading of banners not only in the system, but also in the browser, and in some games.

You don't need root rights or third-party software to set up, and it's built into Android 9 and up, which is on Redmi 9. You need to write in the address of a dedicated server that filters traffic. One of the most popular and reliable is the AdGuard server.

Instructions for activation:

• 📶 Go to the smartphone settings.
• 🔗 Go to Connection and Sharing (or "Wi-Fi").
• 🌐 Find a private item DNS (It may be in the "Additional" section").
• ✍️ Select the hostname of the provider DNS and type in: dns.adguard.com
• 💾 Save the settings.

⚠️ Attention: After Enablement of Private DNS Some apps or sites may stop working correctly if they use aggressive advertising for the functionality".

This method also helps to save traffic, since advertising content simply does not load on the device.

Comparison of methods of advertising removal

There are many ways to combat intrusive marketing, but not all of them are equally effective and safe. Some methods require technical knowledge, others are available to each user. Below is a table to help you choose the best strategy for your use case.

As you can see from the table, the disconnection combination MSA use DNS It gives the best result without the need to connect a smartphone to a computer. ADB-The command should be used only by experienced users, as the removal of system components can lead to unstable operation. MIUI.

Additional tips and cleaning the browser

Even after setting up the system, ads can continue to flow through the browser.The built-in Mi Browser is known for its aggressive news policy. It is recommended that it be either carefully customized or replaced with cleaner counterparts such as Via Browser, DuckDuckGo or Firefox with uBlock Origin installed.

If you prefer to stay on a standard browser, go to its settings. Find the Settings -> Privacy and Security section. You need to disable all items related to Personalization, Site Notifications and Recommendations. It is also useful to clear the browser cache through the Data Clear menu.

Another important point is notifications from sites, which often allow the sites to send notifications, which then turn into advertising spam.

• 🔔 Go to Settings -> Notifications -> Management of notifications.
• 🌐 Find your browser in the list of applications.
• 🚫 Turn off notifications completely or select Block for suspicious sites.

⚠️ Warning: Do not install questionable cleaners and antiviruses from Play Market in the hope of removing ads. Often they themselves are the source of pop-ups and collect user data.

Regularly checking installed apps will help identify the source of the ad if it comes suddenly.Remove newly installed programs, especially flashlights, QR scanners and simple games, which are often sinned by intrusive banners.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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A comprehensive approach, including disabling MSA, configuring DNS and cleaning applications, ensures maximum comfort of using Xiaomi without intrusive advertising.