How to Ban Xiaomi Update: The Complete Guide

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face the obsession of MIUI or HyperOS to constantly search for and install new versions of software. Sometimes this leads to reduced autonomy, the appearance of bugs or simply annoying with constant notifications that cannot be hidden by standard means. Banning Xiaomi updates is a solution, but requires a comprehensive approach, since developers have provided many channels for package delivery.

In this article, we’ll look at not only the obvious settings in the menu, but also deeper system changes, including working with ADB and blocking at the router level. You’ll learn how to effectively disable the updater service so that your smartphone stops downloading gigabytes of data on its own and slowing down the interface in the background.

Before you take any drastic action, you should understand that OTA (Over-The-Air) updates are the main way to deliver security patches. By disabling them, you take responsibility for the stability of the system. However, for many users, the stable operation of the current version is more important than new, perhaps raw features.

⚠️ Warning: Disabling system update services completely may cause you to miss critical security patches. Use these methods only if you are aware of the risks.

Disconnection through standard system settings

The easiest and safest way to limit your system appetite is to use the built-in MIUI features. While you can't completely remove the "Update" button from here, you can significantly reduce your request frequency and hide notifications. First of all, go to Settings → About the phone and click on the logo of the MIUI version.

In the window that opens, click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select "Update Options." Here you should turn off the "Auto Update" option. This action will prevent the system from downloading packages in the background without your knowledge, and now the phone will only check for a new version, but not download it.

Additionally, limit background activity for the update app itself, find the "Component Update" or "System Update" app list and deny it access to mobile Internet and Wi-Fi, which will create the first barrier to downloading files.

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Before making changes to your system settings, back up important data to avoid losing information in the event of unforeseen crashes.

Importantly, this method is more of a “half-measure” method, and the system may still periodically remind you of a new version, and in some cases (especially when connecting to charging and Wi-Fi) may try to initiate a boot if services are not locked deeper.

• 📱 Go to Settings. → About the phone to access the menu version of the software.
• 🚫 Turn off the "Auto Update" switch in additional parameters.
• 🔒 Disable network access for the system application "Update".

Blocking Updater service via ADB

To solve the problem more radically, you need to use USB debugging, which allows you to forcefully stop and even freeze the system process responsible for finding updates, you will need a computer, a USB cable and an installed ADB platform (Android Debug Bridge).

First, activate the developer mode on your smartphone. To do this, quickly click seven times on the build number in the About Phone section. Then, in the Developer menu, turn on USB Debugging. Connect the phone to your PC and confirm the debugging permission in the pop-up window on your smartphone screen.

Open the command prompt or terminal on your computer in the folder with ADB. Enter the command to stop the service:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.updater

Once this command is executed, the update icon may disappear from the menu and the system's attempts to check the version of the software will be blocked at the process level. If you want to return everything as it was, use the command adb shell pm enable com.android.updater.

Note that newer versions of HyperOS may have different packet names, sometimes called com.miui.updater or have different identifiers depending on the regional firmware, and ADB gives you maximum control, but requires careful input.

• 💻 Use the adb shell pm disable-user command to freeze system applications.
• 🔍 Make sure the com.android.updater package name is relevant to your version MIUI.
• 🔄 Use the enable command instead of the disable-user to return the functionality.

Set up a router to block Xiaomi servers

The most effective way to avoid tampering with the phone’s file system is to block requests at the home network level. If your router supports Blacklist or domain filtering, you can prevent the device from connecting to Xiaomi’s download servers.

To do this, add specific domains that are used by the update service to the list of blocked addresses (Hosts), which will prevent packets from loading even if the service on the phone itself is active, and this method is especially convenient if you need to block updates on several Xiaomi devices at the same time.

List of domains that should be blocked:

Once these addresses are added to your router settings (a section commonly called Parental Control, Access Control or DNS Filter), devices on the network will no longer receive responses from Xiaomi servers. Importantly, this method only works within your Wi-Fi network; when switching to mobile Internet, the lock is removed.

⚠️ Note: Blocking system domains may disrupt other Xiaomi services, such as device search or cloud sync, if they use the same gateways.

Use of third-party blocking applications

If you don't want to mess with a router or ADB, you can use specialized applications from Google Play that work like a local firewall, the leader in this niche is the NetGuard or NoRoot Firewall application, which do not require root rights and allow you to flexibly manage network access for each application.

Once you install an app, find the system process “Update” (or Updater) in the list and deny it access to both Wi-Fi and mobile data. The effect will be similar to turning off in settings, but with more reliable blocking of attempts to circumvent restrictions.

The advantage of this approach is that you can see in real time if an application is trying to get online, and these tools often have a logging feature that allows you to track when exactly the system was trying to connect to the server.

But remember, firewalls consume extra battery power because they constantly monitor network traffic, which can be a critical factor for older devices, and then you better combine it with turning off background activity in your Android settings.

• 🛡️ Applications like NetGuard are locally built VPN traffic-filter.
• 📉 Blockers can slightly increase battery consumption.
• ⚙️ Continuous application operation in the background is required for efficiency.

Disconnection via App Control and Freeze

In advanced MIUI firmware and with third-party utilities like App Control (requires superuser rights or ADB-Shizuku), you can completely freeze the update app. Unlike simply shutting down, freezing makes the application invisible to the system as if it were removed, but it can be restored at any time.

This method is preferred for power users who want to get rid of any reminders guaranteed. com.android.updater disappears from the list of applications, stops consuming resources and cannot be forced to run by the system.

To implement this, tools like Titanium Backup (requires Root) or SD Maid are often used. If you don't have root rights, use Shizuku + Canta or Hail, which exploit a vulnerability in the Android API to perform actions on behalf of the system.

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Freezing the application is the most reliable software method, since it completely eliminates the launch of the update code by the system.

Remember, once you reset your phone to the factory settings, all frozen apps will defrost and you'll have to repeat the procedure. So keep a list of locked packages in your notes.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)