How to ban ads on Xiaomi phone: the complete guide

Xiaomi smartphone owners often encounter intrusive content that appears in system applications and the browser.This is not a bug, but part of the company’s marketing strategy to keep the cost of devices low. However, annoying banners, pop-up windows in folders and recommendations in standard utilities significantly reduce the comfort of using the gadget. Fortunately, the MIUI operating system and HyperOS allow you to flexibly manage these parameters.

In this article, we will look at proven ways to help you completely remove ads from the lock screen, from the conductor, music player and other system applications. We will not use third-party root rights, which ensures the security of your data and the stability of the operating system. Follow the steps consistently to clean the interface of digital noise.

It's worth noting that some changes may require a device reboot or re-use after a major firmware update. Disabling system services is a safe procedure, but it requires careful choice of parameters. Let's take a look at all the methods from the simplest settings to advanced traffic blocking techniques.

MSA Disconnection: The Main Source of Advertising

At the heart of Xiaomi’s advertising ecosystem is the MIUI System Ads (msa), which is responsible for collecting your preferences and displaying targeted banners in the interface, and the first and most important step is to deactivate this service through the authorization menu.

You need to go to your account settings and find the appropriate switch. The process can seem a little confusing, as the system will try to hold the user by suggesting that you wait or cancel the action. Persistence is key here: you will have to confirm your decision several times, ignoring countdown timers.

⚠️ Attention: When you turn off the msa service, the system may display an error message several times or ask you to wait 10 seconds. This is the standard behavior of accidental shutdown protection. Just press "Disable" again until the switch turns gray.

After the action is completed, the ads in most embedded applications will disappear instantly, but in some cases, the changes will only take effect after the device is restarted. If you use Redmi Note or Poco, the algorithm of actions remains the same for all models.

• 📱 Open Settings and go to Passwords and Security.
• 🔐 Select Access to Personal Data (or Authorization and Privacy).
• 🔍 Find in the msa list and switch the switch to the off state.
• ⏳ Wait. 10 Then, click the retraction (repeat). 2-3 times, if required).

It is important to understand that disabling msa does not affect the operation of the basic functions of the phone, but can limit personalization in the theme store.

Setup of Xiaomi system applications

Even after the main service is disabled, some built-in utilities continue to show recommendations unless the corresponding ticks are removed in their individual settings. Each MIUI application has its own Receive Recommendations switch, which is often activated by default.

Starting at the most prominent place, the desktop and folders, is where the most annoying suggestions to download games or install apps come in, and to remove them, you need to (clamb) an empty space on the screen or open the settings of a particular application through the menu.

In File Explorer, ads often appear in the "Recent" or "Clean Up" section, and you also need to find the recommendations settings and disable them, a similar situation is observed in the Security app, which regularly offers to clear the cache or speed up work, while showing banner ads.

Don't forget to check the Themes app. Even if you don't use third-party designs, it can stream content to the lock screen. In the Profile section, find your settings and check boxes for personalization and notifications.

After processing the list of system utilities, your smartphone will become significantly cleaner. Manual configuration of each application takes only a couple of minutes, but the result lasts for a long time. If you upgrade to HyperOS, the paths to the menu may differ slightly, but the logic remains the same.

We remove ads in the Mi Browser browser

Xiaomi’s standard browser is one of the most active sources of advertising traffic, not only showing banners in the news feed, but it can also open pop-ups when visiting websites.

First, you need to clear the news feed on the homepage, which eliminates the endless stream of articles and videos that are often irrelevant to your interests, and then activate the built-in ad blocker that filters out known ad networks.

• 🌐 Open your browser and click on the profile icon or three menu bars.
• 🛡️ Go to Settings. → Confidentiality and security.
• 🚫 Activate the switch Ad Blocking.
• 📰 In the Settings section of the main page, disable the News Feed and Popular".

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If the built-in Mi Browser blocker skips ads on specific sites, consider installing an alternative browser, such as Firefox with uBlock Origin or Brave addons.

It’s also worth checking the browser permissions, sometimes requesting notification access to show push messages from affiliate sites, and in the browser notification settings, disable all categories except possibly downloads.

If you prefer to use Chrome or Yandex, the ad settings are made separately, but the system pop-ups from Android itself can still pass, so a comprehensive approach to disabling msa remains a must.

Blocking Advertising via DNS (Private DNS)

One of the most effective and elegant ways to remove ads throughout the system is to use a private DNS, which works at the network level and doesn't require additional applications to be installed, and blocks requests to known ad servers before they even download content.

You don’t need root rights to implement this method, as the Private DNS feature has been built into Android since version 9. You can use public servers like AdGuard DNS, which specialize in traffic filtering. It’s a one-stop solution for all applications, including games and browsers.

dns.adguard.com

Enter this address in the appropriate network settings field, and once saved, the device will start redirecting everything. DNS-Filtering server requests: Advertising in free apps and browsers will stop loading, and Internet speed may even increase due to the lack of downloading heavy ad code.

⚠️ Note: When using a third party DNS Some sites or applications may not work properly if they rely on ad trackers for analytics. If you run into problems, just return the setting to Auto mode".

The advantage of DNS is that it's global, you don't have to climb every application's menu, you just need to write down the server address once, and you can filter traffic all the time, even when you switch between Wi-Fi and the mobile network.

Use of third-party blockers

If standard tools are not enough, specialized blocking applications come to the rescue, and AdGuard is the leader in this field. DNS-switches, such applications can filter HTTPS-traffic by creating local traffic VPN-data-packet analysis tunnel.

Installing such software requires special permissions, the system will warn that the application can monitor network activity, this is a necessary security measure for Android, but in the case of proven blockers, you should not be afraid. Local filtering does not send your data to third parties.

In addition to blocking ads in the browser, such programs can cut out ad blocks inside other applications, for example, they can hide the banner at the top of the free game or remove the video insert before launching the utility, which makes using a smartphone much more enjoyable.

• 📥 Download the AdGuard installer from the official website (in Google Play version is stripped down).
• 🔒 Grant permission to create VPN-connection.
• ⚙️ Turn on the filter. HTTPS (You will need to install a certificate).
• 🔄 Update filters regularly for maximum efficiency.

Keep in mind that a complex filter can only slightly increase battery consumption, but current algorithms are optimized to consume minimal CPU resources, and Xiaomi users also need to add a blocker to battery exclusions so that the system does not close it in the background.

Cleaning notifications and push-mailing

Often users confuse system advertising with intrusive notifications from installed applications: news, store offers, games - all of them are eager to get your attention.

Swipe down to open the curtain, and if you see an unnecessary notification, press it and select "Notification Settings." You can completely stop the app from showing banners or only disable certain categories, such as "Marketing" or "Recommendations."

Also in MIUI settings, there's a Notifications section where you can control the behavior of the lock screen, and turn off the content of the notifications if you don't want the text of the messages to be visible without unlocking, which will increase your privacy in public places.

Regularly reviewing installed apps helps keep your phone clean. Remove programs you don't use, as they often generate background ad traffic. Digital hygiene is key to making your smartphone work faster.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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An integrated approach (disabling MSA + DNS + application settings) ensures 99% cleanliness of the system from advertising debris.