Advertising when you turn on your Xiaomi phone: how to remove forever (all methods 2026)

You turn on your Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO, and instead of the usual desktop, you see annoying ads for apps, games or “special offers”? This is not a virus or a system failure – this is how the aggressive monetization of the MIUI branded shell works. The manufacturer embeds banner ads even in system notifications, lock screen and downloads to compensate for the low price of devices.

The good news is that most of these banners can be removed without root rights and complex manipulation. The bad news is that some types of advertising (such as those built into system applications) require drastic measures. In this guide, we will look at all the current ways to remove ads on Xiaomi in 2026, including hidden MIUI settings, disabling advertising services and alternative firmware.

Before you start, consider that some methods may conflict with system updates, for example, after the update of MIUI 15, some of the ad modules return, they will have to be blocked again, we noted such cases in the relevant sections.

1. disabling advertising in the MIUI settings (official method)

The easiest and safest method is to use built-in shell options. Xiaomi provides the option to disable some of the ads through the settings menu, but these options are often hidden or reset after updates.

Follow this path:

1. Open the Settings. → The phone.
2. Tap 7-10 times on the MIUI version until the notification “You became a developer” appears.
3. Return to the main settings menu and go to Additional → Special features → Settings for developers.
4. Activate the Disable MIUI Ads switch (if there is no such option, see the next section).

If there is no “Disable Advertising” option, try an alternative path:

• 📱 Settings → Annexes → Application management → Three dots (menu) → Show all the processes
• 🔍 Find the msa app (MIUI System Ads and turn it off.
• 🚫 For Mi Video, Mi Music and GetApps apps, turn off notifications and background activity.

⚠️ Note: On some regional versions MIUI (For example, in India or China, there may be no option to disable ads. №3.

2. Blocking advertising services through ADB (without root)

If standard settings don’t work, use USB debugging and ADB (Android Debug Bridge) commands, which doesn’t require superuser rights, but requires a computer and 10 minutes of time.

Step-by-step:

1. Download and install Google’s Platform Tools (or ADB AppControl for Windows).
2. On your phone, activate USB Debugging in Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (shoot 7 times) → Settings for developers.
3. Connect the phone to the PC and type in the command line:

adb shell pm hide com.android.browser


adb shell pm hide com.miui.systemAdSolution




adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.midrop




adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.analytics




adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.xiaomi.ab

These commands are off:

• 🌐 Built-in Mi Browser browser (main source of advertising).
• 📊 System analytical modules that collect data for targeted advertising.
• 📦 GetApps (Xiaomi app store with aggressive advertising).

⚠️ Note: After the reboot, some applications may be activated again. To fix the result, repeat the commands or use the App Quarantine to block background activity.

Install Platform Tools on PC|

Enable debugging over USB on your phone |

Connect the phone with the original cable |

Check the connection of the team `adb devices`-->

3. Removing Advertising through Hosts File Editing

Advertising banners are downloaded from Xiaomi servers at specific URLs, if you block access to these addresses, the system will not be able to display ads, and to do this, edit the hosts file, the system block list.

Instructions:

1. Download the Hosts Editor (root required) or Termux (no root required).
2. In Termux, type:

pkg update && pkg upgrade


pkg install nano




nano /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/etc/hosts

Add these lines to the end of the file (block the main Xiaomi ad servers):

127.0.0.1 ad.mi.com


127.0.0.1 data.mistat.xiaomi.com




127.0.0.1 sdkconfig.ad.intl.xiaomi.com




127.0.0.1 api.brs.intl.miui.com




127.0.0.1 globalapi.ad.xiaomi.com

Save the changes (Ctrl+O → Enter → Ctrl+X) and restart the phone.

💡

If the Internet disappears after editing the hosts file, check the syntax: each line should end with a line translation (click Enter after the last entry).

4. Installation of custom firmware (for advanced)

If none of the previous methods worked, the radical solution is to install an alternative firmware, which will completely remove all MIUI advertising modules, but will require unlocking the bootloader and potentially deprive you of warranty.

The best firmware options for Xiaomi:

• 📱 Xiaomi.eu – modified MIUI without advertising or Chinese services. OTA-update.
• 🤖 LineageOS is a clean Android without unnecessary apps. GAPPS.
• ⚡ Pixel Experience – firmware with Google Pixel interface and monthly security updates.

Step-by-step instructions for Xiaomi.eu:

1. Unlock the bootloader through Mi Unlock Tool (you need a Mi Account and wait 7-15 days).
2. Download the firmware for your model with XDA Developers.

⚠️ Attention: Installing custom firmware voids warranty and can result in a device blinking (inoperability) when errors occur. TWRP beforehand!

5.Use of third-party ad blockers

If you don’t want to edit your system files, installing specialized applications can be a compromise solution: they block ads at the DNS or VPN level without affecting the system components.

Top.-3 Advertising Blocking Apps on Xiaomi:

• 🛡️ Blokada – Blocks Advertising through VPN Free version with restrictions.
• 🌍 AdGuard – supports filters for MIUI It has a "low battery consumption" mode".
• 🔒 DNS66 — Open source software to block ads through change DNS (no root).

AdGuard settings for Xiaomi:

1. Download AdGuard from Google Play.
2. Enable HTTPS Filtering module in the settings.
3. Add custom filters: ||ad.mi.com^ ||data.mistat.xiaomi.com^ ||sdkconfig.ad.intl.xiaomi.com^
4. Activate App Protection for GetApps, Mi Video and Mi Browser.

The downside of this approach is that a VPN can increase battery consumption by 5-15%, but it works on any version of MIUI and does not require any interference with the system.

💡

Third-party ad blockers (such as AdGuard) may conflict with banking applications due to the use of VPNs.

6. Resetting the phone to factory settings (last resort)

If the adverts are after installing third-party apps or updating the system, a full reset can sometimes help, and this method will delete all user data, so only use it if other methods have not worked.

How to reset Xiaomi without losing important data

1. Back up via Settings → About Phone → Backup or Mi Cloud.
2. Go to Settings → About Phone → Resetting → Delete all data.
3. After the reboot, do not restore data from the backup – this can return advertising modules.
4. Set your phone as new by immediately disabling ads through Developer Settings (see method) №1).

If the ad came back after the reset, the problem is the firmware, and then only installing the custom version will help. MIUI (method №4) or switching to LineageOS.

7.How to prevent the return of ads after updates

Xiaomi regularly updates its advertising modules through MIUI System Updates to avoid the return of banners:

• 🔄 Turn off automatic system updates in Settings → The phone. → Updating the system → Three points. → Settings → Auto-update.
• 📵 Freeze system applications through the App Quarantine or ADB:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.xiaomi.ab


adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.analytics

For models with MIUI 14/15, it is also recommended to:

• Delete your Mi Account (if you are not using cloud services).
• Disable Personal Recommendations in Settings → Applications → App Management → GetApps.

Important: After each major MIUI update (e.g., version 14 to version 15), the ad modules may return. Check settings 1-2 weeks after the update.

FAQ: Frequent questions about advertising on Xiaomi