Users of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often encounter intrusive advertising that appears in the form of pop-ups, banners in the interface or even as separate “chats” with offers. It is not a virus or an accidental failure, but a built-in mechanism for monetizing the MIUI and HyperOS operating system. MSA (MIUI System Ads) collects data about your actions and shows targeted offers that many consider garbage.
Fortunately, developers have left the options to disable these features, although sometimes they are hidden deep in the menu. In this article, we will discuss how to remove pop-up chats and block ads at the system level. You do not need root rights or complex software, you need enough care when setting up settings.
Some users confuse system advertising with real malicious applications. If a pop-up chat requires an antivirus installation or promises a win, it is no longer a regular feature of Xiaomi, but the result of installing third-party software. However, in 90% of cases, it is a regular service GetApps or MIUI Daemon that can be safely disabled.
The Nature of Pop-up Ads in MIUI and HyperOS
The main source of annoying windows is the MSA service, which is a system component that is responsible for displaying advertising content in standard applications: Music, Video, Explorer, Security, and even in the lock menu.
Users often notice pop-ups after installing apps from the GetApps store.This analog of the Google Play Store actively promotes games and utilities through push notifications that visually resemble chat messages. The system demon works in the background and requires a constant Internet connection to download new banners.
⚠️ Note: Completely delete system files through ADB This can cause the shell to work unstable, and we recommend using the shutdown method through settings or freezing to maintain the ability to restore the system.
It’s important to understand the difference between personalized ads and system notifications: the first one is tailored to your interests, the second one is just informing you about the new products in the Xiaomi directory. Disabling one option doesn’t always remove the other, so you need a comprehensive approach to setting up privacy.
Disabling the MSA service, the main source of advertising
The first and most important step is to disable the MSA service. This is the process that is responsible for loading and displaying the ad modules. Without it, the rest of the settings may not work. The procedure requires several actions to be performed in a particular order, as the system will try to "persuade" you to leave the ad on.
Go to your smartphone settings and find the Password and Security section. In the menu list, select Access to Personal Data (or "Authorization and Privacy" in new versions), and it shows a list of system services that have access to your data.
The system will start a countdown of 10 seconds, then require you to confirm the action. Press "Cancel." If the first time you muncul message about a network error or timeout, do not panic. Xiaomi servers are often overloaded, and the first time you turn off the service is not always possible. Repeat the attempt 3-5 times until you see a message about a successful revocation.
☑️ Shutdown checklist MSA
After a successful MSA shutdown, it is recommended to restart the device, so that the background processes associated with advertising are completely completed. In some cases, especially on older versions of MIUI 11-12, this step completely removes pop-ups.
Setup of system applications and GetApps
Even after disabling MSA, some apps may continue to show recommendations, due to the individual settings of each system component, and special attention should be paid to the GetApps app store, which is often a source of pop-up chats with suggestions for updates or install games.
To clean GetApps, open the app, go to your profile (human icon) and select Settings. Find Notifications and disable all items related to recommendations, promotions and news. It’s also helpful to go to Settings → Notifications in Android itself and prevent this app from displaying notifications on the lock screen.
- 📱 Open GetApps → Profile → Settings → Notifications → Shut it down.
- 🛑 Go to your phone settings. → Annexes → GetApps → Notifications → Banned.
- 🗑️ In the "General settings" section inside the store, uncheck the box from the item "Show recommendations".
Don't forget to check the other standard apps. In Explorer (Files), you need to go to the settings and turn off "Receive recommendations." In the Themes app, similarly: Profile → Settings → Updates and notifications. In Music and Video, look for "Receive recommendations" in the settings menu and deactivate it.
What if GetApps is deleted but returned?
Blocking ads in the browser and site notifications
Often users call pop-up chats the ad windows from sites they have visited before. This is not a virus, but user-authorized push notifications from web resources. The browser (be it Chrome, Mi Browser or DuckDuckGo) shows them even when the browser itself is closed.
To remove this, open your browser settings. In Chrome, the path looks like: Settings → Site settings → Notifications. Here you will see a list of sites that are allowed to send notifications, select suspicious or all at once and click "Delete" or "Block".
For the built-in Mi Browser, the situation is similar, but the menu may differ. Go to Settings → Privacy and Security → Site settings → Notifications. It is recommended that sites be completely prohibited from sending notifications, since legitimate resources rarely use this channel for important information on mobile devices.
| source of advertising | Where to look for settings | Action. |
|---|---|---|
| Systemic (MSA) | Password and security → Access to data | Withdraw access |
| GetApps Store | GetApps → Profile → Settings | Disable notifications |
| Sites (Push) | Browser → Site settings | Lock everything down. |
| Garbage applications | Settings → Applications | Remove the unknown |
Checking for malware and hidden applications
If the pop-ups are still there after all the manipulations described above, it may be that real malware has hit the phone, often masquerading as system processes or not having an icon on the menu, and signs of infection are windows that appear on top of other applications, or chat rooms that offer to clean the phone of viruses.
Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps. Check the list carefully. Look for apps without a name, with an empty icon, or with suspicious names like Flash Player, Clear Master, System Update (if it’s not an official updater).
⚠️ Note: If the application is not removed through the standard menu, it may have device administrator rights. → Confidentiality → Device administrators and remove the rights from suspicious software before deleting.
For deep verification, you can use the built-in scanner in the Security application from Xiaomi or install a reliable antivirus from a well-known vendor, for example, Kaspersky or Dr.Web. One-time check will help to identify hidden miners or Trojans that generate traffic and advertising.
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Use Safe Mode for diagnostics. Press the turn off button, and when the menu comes up, keep your finger on "Stop" for a long time. The phone will suggest that you go to Safe Mode. If the ad is gone, the third-party app is to blame.
Radical methods: ADB and DNS-filtering
If the standard methods do not help, you can use more advanced tools. DNS-Filtering allows you to block ad requests at the network level without affecting the system files.
In the phone settings, find the Connection and Sharing (or “Additional Settings”) section. DNS (Private DNS). Select the mode "Host Name of the provider" DNS" And you can type in the address: dns.adguard.com. Save the settings. Now most ad domains will be automatically blocked.
For power users, the method is available through ADB (Android Debug Bridge), connecting the phone to the computer, you can command to completely freeze advertising packages that cannot be turned off in the interface.
adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.msa.global
adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.adservices.api
adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.personalassistantThese commands disable MSA, Google’s system ad services, and the widget tape to the left of the desktop. Be careful: using ADB requires USB debugging mode enabled and a basic understanding of command-line operation.
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Combination of shutdown MSA settings and installations DNS-AdGuard filter gives a 99% guarantee of getting rid of pop-up ads without losing the functionality of the smartphone.