How to Remove Ads on Xiaomi: A Complete Guide to Cleaning Your System

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face intrusive ads that appear in standard apps and even on the desktop, the result of MIUI’s built-in marketing mechanism and HyperOS’ new shell designed to monetize budget devices. However, for most users, these pop-ups become a source of irritation, distracting from the main use of the gadget.

Fortunately, the company's engineers have left the privacy tweaks to significantly reduce the amount of advertising content, so you don't need super-user rights or complex reprogramming, you just need to go through the settings menu consistently and disable a few key settings that are responsible for personalization and recommendations.

In this guide, we will look at proven methods that are relevant for current firmware versions in 2026.We will look at both standard system tools and advanced ways to lock through DNS and remove system components. Complete disabling of the MSA service (MIUI System Ads) is the most effective way to get rid of banners in the interface.

Disabling Advertising Personalization in the System

The first step to a clean system is to eliminate targeted advertising, and the system collects your preferences to show relevant ads, but this feature can be easily deactivated, a basic setup that must be done first by any device owner.

To do this, go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to Personal Data. Here you will see a list of system services that have access to your information. Find msa (MIUI System Ads) and turn off the slider. The system will warn you of a 10 second countdown timer — wait for it to end and confirm the action.

⚠️ Note: If the switch returns to its original position after several attempts, it means that the msa.exe process is blocked by background services.

Next, you need to turn off personalization in the ad service itself. Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Privacy → Advertising Services. Here you need to deactivate the option “Personalized Ads.” This action will not remove the ad completely, but will make it less intrusive and stop collecting data about your interests for targeting.

Cleaning Standard Applications from Spam

Advertising integrations are deeply embedded in the company’s standard software, and banners are especially common in the Music, Video, Explorer and Cleanup apps, each with its own settings that need to be checked separately from the overall system settings.

In the Security app, ads often appear after the scan or memory is finished. To fix this, open the app, click on the settings gear in the upper right corner and find the General section. Here you should turn off the "Get recommendations" option. Similar actions are required for the Explorer application: menu → Settings → Information → disable "Get recommendations."

• 🎵 Music: Menu → Settings → Advanced settings → Disable “Show advertisements».
• 🎬 Video: Profile → Settings → disable “Online Services” and “Receive Notifications».
• 📂 Downloads: Three dots in the corner → Settings → Disable “Show recommended content».
• 🧹 Cleaning: Settings → disable "Receive recommendations».

The Themes app requires special attention. This is where the most common banners pop up on the full screen when you unlock or in the directory. Go to profile, then to the settings and find the option "Settings." Uncheck the boxes "Show ads" and "Personal recommendations." This will significantly clean the interface of the the theme store.

Setting up Mi Browser and News Feed

Xiaomi’s standard browser is known for its aggressive policy of displaying news and ad units. Many users prefer not to use it, but if you need it, it can be made much cleaner.

To minimize spam, open your browser, go to settings (three bars) → Settings → Privacy and security. You need to disable all items related to Popular Sites, News Feed and Notifications. It is also recommended that you select the display of the search bar only in the Home Page section, removing the news block.

The news feed on the desktop (to the left of the main screen) is also a source of information noise. To remove it, swipe right on the home screen, click on the settings icon (cog) in the upper corner, and turn off the "Ribbon" switch, which will return you to a clean desktop without unnecessary information.

Blocking Advertising through DNS (Private DNS)

One of the most effective methods of combating advertising throughout the system, including games and third-party applications, is the use of private DNS. This method does not require the installation of additional software and works at the network connection level.

The method is to redirect requests to ad servers to nowhere. Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select the DNS Host Name mode and enter the address of one of the verified blocking services.

The most popular and stable solution is the AdGuard DNS service. In the input field, you must specify the following address:

dns.adguard.com

Once you save your settings, restart your smartphone. Now all requests to known ad networks will be blocked at the network level, which also helps to hide your traffic from the provider and improves overall connection security on public Wi-Fi networks.

⚠️ Attention: Use of third-party DNS-servers may cause some local services of the operator or corporate portals to fail. If you encounter problems accessing certain sites, temporarily disable Private DNS.

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Use NextDNS to create your own lock profile, where you can flexibly configure lists of blocked domains, keep query statistics, and enable parental controls remotely.

Removing system components through ADB

For advanced users who want to get rid of advertising and unload the system, there is a method of removing system packages through USB debugging. This method requires connecting a smartphone to a computer and using the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) toolkit.

Before starting the procedure, activate the developer mode. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click on the build number (MIUI Version) 7 times. Then, in the menu “Additional” → “Development by USB” for developers, you may also need to enable “Debugging by USB (Security settings)”.

Connect your phone to your PC, install drivers and the SDK Platform Tools platform. Open the command line in the ADB folder and enter a command to check the connection:

adb devices

You'll see a request for debugging permission on your smartphone screen, confirm it. Once you've successfully connected, you can start removing the ad units. Be very careful: removing system components can cause the device to malfunction.

• 📦 com.miui.misys – system service (delete with caution).
• 📦 com.miui.daemon - statistics collection.
• 📦 com.android.browser – standard browser (if not required).
• 📦 com.miui.video – Video app (if not used).

The command to remove is as follows: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 name packet. For example, to remove the analytics service: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.analytics. This action does not remove the application physically from the recovery section, but makes it inactive for the current user.

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Removing system packets via ADB is a radical method that requires accuracy. Always check the purpose of the packet before removing it so that the system does not disrupt the system.

Comparison of methods and possible problems

The choice of method depends on your technical training and the desired result. Simple disabling of settings is safe, but leaves some background processes. DNS-filtering is effective against banners, but can slow down the opening of sites. ADB It gives the maximum result, but carries risks.

Often, users find that after updating the firmware, all settings are reset, this is the normal behavior of HyperOS and MIUI. In this case, the configuration procedure will have to be repeated, and regular checks of application updates in the GetApps store can also return advertising modules.

If you notice a strong decrease in performance or heating of the device after manipulation, try resetting the network settings or, in extreme cases, a complete reset to factory settings with pre-saving data.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)