Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often encounter intrusive banner ads that appear in system applications, the browser and even on the desktop, a consequence of the company’s aggressive marketing policies, which seek to compensate for the low cost of devices through advertising in the shell of MIUI or HyperOS. However, there is a proven algorithm of actions that can significantly reduce the amount of visual noise or eliminate it completely.
The process of disabling does not require rooting or flashing the device to the global version, although the latter two methods are also effective. In most cases, it is enough to go through the system settings consistently and disable specific services responsible for collecting data and displaying advertising content. Below is a detailed guide to help you clean the interface of the smartphone.
Disabling the MSA System Service
At the heart of Xiaomi’s advertising ecosystem is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) service, which is responsible for loading and displaying most ad units in embedded applications, and without disabling the service, any other manipulation will be temporary.
To deactivate the service, go to the phone's settings menu. Find the Passwords and Security section (or Advanced Settings in older versions) and select Data Access. From the app list that opens, find msa and put the slider inactive. The system will warn you of a 10-second wait before confirming.
⚠️ Attention: Service MSA If the timer has expired and the switch has returned to its original position, repeat the procedure. 3-5 This is a routine behavior of the system that sometimes requires persistence of the user.
After successful disabling, msa is also recommended to find the Mi Browser app (if you don’t use it) on the same list and limit its access to the network so that it doesn’t share data about your activities, which will significantly increase the level of privacy.
It is important to understand that disabling the MSA does not remove the application, but only prevents it from downloading advertising content. In some cases, after updating the system, settings may reset, so it makes sense to periodically check the status of this parameter.
☑️ Checking the ad-off
Set up personalized recommendations
Another source of intrusive content is a personalized recommendation system that analyzes your smartphone usage habits and offers “relevant” apps or news that are essentially disguised advertising, and disabling this feature makes the interface cleaner and speeds up the system.
To disable, go to Settings → Passwords & Security → Privacy → Advertising Services. Here you need to deactivate the Personalized Advertising switch. You should also click Reset the Advertising ID button to clear the accumulated profile of your interests.
You also need to check the settings of the Security app itself. Open it, click on the settings gear in the corner, and find Receive recommendations. Make sure the tick is removed. This will remove banner ads from the main antivirus window and memory cleaner.
Cleaning the built-in browser and applications
The standard Mi Browser browser and the Music app are often the main sources of user irritation, filled with news feeds and banners that are hard to ignore, and fortunately, they can be made more convenient.
In your browser, open the menu (three bars), go to Settings → General and turn off the option to Receive news and notifications. Also in the Privacy and Security section, you should turn on the Ad Block mode, which filters pop-up windows on visited sites.
The situation is similar in the Music app. Go to the settings through the side menu, select Settings, and find the Advanced Settings section. You have to turn off the Display Ads, and then the interface becomes minimalist and only performs its direct function.
| Annex | Way of shutdown | What's off? |
|---|---|---|
| Security | Settings (cogs) | Receive recommendations |
| Conductor | Settings → About the annex | Receive recommendations |
| Downloads. | Three points → Settings | Showing recommended |
| Topics | Profile → Settings | Showing ads |
Remember that standard Xiaomi applications are updated regardless of system updates through the GetApps store. Sometimes after such an update, settings may be reset or new items may appear, so you should periodically review the settings menu of frequently used programs.
Removing Advertising in Folders and on the Desktop
One of the most annoying features of the MIUI shell was the ability to show ad apps inside folders on the desktop, which is a feature that is easy to remove by returning folders to their original appearance.
Click on any application folder on your desktop to open it. At the top of the window that opens, you'll see the folder name and maybe a few icons of the recommended apps. Click on the folder name again or find the settings icon (cog or three dots) to open the folder management menu. There's a Recommended Apps switch — it needs to be turned off.
What to do if the switch is missing?
Also worth paying attention to the Google Discover or Yandex widget tape, which opens with a swipe to the left, if you do not use it, you can turn it off in the desktop settings to avoid accidental clicks on advertising cards.
To do this, make a long tap on the empty space on the screen, select Settings (cogs), and find the item "Widget Ribbon" or Google Discover. Select "No" or turn off the display of the tape. This will not only remove the ads, but also save a little battery power, as the news stream in the background stops updating.
Blocking Advertising via DNS (for Advanced)
The most radical and effective method, which works at the operating system level, is to use filtered DNS, which allows you to block advertising requests before they even reach your smartphone screen.
Modern versions of Android (starting with version 9) have a built-in Private DNS feature. To activate it, go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select the DNS Provider Host Name mode and type in the address: dns.adguard.com.
dns.adguard.comOnce you save your settings, all traffic to known ad servers will be blocked, affecting not only system applications, but also most games and third-party programs. However, be careful: some applications may stop working correctly if their functionality is tied to the display of ads (for example, free versions of games may stop downloading).
⚠️ Attention: When in use DNS-filtering some legitimate sites or services may identify you as a bot and require you to pass a captcha. DNS.
💡
Use AdGuard to make it more flexible, and it lets you create your own filtering rules and choose which apps should be cleared of ads and which ones should work as normal.
Frequent questions and problems when disconnecting
Despite the simplicity of the methods described above, users often encounter nuances that raise questions, such as after a reset or major firmware update, all parameters can return to factory values.
There's also the misconception that turning off ads somehow violates warranty or makes your phone unstable. In fact, you're just sitting around for services you don't need, which doesn't affect the basic communication modules or the camera, the only consequence is a cleaner interface and maybe a slightly faster device by not having banner ads loaded in the background.
If you use a global firmware version, the amount of advertising there is initially less than in Chinese, but even on globals, you can find advertising inserts in standard applications like "Theme" or "Music", so the recommendations in this article are relevant for all regions.
💡
A comprehensive approach that includes disabling MSA, personalized ads, and setting up DNS ensures that 99% of the ad content on your Xiaomi device is removed.