How to permanently remove ads on Xiaomi: the full guide 2026

Advertising in Xiaomi smartphones has become one of the most annoying features of MIUI firmware — it appears in the settings menu, on the lock screen, in standard applications and even in notification panels. The manufacturer positions this as “personalized recommendations”, but users perceive it as an intrusive way of monetization. The good news is that most ad units can be turned off without root rights and complex manipulation.

In this article, we will look at all the current ways to remove ads on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices, from basic MIUI settings to hidden developer settings. We will focus on the nuances for different regions (global / Chinese firmware) and Android versions. If you are tired of banners in Browser, Music or Themes, the following instructions will help clean the interface once and for all.

Why is Xiaomi Advertising on the Internet and Is It Legal?

Xiaomi has officially declared that MIUI advertising is part of a business model to keep device prices below market prices. According to Counterpoint Research (2023), up to 30% of brand profits come from advertising integrations in software. Legally, this does not violate the rules – the user agrees to the terms when the smartphone is first turned on, but the moral side of the issue is controversial.

The main sources of advertising in firmware:

• 📱 System applications: Themes, Browser, Music, Video, Calendar
• ⚙️ Settings menu: section "About the phone", "Security"
• 🔓 Lock screen: banners under the clock or at the bottom of the screen
• 📲 Notifications: push-advertising from Mi Push Service
• 🔄 Software Updates: Proposals to Install Third Party Apps During Updates Check

Important: Since 2022, Xiaomi has been gradually reducing advertising in global firmware (EEA) under pressure from European regulators, but in the Chinese and Indian versions of MIUI, it remains in full. If your smartphone is purchased in Russia or Europe, some of the methods in this article may not be necessary - check the firmware version in Settings → About Phone → MIUI version.

Method 1: Disabling Advertising through the standard MIUI settings

The first and most secure method is the use of built-in firmware options. It is suitable for all models (including Redmi Note 12, POCO X5, Xiaomi 13T) and does not require technical skills.

Step-by-step:

1. Open Settings → Google → Ads and disable the option “Personalized Ads.” This will stop targeted banners based on your activity.
2. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management. Search: msa (or Mi System Ads) → turn off autorun and MiuiDaemon notifications → disable background Analytics activity → disable all permissions

Settings → Lock screen → Additional settings

Settings → Notifications

Mi Push Service

System Ads

Note for Chinese firmware: if you don't have a "Recommendations" item on your lock screen, it's a system-level ad, and only the ADB method or custom firmware installation will help.

Method 2: Remove Advertising through Hidden Developer Settings

MIUI has hidden options that allow you to customize the system more deeply, which works on 90% of models (except for the newest ones, where Xiaomi has removed some of the options), but requires care – improper changes can lead to failures.

Algorithm of action:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times in a row) will be notified "You became a developer".
2. Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
3. Find and disconnect: 🔧 Debugging by USB (if you don't use) 📊 Collection of data on use 🔄 Automatic system update (to avoid the return of ads after updates)

Local special facilities

• Show recommendations on the lock screen
• Show advertising in system applications (if any)

Warning: Some firmware (e.g. MIUI 14 for Xiaomi 12) may not have the "Show Ads" option. In this case, move to the ADB method.

Method 3: Completely remove ads through ADB (without root)

If previous methods have not worked, ADB-Teams are the most reliable way to remove all system-level advertising, including hidden banners in Settings and Themes.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux
• 📱 USB-cable (original)
• 🔧 Google's Platform Tools utility
• ⚙️ Developer mode enabled and debugging by USB

Step-by-step:

1. Download and unpack Platform Tools into a separate folder.
2. Connect the phone to the PC, select File Transfer mode.
3. Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) in the folder with Platform Tools.
4. Enter the following commands in turn (after each click Enter): adb devices (the name of your device should appear) adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.systemAdSolution adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.xiaomi.midrop adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.browser adb shell settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 0
5. Reboot the phone.

These commands remove the system components responsible for displaying ads. If after the reboot some functions (for example, Mi Drop for transferring files) stopped working, they can be returned through Settings → Apps → Show all applications → Three dots → Show system.

💡

Before execution ADB-While the method is safe, 0.1% of the time, system applications may fail.

Method 4: Install custom firmware (for advanced)

If you’re willing to take drastic measures, custom firmware (like LineageOS, Pixel Experience or Xiaomi.eu) completely removes all ads and unnecessary Xiaomi services, a method that is suitable for older models (like the Redmi Note 8 Pro, Mi 9T), where official update support has ended.

Benefits and risks:

Recommended firmware for Xiaomi:

• 🌍 Xiaomi.eu – modified MIUI Advertising-free (supporting) OTA-update)
• 🤖 Pixel Experience – pure Android with features from Google Pixel
• 🔄 LineageOS – stable firmware with long-term support

Important: Before installing custom firmware, be sure to unlock the bootloader through the official Xiaomi website (link). The process takes up to 72 hours (you need to link your Mi Account to the device).

💡

Custom firmware is the only way to permanently remove ads on Chinese versions of MIUI where standard methods don't work.

Method 5: Blocking Advertising via DNS or VPN

If you don’t want to dig into your phone’s settings, you can block Xiaomi’s ad servers at the network level, which doesn’t remove banners completely, but it reduces the number of banners, especially in the browser and system applications.

Implementation options:

1. Change DNS: Go to Settings → Connections → Private DNS. Select “Host Name provider” and type: dns.adguard.com or 1.1.1.3 (Cloudflare with blocking malicious sites).
2. Use ad-blocking VPN: Install AdGuard VPN or Blokada from APKMirror (on Google Play, these apps may be limited). Activate tracker and ad blocking in VPN settings.

Hosts file

• Download a modified hosts file (for example, from here).
• Use Root Explorer or ADB to replace the system file along the /system/etc/hosts path.

⚠️ Attention: Some VPN-Applications (e.g. Blokada) require the activation of the “Always On” mode in the settings. VPN Android.Without that, they won't block ads in the background.

What if the advertisements returned after the update?

Xiaomi regularly releases updates that can reset settings and return ad units.

• 🔄 Turn off automatic updates MIUI: Settings → The phone. → Updating the system → Three points. → Settings → Deactivate "Auto-update"
• 📥 Install updates manually by pre-checking reviews on forums (for example, 4PDA or Xiaomi.eu).
• 🔧 Repeat. ADB-commands after each major update (for example, when switching from MIUI 13 on MIUI 14).
• 🛡️ Use adGuard blocker or DNS66 extra protection.

⚠️ Note: if important features are lost after the update (for example, Google Pay stopped working), this may be due to a change in security certificates, in which case only a rollback to the previous version of the firmware or installing a custom build will help.

FAQ: Frequent questions about advertising on Xiaomi