How to completely disable ads in Android apps Xiaomi: working methods 2026

Why Xiaomi is showing ads in apps and can it be removed forever

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones based on MIUI have long been known for their aggressive advertising policies, and even in standard applications – from Weather to Files – users encounter banners, pop-ups and “recommendations” from partners, with ads appearing not only in China, but also in global firmware for the European and Russian markets.

The reason for this approach is rooted in Xiaomi’s business model: it makes money from the service ecosystem, not just selling devices. However, for users, it means constant distractions, slowing down the system and leaking personal data (ad SDKs often collect behavioral information). The good news is that most advertising can be turned off – both by regular MIUI tools, and through deep customization or third-party tools.

In this article, we will look at 7 proven ways, from simple (through the settings menu) to advanced (using ADB and modified firmware). Importantly, some methods require unlocking the bootloader or superuser rights, which can affect the warranty. Let's start with the safest options.

Method 1: Disabling personalized advertising in MIUI settings

The most obvious and safe method is to deactivate options associated with displaying ads in the MIUI menu, which will not remove ads completely, but will significantly reduce the amount of advertising, suitable for all modern versions of the shell (from MIUI 12 to MIUI 14).

Instructions:

Open Settings → Google → Advertising.
Activate the switch to Turn off personalized advertising.
Return to the main settings menu and go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Show System Processes.
Find the MSA (msa) application (or Miui System Ads in global firmware), open it and click Disable.

These actions will block data collection for targeted ads and disable the main module of its display, but banners in some applications (for example, in Mi Video or Mi Browser) may remain.

💡

If your firmware doesn’t have an MSA option, try looking for Analytic or MiuiDaemon – disabling them also helps reduce the amount of advertising.

Method 2: Manually disabling ads in each Xiaomi app

Many standard MIUI utilities have built-in settings for managing ads, and you have to set them up separately for each application, and here's a list of the most "advertising" services and how to clean them.

📱 Mi Browser: Go to Settings → Additionally. → Recommend and disable all switches.
🎵 Mi Music: Deactivate App Settings Show recommendations and Online services.
📺 Mi Video: Open Settings → Recommend and remove check marks from all points.
📁 File Manager: Turn off Recommendations and Cloud Services in settings.
🌦️ Weather: Go to Settings → Notifications and Prohibit Advertising.

After this manipulation, the ads in these apps should disappear, but some banners (such as in Themes or Mi Community) may remain — they are removed only by radical methods.

What to do if there are no necessary items in the settings?

In some regional firmware (e.g. India or Europe), the ad-disabled options are hidden, in which case the change of device region to the European Union (EEA) through Settings → Additional → Region will help.

Method 3: Using ADB to Deeply Disable Advertising

If the system settings didn’t work, the next step is to disable advertising services via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which does not require root rights, but you need to unlock the bootloader (on some models) and a computer with drivers installed.

Instructions:

Turn on USB Debugging in Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times to activate Developer Mode), then go back to Settings → Additional → For Developers.
Connect the phone to the PC and confirm the debugging permission.
Download ADB Tools and unpack the archive.
Open the command line in the adb.exe folder and enter it one by one:

adb shell pm hide com.miui.systemAdSolution


adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.midrop




adb shell pm hide com.miui.analytics




adb shell pm hide com.xiaomi.ab




adb shell settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 0

These commands will disable the main ad modules, analytics and background connection checks. Once you do, reboot the device, and the effect will be noticeable immediately: banners in Settings, Themes and other system applications will disappear.

Install Xiaomi drivers on PC

Enable debugging over USB on your phone

Download ADB Tools from the official website

Connect your phone to the original cable

Start the command line on behalf of the administrator-->

Yeah, it helped 100%.

Yeah, but the effect was temporary.

No, I'm afraid to break something.

What is it? ADB?-->

Method 4: Installation of modified firmware without advertising

For the most determined users, there is a radical method of firmware, customized version of MIUI without advertising, and there are several projects that remove all advertising modules, analytics and unnecessary services from the official firmware.

🛠️ MIUI Mix – Optimized version with remote Chinese services and advertising.
🚀 Xiaomi.eu – European build with advanced privacy settings.
🔧 Revanced MIUI — firmware with patches to block advertising at the system level.

The installation process requires an unlocked bootloader and knowledge of working with Fastboot or TWRP. Detailed instructions are available on the 4PDA or XDA Developers forums.

There is no advertising in all applications.
Improved performance (excess software removed).
Regular updates from the community.

Cons: there may be bugs (especially in the first builds after the release of the new version of MIUI) and loss of warranty if the bootloader was unlocked unofficially.

💡

Custom firmware is the only way to remove ads forever, but it’s only suitable for power users who are prepared for potential risks.

Method 5: Blocking Advertising via DNS or VPN

If you don't want to interfere with system files, you can block ad domains at the network level.

Private DNS (Android 9+): Go to Settings. → Connections → Private DNS and enter the address dns.adguard.com or 1dot1dot1dot1.cloudflare-dns.com.
VPN with ad blocking: apps like AdGuard VPN or Blokada filter traffic and remove banners even in system utilities.
Hosts file: With the AdAway application (requires root), you can replace the hosts file and block Xiaomi advertising domains.

These methods work at the network level, so they block ads not only in MIUI, but also in third-party applications, but they will not help against built-in banners (for example, in Topics), as they are downloaded from local resources of the phone.

Method	Root is required.	Efficiency	Cons
Private DNS	❌ No.	Medium	Do not block local advertising
VPN (AdGuard)	❌ No.	Tall.	Could slow down the internet
Hosts (AdAway)	✅ Yes.	Very high.	You need to update the domain database

Method 6: Disabling Advertising via Xiaomi Cloud (for global firmware)

In global versions of MIUI (e.g., for Redmi Note 12 or POCO X5), some of the ads are managed via Xiaomi Cloud to disable:

Go to Settings → Accounts → Mi Account.
Open the Cloud Settings → Synchronization.
Turn off sync for Ads and Recommendations (if any).
Return to the main account settings and click Out (this will not delete data, but will reset personal ad settings).

After that, restart your phone. This method is particularly effective for banners in Settings and Control Center, but it doesn't work on all models -- Chinese firmware may not have ad sync options.

💡

If the ads are gone after leaving your account, but you want to keep access to the cloud, go back to Mi Account, but do not enable synchronization of advertising data.

Method 7: Remove Advertising Applications via TWRP (for Advanced)

The most radical way is to physically remove ad modules from the system, which requires an unlocked bootloader and an installed custom recovery (TWRP) list of applications that can be safely removed (without affecting system stability):

com.miui.analytics


com.xiaomi.ab




com.miui.systemAdSolution




com.xiaomi.midrop




com.miui.msa.global




com.miui.player




com.xiaomi.gamecenter.sdk.service

Instructions:

Download. TWRP For example, for the Redmi Note. 11 will twrp-3.7.0_vayu.img).
Load the phone to recovery mode (Power + Volume up).
In TWRP, select Mount → System.
Connect your phone to your PC and use ADB or file manager to remove the folders from /system/priv-app/ and /system/app/.
Wipe your cache (Wipe → Cache) and restart.

💡

Removing system applications can cause the phone to malfunction. Backup via TWRP before the procedure!

⚠️ Note: On some models (Xiaomi 13, Redmi) K60) Deleting com.miui.systemAdSolution may cause errors in the operation of Settings. In this case, restore the file from the backup.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi advertising

🔍 Why After Updating MIUI The commercial reappeared?

When you update the system, some settings are reset and the ad modules can return to activity. After the update: Repeat Method 1 (disable MSA and personalized advertising). If you used ADB, run the commands again. Check if Private DNS resets. In extreme cases, resetting (Settings → Reset, but without deleting data) will help.

📵 Can you remove advertising without a computer?

Yes, but the effectiveness will be lower. Try: Turn off ads in each application manually (Method 2); Install Blokada or another ad-blocking VPN (Method 5); Use App Ops (requires root) to restrict ad services. Complete removal of ads without a PC requires root and a file manager (e.g., Root Explorer).

🛡️ Is it safe to turn off? MSA and other system applications?

MSA (Miui System Ad Solution) is only responsible for displaying ads and collecting statistics. It does not affect the stability of the system. The same applies: com.xiaomi.ab for analytics; com.miui.analytics for data collection; com.xiaomi.midrop for file transfer service (you can turn off if you do not use Mi Drop). Do not delete applications called miui.home, miui.securitycenter or android, this will lead to the collapse of the system.

📱 Will these methods work for POCO redmi?

Yes, all of these methods are suitable for POCO and Redmi, as they run on the same MIUI shell (or its modifications like POCO Launcher). Exceptions: POCO F5 and later may not have MSA in the list of applications — look for Miui System Ads. In the firmware for Redmi marked EEA (Europe), some of the ads are already disabled by default.

🔄 What to do if the ad returns after resetting the settings?

When resetting to factory settings, all changes (including disabling applications and ADB-To avoid reconfiguring: Create a backup of a list of disabled applications (you can take a picture of the screen). ADB-Use Titanium Backup to freeze advertising services permanently. If the reset was forced (for example, due to freezes), consider installing custom firmware (Method 4).