How to permanently disable ads in the Poco X3 gallery: proven methods

Xiaomi Poco X3 is one of the most popular smartphones in the Poco line, but many users face annoying ads in the standard MIUI gallery. Banners appear when viewing photos, in the Recommended album and even in the editing menu. This problem is associated with integrated Xiaomi services that show targeted advertising based on your actions.

In this article, we’ll look at 5 working ways to remove ads from the Poco X3 gallery, from simple MIUI settings to installing alternative apps. All methods are tested on the latest firmware and do not require root rights (except for one exception), and you’ll learn why ads return after updates and how to avoid it.

Important: Some methods may vary depending on the regional firmware (Global, EEA, India or China) and we will specify the features for each version.

Why is there an ad in Poco X3 Gallery?

Advertising in standard Xiaomi apps is part of the company’s business model, and even the Poco X3, which is marketed as a “clean” smartphone without any extra software, is an integrated service:

• 📊 MSA (Mi Security Center – a security service that collects device usage data and displays ads in system applications.
• 🖼️ gallery MIUI — It has a built-in module com.miui.gallery, which loads banners from Xiaomi servers.
• 🔄 Cloud Services – sync with Mi Cloud automatically activates ad impressions in the album Recommended».

After MIUI updates, ads may return as the system resets some default settings. For example, MIUI 12.5 and MIUI 13 for Poco X3 have added a new display mechanism – through personalized recommendations – that is harder to disable using standard methods.

⚠️ Note: On Chinese firmware (China) ROM) There is no advertising in the gallery - it only appears in global assemblies (Global/EEA). If you are willing to sacrifice some features (for example, Google services), you can reflash the device to the Chinese version.

Method 1: Disabling personalized advertising in MIUI settings

The easiest way to do this is to deactivate targeted impressions through the settings menu, which won't eliminate ads completely, but it will reduce the amount of ads significantly.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Google → Advertising.
2. Click Reset Advertising ID and confirm the action.
3. Go back to the basic settings and go to Settings → Memory → Cleanup.
4. Select the AutoStart tab and turn off autoboot for the Gallery app.
5. Then go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → Gallery → Notifications and deactivate all switches.

This works 60-70% — banners on the album “Recommended” will disappear, but advertising when viewing photos may remain.

Method 2: Use of the ADB-deep-switch

If the standard settings do not help, you can block advertising modules through the ADB (Android Debug Bridge: This method doesn’t require root, but you’ll need a computer and a computer. USB-cable.

Step-by-step:

1. Activate Developer Mode on Poco X3: Go to Settings → About Phone and click on MIUI Version 7 times.
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and enable USB debugging.
3. Connect your smartphone to your PC, install ADB-tools and open the command line in the folder with adb.exe.
4. Enter the commands in turn: adb shell pm hide com.miui.systemAdSolution adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.midrop adb shell pm hide com.miui.analytics
5. Reset the device.

These commands disable the system services responsible for displaying ads, and if the gallery is not working properly after the reboot, return the changes by the team:

adb shell pm unhide com.miui.systemAdSolution

⚠️ Note: On some Poco firmware X3 (for example, MIUI 13.0.4 For surya, the pm hide command may not work. In this case, use an alternative method with pm disable-user: adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.analytics

💡

Back up important data before using ADB, and in rare cases, shutting down system services can cause a camera or gallery to crash.

Method 3: Install an alternative gallery (Google Photos, Simple Gallery)

If system methods don’t work, the most reliable option is to install a third-party gallery, which not only removes the ads, but also offers additional features (cloud storage, improved editor, etc.).

The best alternatives for Poco X3 are:

To make an alternative gallery the default app:

1. Install the selected application from the Play Market.
2. Open any image through the file manager.
3. In the window that appears, select a new gallery and tick Always.

Method 4: Disabling Advertising through Hosts File Editing (requires root)

This method is suitable for advanced users who are ready to get root rights, and it blocks access to Xiaomi ad servers at the system level.

Instructions:

1. Get root access with Magisk (instructions for Poco X3 are available on XDA Developers).
2. Install any file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer or Solid Explorer).
3. Go to /system/etc/hosts and open the file in the text editor.
4. Add the lines at the end of the file: 127.0.0.1 ad.xiaomi.com 127.0.0.1 track.xiaomi.com 127.0.0.1 data.mistat.xiaomi.com 127.0.0.1 sdkconfig.ad.xiaomi.com
5. Save the file, set the rights to 644 (rw-r--r---) and restart the device.

After that, the ads will disappear not only in the gallery, but also in other system applications (for example, in Mi Video or Mi Music).However, beware: improper editing of the hosts file can lead to loss of Internet connection.

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI 13+ The hosts file is protected from changes, so mount the partition first. /system In the recording mode of the command: su mount -o rw,remount /system

Method 5: Reset gallery settings to factory

If the ad comes after the MIUI update, sometimes resetting the gallery settings without losing data helps, which will return the app to the post-purchase state, but save all your photos.

How to reset:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find the gallery and open its settings.
3. Click Warehouse → Clear the data and confirm the action.
4. Then go back and select Reset (if there is one).

After discharge:

• 🔄 Reboot your smartphone.
• 📁 Open the gallery and wait for the photos to be indexed again (it can take 5-10 minutes).
• ⚙️ Immediately disable Personalized Recommendations in the gallery settings (if the item appears).

This works in 50% of cases if the ad was caused by a crash in the app cache, if the problem is in system services (MSA or Mi Cloud), reset will not help.

How to prevent the return of advertising after updates?

Even after a successful shutdown, the ads may return after the MIUI or gallery update.

• 🔕 Turn off automatic gallery updates in Play Market: Open Play Market → click on the profile avatar → Settings → Auto-Update Apps. Choose Not to Update Automatically. Find the Gallery in the App List and turn off Auto-Update for it.
• 📵 Freeze system applications with App Freezer (requires root) or ADB: adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.xiaomi.midrop
• 🔄 Check your settings regularly after updates MIUI — sometimes they're dropped.