Xiaomi’s modern smartphones and its sub-brand Redmi have earned a lot of popularity due to their excellent price-performance ratio, but users often face aggressive monetization policies that include system banners, pop-ups and intrusive offers in standard applications, a phenomenon that has become a kind of cost-effective device, but it is not necessarily tolerated.
Embedded advertising is not just annoying with visual noise, it also consumes traffic, consumes battery power and can slow down the interface. Fortunately, the MIUI operating system and its successor HyperOS allow you to manage these processes with a lot of flexibility. In this article, we will examine in detail the mechanisms of the company’s advertising services and provide a step-by-step algorithm for their complete shutdown.
The process of clearing the interface of marketing content does not require root rights or complex reflashing. All actions can be performed using standard system tools, taking about 10-15 minutes to do this, the result will be a clean, fast and personalized interface that will work solely for your interests, not for the interests of advertisers.
Mechanisms of the MIUI advertising system
To effectively combat unwanted content, you need to understand how it gets to your screen. The main tool for data collection and targeting in the Xiaomi ecosystem is the MSA service (MIUI System Ads), which is the system process responsible for analyzing your actions, creating an advertising profile and showing the corresponding banners in various sections of the shell.
Advertising integrations are deeply embedded in standard applications: Security, Downloads, Music, Video, Explorer, and even the lock menu. System algorithms track app usage, geolocation, and search queries to offer the most relevant yet intrusive ads. Turning off one parameter is often not enough, as the system uses multiple channels for content delivery.
It is important to distinguish between personalized ads that are based on your interests and system recommendations that are enabled by default in all folders and menus. The former can be limited through privacy settings, while the latter require manual disabling in each particular application. Understanding this difference will help you conduct a more thorough cleaning of the system.
- 📱 System services: background processes such as MSA, telemetry-gatherer.
- 📢 Built-in applications: standard software, which is a platform for placing banners.
- 🔒 Account ecosystem: linking your advertising ID to your Mi Account.
⚠️ Note: Complete removal of system files responsible for advertising through root access may lead to unstable system operation or loss of warranty. Use only the standard disabling methods described in the instructions.
Disabling MSA Service and Advertising Identifiers
The first and most important step is to deactivate the main ad service. Without disabling the MSA, all other settings may be ineffective, as this process takes priority and can restore the settings of the ad display. The procedure requires care, as the system will try to keep the user on, suggesting that the functions are left on.
To start, you need to go to the phone settings menu, find the Password and Security section or additionally where the Personal Data Access item is located. In the application list that opens, find msa and switch to the "Off" position, the system will warn you of the consequences and start a countdown timer (usually 10 seconds), after which you will need to confirm the action.
Often, the first time you can't turn off the service, because of connection errors or interface failures. If the "Disable" button is inactive or an error message appears, just try again. It usually takes 3-5 attempts for the system to finally allow the process to be completed, which is the standard behavior of the protection of the ad module.
☑️ Checking the shutdown MSA
After successful disabling of the MSA, you must delete the advertising ID. Go to Settings → Password and Security → Privacy → Advertising Services. Here you should activate the option “Disable Ad Personalization” and click “Reset Advertising ID” button. This action breaks the link between your device and the accumulated profile of interests.
- 🚫 Access to data: ban the service MSA personal information.
- 🔄 Reset ID: Reset the advertising identifier to reset the accumulated data.
- ⏳ Patience: Be prepared to re-activate the service several times in a row.
⚠️ Attention: After the service is disconnected MSA Some features, such as personalized themes in the Mi Themes store or recommendations in the Mi browser, may stop working correctly or display content.
Configuring standard system applications
Even after the main service is disabled, individual apps can continue to display ads if they don't change their internal settings. Each standard Xiaomi app has its own Get Recommendations switch, which is often turned on by default.
Start with the Security app. Open it, click on the settings gear in the top right corner, and find "Get recommendations." Turn it off. Then go to the "Clean up" section inside the app and also turn off recommendation notifications. Similar steps should be taken for the Downloads app: click three dots in the corner, select "Settings" and tick off "Show recommended content."
The File Manager app is similar. Go to the menu, select Settings → About (or Settings in new versions) and find the Guidelines section. Turn off recommendations and popular files. In the Music and Video app, you also need to go to the settings and find Receive recommendations to remove banners from the home page.
Hidden browser settings
Don't forget the Themes app. Go to your user profile, then to Settings, and turn off the "Show Ads," "Personal Recommendations," and "Autoplay Videos," which will clear the store of pop-ups and videos when you view the directory.
- 🧹 Security: disabling recommendations in the settings and cleaning module.
- 📂 Explorer: ban on display of popular files and news.
- 🎵 Multimedia: Cleaning the Application Interface Music and Video.
⚠️ Note: The interface and menu item names may vary slightly depending on the version MIUI (12, 13, 14) or regional firmware (Global, China, EU). Search for keywords “Recommendations” or “Receive offers».
Eliminating Advertising on Desktop and in Folders
One of the most annoying things about MIUI is that it has ad carousels and recommended apps in folders on the desktop, and when you open a folder with multiple icons, you can see a line at the bottom that suggests you download games or utilities, and it's pretty simple to remove that, but it requires you to know where you're going to set up.
To turn off the ad in the folders, open any folder on your desktop. Click on the folder name to make the keyboard appear, but don't type in the text. Instead, look at the area called -- there may be a Recommended switch. If there isn't, press the empty space on your desktop, select Settings, and find "Recommendations in folders" or "Receive recommendations." Put the switch to an inactive state.
Also, the desktop may have a "Wallpaper Carousel" feature active, which constantly changes the lock background and shows the news feed with advertising inserts when unlocked. To turn it off, go to Settings → Always on screen and lock screen → Wallpaper carousel and turn off the function. This will return a static image and speed up the unlocking of the device.
Another source of visual noise is the video widget or the Mi Video widget on your desktop, and if you don't use the built-in video player to view online content, it's best to remove this widget completely from your desktop. Click on it and select Delete. This won't remove the app itself, but it will remove the source of the banners from your screen.
- 📁 Folders: Disabling recommendations within application groups.
- 🖼️ Carousel: Removing News Feed from Lock Screen.
- 🗑️ Widgets: Removing advertising modules from the desktop.
Comparison of cleaning methods: efficiency and risks
There are several approaches to combating advertising: from standard settings to the use of third-party software and ADB-Each method has its pros and cons, which should be considered before starting a system modification. Below is a table to help you choose the best way to suit your level of training.
| Method | Efficiency | Difficulty | Risks. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff settings (MSA) | Tall. | Low. | Minimum |
| Disconnection through ADB | Maximum | Tall. | Average (a team error) |
| Third-party launchers | Medium | Medium | Low. |
| Modified firmware | Complete. | Very high. | High (loss of warranty) |
Use of the command line ADB (Android Debug Bridge allows you to physically remove the system packages responsible for advertising, which is the most radical method. USB» In the “Developers” menu, connect your phone to your PC and enter commands like pm uninstall. -k --user 0 com.miui.msa.global.This guarantees the removal of ads, but requires caution.
Installing a third-party launcher, such as Nova Launcher or Launcher 3, replaces the desktop and application menus, automatically hides recommendations in MIUI folders and widgets, but does not disable background data collection services, an ideal method for those who want to radically change the appearance of the interface without deep interference with the system.
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The combination of a regular MSA shutdown and a clean launcher setup gives the best balance between system security and no advertising.
Modified firmware (Global EU, xiaomi.eu) is created by enthusiasts and already contains cut-out advertising modules, and installing such firmware requires unlocking the bootloader, which is officially authorized by the company, but resets the warranty in some regions and requires resetting all data (Wipe Data).
Additional protection measures and optimization
After making the basic settings, it is recommended to check the system for residual traces. Often, advertising can come through notifications from specific applications that you installed yourself. Go through the list of installed programs and turn off notifications for those that do not need them, especially for applications with coupons, games and utilities.
You should also look at GetApps, which even if you don't use it, can send you discount and update notifications. Go to your phone's settings, find Notifications, select GetApps, and disable all notifications. You can turn it off under Apps → All Apps by finding it on the list.
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Use ad-blocking DNS (such as AdGuard DNS) in your Wi-Fi and mobile settings, which will help block banner ads within some apps and on sites that are independent of MIUI system services.
Check system updates periodically. Sometimes, after a major MIUI update or a HyperOS upgrade, some settings may reset to factory settings, in which case you will have to re-check the MSA and application recommendations, which is a normal practice of updating security profiles and default settings.
- 🔔 Notifications: thorough permission checks for all installed applications.
- 🛍️ GetApps: Completely shutting down the Xiaomi app store.
- 🔄 Updates: control of settings after system update.
⚠️ Warning: Do not install questionable Anti-Ads applications from unknown sources that require wide permissions; they can steal your data or become a source of advertising themselves.