How to turn off notifications on Xiaomi: the complete guide

Modern Xiaomi smartphones are equipped with a powerful shell MIUI, which, unfortunately, is famous for intrusive behavior. Users often face sudden pop-ups, advertising in system applications and constant reminders that interfere with the comfortable use of the device. This is especially true for owners of budget models, where monetization is carried out through the demonstration of third-party content.

This aspect cannot be ignored completely, as there are dozens of channels in the system, from standard application fluffs to system recommendations in the tool folder, all of which require special attention. In this article, we will discuss in detail how to turn off notifications on Xiaomi to turn a smartphone into a clean and convenient tool for work and entertainment.

It's important to understand that the setup process is not a one-time action. MIUI is regularly updated, and some items may change their location or name. However, the basic principles remain unchanged for many generations of smartphones, including the Redmi and Poco models.

Managing system notifications and recommendations

The first step towards a clean interface is to disable the system’s built-in recommendations, which Xiaomi is integrating into different sections to draw attention to its services, starting with setting up the home screen and application folder.

Go to Settings and find the Home Screen section, and you're interested in the Recommendation (or "Receive recommendations") section, and you need to put the slider inactive, and this will remove the extra icons and news feeds that often appear when swiping to the left.

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On some versions of MIUI, this item may be called "Wallpaper Carousel" or may be in the "Blocking and Protection" section.

Next, you should pay attention to the tool folder, which by default contains many pre-installed applications. To remove advertising blocks from there, click and hold your finger on the blank spot of the screen or press the Tools folder itself. In the menu that appears, select Settings and turn off the Receive Recommendations option.

• 📱 Open the settings of the main screen with a long press.
• 🚫 Find the "Recommendations" switch and turn it off.
• 🧹 Repeat the procedure for the Tools folder on the desktop.
• ⚙️ Check the widgets for the presence of advertising blocks.

And don't forget the control center. In the notification curtain, you often get suggestions to install games or apps. To turn this off, go to Settings → Notifications and Control Center → Status Bar. Find the Recommendation item and deaktivate it.

Disabling Advertising in Standard Applications

The most annoying factor for many users is advertising inside system utilities. Calendar, Explorer, Downloads and even Manager can display banners. Fortunately, there is a universal way to combat this phenomenon.

You need to find a service called msa (MIUI System Ads), which is responsible for downloading and displaying advertising content. Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to Personal Data (or “Special Features” → “Access to Data”).

In the application list, find msa and turn off the network access switch, the system will alert you that the service may be disrupted, and start a countdown of 10 seconds. Once it ends, click Cancel. If the first time failed, try repeating the procedure 2-3 times.

⚠️ Note: after disabling the msa service, ads in standard apps will stop loading, but the apps themselves may work in limited mode.

It's also worth checking the settings of each heavy app separately, for example, in the "Security" app (green zipper icon), you need to click on the gear in the upper right corner and turn off the "Receive recommendations" item, similar actions are required for "Conductor", "Download" and "Music".

Global management of application notifications

Beyond system advertising, users suffer from intrusive third-party apps, social media, games and stores are constantly demanding attention, and MIUI has a powerful tool for centrally managing all of these streams.

Go to Settings → Notifications and Control Center → Notification Management. This is a complete list of all installed programs. You can go to each application and flexibly configure what messages it can send.

Special attention should be paid to the category Important notifications, if you turn off this switcher for the application, its messages will come without sound or vibration, and will not appear on the lock screen, remaining only in the curtain, which is ideal for secondary services.

To completely ignore the application, use the Do Not Disturb function for specific contacts or groups, or completely disable notifications in the settings of a particular software. This will significantly prolong battery life, since the screen will light up less often.

There is also a Do Not Disturb mode that is activated through the control center, which allows you to allow calls only from selected contacts, completely isolating yourself from digital noise for the required time.

Setting up a spam blocker and filtering

The built-in antivirus and blocker Xiaomi is able not only to protect against viruses, but also to filter spam calls and SMS. However, by default, these functions can be configured not aggressively enough or, conversely, to block the desired numbers.

Open the Security app and scroll down to Lock. This is the Blacklist and filter settings. Click on the gear to open the settings. Make sure the options "Hide Block Notifications" and "Block Hidden Numbers" are enabled.

For a more fine-tuning, go to Message Filter, where you can add keywords that will automatically delete or hide SMS messages, which is useful for fighting off emails from banks and operators that are not critical.

• 🛡️ Open the Security app and select Lock".
• ⚙️ Click on the settings gear in the upper right corner.
• 🚫 Activate the blocking of hidden numbers and international calls.
• 📝 Add keywords to SMS filter for automatic cleaning.

⚠️ Warning: Enabling aggressive SMS filtering may cause you to miss confirmation codes from banks or important services if they contain stop words.

Cleaning the Downloads folder and storage notifications

A frequent problem is a constant pop-up that says memory is full or notifications from the system about downloaded files, which is especially true for models with a small amount of built-in storage.

To get rid of download notifications, you need to clear the corresponding folder. Open the Explorer or Files app and go to the Download folder. Delete any unnecessary installation files (.apk), documents and images.

Also, check the storage notifications. Some versions of MIUI have a separate Download app that hangs in the background. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, find Downloads (or Downloads) and in the Notifications section, disable them from displaying.

You also need to set up automatic cleaning, and the Security app has a Cleanup function, and start scanning and remove the debris that you've been asked to do, and that will make room for the system to remove the space-scarcity warnings.

Additional hidden settings MIUI

For advanced users, there are deeper methods to disable notifications that are not visible in the regular menu, and they allow you to remove even those interface elements that are usually hidden from the owner’s eyes.

One of these methods involves turning off Mi Video and Mi Music services even if you don't use them. These apps often generate background noise. Go to Settings → Apps, find those services, and select Disable or Remove Updates, then disable them from all permissions.

You can also use the developer mode to change the behavior of the system, which requires 7 clicks on the MIUI version in the About Phone section, and you can find the "Enable ADB Check" or animation settings on the developer menu, which indirectly affects the interface's response rate to notifications.

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A comprehensive approach to setting up MIUI allows you to completely get rid of visual noise, turning your smartphone into a minimalist tool without unnecessary advertising.

Don’t forget to check for updates regularly. With new versions of MIUI 13, MIUI 14 and HyperOS, the company is gradually rolling out more privacy and advertising management tools to make the setup process easier.