Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often encounter intrusive content that appears when the screen is turned on.This is not a system bug, but a feature of the MIUI shell or the new HyperOS, designed to monetize budget devices. However, aggressive marketing can be annoying and distracting from everyday use of the gadget.
Fortunately, most ad integrations can be manually disabled without obtaining superuser (Root) permissions. You don't have to be a programming expert to clean the interface, you just need to go through the system's settings consistently and disable the multiple services that are responsible for displaying display content.
In this article, we will discuss all effective ways to combat unwanted banners, including turning off MSA, customizing the theme, and working with system applications, and following these steps will bring your device back to its original appearance.
What is an MSA service and why does it show banners?
MSA stands for MIUI System Ads, a system component built into firmware that analyzes your actions and selects the appropriate ads, and it is this service that is responsible for the appearance of images on the lock screen, in folders and in standard applications.
You can't completely remove a system application without flashing it to a global version or a Chinese build without advertising, but you can force it to stop. Disabling MSA is the first and most important step in the fight for a clean interface. Without stopping this process, the rest of the settings may not work correctly.
It's worth noting that after you shut down the service for 10 seconds, the system will tell you to leave it as it is, claiming that it will improve the experience, which is a standard retention mechanism that you just have to endure.
⚠️ Attention: After the service is disconnected MSA Advertising can disappear within 24 hours, not instantly. Don't rush to reset the settings if the effect is not immediately visible.
To turn off, go to the settings menu, look for Passwords and Security, and select Access to Personal Data. From the list, find msa and turn off the slider. Confirm the action while waiting for the countdown to finish.
Disabling Advertising in the “Themes” and “Security” App
Xiaomi system utilities are also sources of intrusive content. Themes app often offers paid designs and shows banners when searching, and to remove them, you need to go to the settings of the application itself.
Open “Themes”, click on the profile icon and select “Settings” and find “Show Ads” and deactivate it, and it is also recommended to turn off “Receive Notifications” and “Automatic Update” to reduce background activity.
It's a similar situation with the Security app, which scans the device and periodically issues cleanup recommendations, which are often disguised ads. Go to the Security settings (cog in the corner) and find the Get Recommendations section. Turn off this item to stop the news flow.
- 📱 Open the “Themes” app and go to profile.
- 🚫 Find the “Show Ads” switch and turn it off.
- 🛡️ In the Security app, turn off "Receive recommendations».
- 🔄 In the download settings, disable auto-update applications via the mobile network.
These simple steps will make the interface of standard utilities much clearer, but if you use third-party launchers, the settings may differ.
☑️ Checking privacy settings
Setting up the lock screen and wallpaper Carousel
One of the most annoying features is the Wallpaper Carousel, which periodically changes the background of the lock and displays advertising logos or articles, which many users confuse with the standard gallery, but it is a separate service.
To turn off the Carousel, go to Settings → Lock screen. Find the wallpaper carousel and click on it. In the menu that opens, select "Disable." Then go back and select the static image for the lock screen.
If you want to leave the wallpaper change but remove the ads, it's harder. In some versions of MIUI, there's a "Show Advertising Content" option in the Carousel settings, which you can take down. However, newer versions of HyperOS often integrate the service more deeply.
| Function | Where to find out. | Action. | The result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallpaper carousel | Settings → Lock screen | Shut down. | Static picture |
| Recommendations | Security Annex | Settings → Recommendations | No pop-ups. |
| MSA Service | Passwords and security | Access to data → Off | Blocking system advertising |
| Get recommendations | Settings → Passwords and security | Get recommendations → Off | Clean menu settings |
It is also important to check the settings of the widgets on the desktop. Often it is the Wallpaper or News widget that broadcasts advertising content. Remove suspicious widgets from the home screen.
Hidden settings for advanced
Removing Advertising Identifiers and Resetting Settings
Advertisers use a unique device identifier to target content, and resetting that identifier won't remove ads completely, but will make them less personalized and intrusive, a useful procedure to increase privacy.
Search the passwords and security section → privacy in the settings. Scroll down to Advertising Services. Here you will see the option to Reset Advertising ID. Click on it and confirm the action.
And there's a Personalized Ads switch on the menu, which you have to turn off, which will prevent Xiaomi from using your data to target ads, and the effect may not be instantaneous, but over time, the amount of relevant ads will decrease.
⚠️ Note: Resetting your advertising ID is not an anti-virus measure, it only clears your accumulated profile of interests for ad networks.
Regularly resetting your ID (once a month) is recommended for all users who value their digital privacy, a standard practice for Android devices.
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Tip: After resetting your advertising ID, restart your device so that the changes take effect in all system processes.
Disabling notifications in the browser and applications
Often, the ads on the lock screen don't come from the system, but from the installed apps or browser. You could accidentally allow the site to send notifications, and now it spams you with offers.
Check your browser settings (Chrome, Mi Browser). Go to Settings → Notifications → Sites. Turn off all suspicious resources. Mi Browser also needs to go to settings and turn off "Receive news" and "Receive notifications."
For third-party applications (games, flashlight utilities, calculators), the path is one: Settings → Notifications → Notification management. Go through the list and turn off notifications for all applications except messengers and mail.
- 🌐 Open your browser and clear the list of permitted sites.
- 🔔 Go to the general notification menu in Android settings.
- 🚫 Disallow notifications for all applications except essential.
- 🧹 Remove recently installed apps with bad reviews.
Pay particular attention to memory cleanup applications and antiviruses from unknown developers, which are often the source of pop-up ads.
Using DNS to Block Advertising
The most radical and effective method is to use a private DNS, which blocks ads at the network level without requiring heavy-duty applications, and works for both Wi-Fi and mobile Internet.
Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select the DNS Host Name mode and type in the address: dns.adguard.com. Save the settings.
After that, all requests to known ad servers will be blocked, which will speed up the loading of pages in the browser and remove banners in many applications and games, the method works on most devices running Android 9 and above.
⚠️ Attention: When in use DNS-filtering some sites or applications may stop working correctly. If you notice problems, temporarily disable DNS.
This method also helps to save traffic, as the ad units simply don’t load, especially for those with limited internet rates.
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Integrated approach: combination of disconnection MSA, settings of notifications and DNS-Filtering gives you a 99% guarantee of no advertising.
To sum up, Xiaomi’s ecosystem provides enough tools to control advertising, and it’s important to know where to look for the right switches. Regularly checking for updates is also important as the company is gradually changing its content display policy in new versions of HyperOS.