How to permanently remove recommendations in the folder “Games” on Xiaomi: disable advertising and unnecessary applications

The Game folder on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often turns into a real garbage box: advertising unknown games, offers to install software, and duplicates of existing applications. Even after removing unnecessary shortcuts, recommendations return after a few days - the MIUI system stubbornly tries to "help" the user, ignoring his preferences.

Compounding the problem, newer firmware versions (MIUI 13/14) have hidden their recommendation disablement settings deeper, and made some options unavailable without further manipulation. This article provides 5 proven ways to clear the Game folder of unnecessary content, including hidden methods for power users. All instructions are relevant for 2020-2026 devices and do not require superuser rights (root).

Why do recommendations appear in the Game folder?

The folder of the Games in MIUI is not just a grouping of installed applications, but part of the Xiaomi ecosystem, integrated with advertising and analytics services.

• 🔍 Behavioral Data Collection: The system analyzes which games you are running and selects “relevant” offers through Mi Advertising.
• 📦 Pre-installation: The folder automatically adds shortcuts to games from Mi Game Center or affiliate services (e.g. GameTurbo).
• 🔄 Updates MIUI: After updates, the firmware settings are reset, and recommendations are returned.
• 💰 Monetization: Xiaomi earns from displaying ads in a folder, so it is more difficult to disable it than in other parts of the system.

On devices with MIUI Global (European/Indian version), recommendations are usually lower than in MIUI China, but even there, the Game folder rarely remains clean. In some cases, unnecessary shortcuts appear due to cache errors or conflicts with the HyperOS shell (on the new Xiaomi 14 and Redmi Note 13 models).

⚠️ Note: If you use custom firmware (e.g. Pixel Experience or LineageOS), the Game folder may be missing altogether, replaced by standard Android applets.

Method 1: Disabling recommendations through folder settings

The easiest method is to use built-in MIUI options. It works for most MIUI 12-14 devices, but may not work on some HyperOS models (e.g. Xiaomi 13T Pro).

Instructions:

1. Open the Game folder on the main screen.
2. Put three points on it (⋮) top-right.
3. Select Settings (or folder management).
4. Turn off the sliders: 🔘 Recommended games 🔘 Showing new games 🔘 Personalized offers (if any)

Reboot your smartphone so that the changes take effect.

If your version of MIUI doesn’t have Settings in the folder menu, try holding your finger in a free space inside the folder – sometimes this opens a hidden context menu.

Method 2: Clearing the cache and data of the Game application

Unnecessary recommendations are often stored in the cache of the system application com.miui.gamecenter.sdk (or com.xiaomi.gamecenter).

How to do this:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Put three points on it (⋮) and select Show all applications.
3. Find the Game Application (or Game Center) in the list.
4. Press the Warehouse and select: 🧹 Clear the cache 🗑️ Clear the data (this will reset all folder settings!)

Reset the device.

⚠️ Note: On some models (POCO F5, Redmi K60) The Game app can be hidden. To find it, type the name in the search bar at the top of the App Management screen.

If after cleaning the recommendations returned, try to disable the auto-update for the Game application:

1. In the same Application Management menu, find the Games.
2. Tap it on three points (⋮) and select Disable Updates.

Method 3: Using ADB to Deep Shut Down

If standard methods don’t work, you can use the Android debugging bridge (ADB), which requires connecting your smartphone to your PC, but allows you to completely block system recommendations without root rights.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on MIUI Version. Go back to Settings → Additional → Developer. Activate USB Debugging.

ADB Tools

Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) and type:

adb devices

(Your device should show up. If not, check the driver and allow debugging on your phone.)

adb shell pm hide com.miui.gamecenter.sdk

This command hides the Game Center app, which is responsible for recommendations, and to bring it back, use:

adb shell pm unhide com.miui.gamecenter.sdk

For devices with HyperOS (such as Xiaomi 14), you may need another command:

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.gamecenter.sdk

⚠️ Attention: After use ADB The Game folder may disappear completely. To return it without reference, create a new folder manually and move the game shortcuts into it.

Method 4: Disabling Personalized Advertising

The recommendations in the Game folder depend in part on the settings of personalized ads in the Mi Account, which will reduce unnecessary offers.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Xiaomi account.
2. Go to Mi Account → Account Settings → Personalization and Advertising.
3. Turn off the sliders: 🔘 Personalized recommendations 🔘 Showing interest-based advertising 🔘 Analysis of application use

Settings → Privacy → Special permissions

Advertising

Personalized advertising

These settings are synchronized with Xiaomi servers, so changes may not take effect immediately (up to 24 hours).

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → All settings → Status.
2. Find the Google Advertising ID (or Advertising Identifier).
3. Press Reset.

On devices without Google services (e.g. Xiaomi for the Chinese market), instead of Google Advertising ID, look for Mi Advertising ID.

💡

If you still have recommendations after disabling the ad, try temporarily deleting your Mi Account (Settings → Xiaomi Account → Delete Account). After rebooting, the Game folder will clear, but some features (such as cloud backup) will become unavailable.

Method 5: Delete the Game folder through the launcher

If you don’t need a Game folder at all, you can delete it or hide it through the launcher settings, which works on most Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO devices, but not all versions of MIUI.

How to delete the folder:

1. Keep your finger on the Game folder until the menu appears.
2. Drag it up the screen to the inscription Remove (or Remove from the screen).
3. Confirm the action.

If the folder is not deleted (on some models it is protected by the system), try to hide it:

1. Hold your finger in the free seat of the main screen.
2. Select Home Screen Settings (or Launcher Settings).
3. Find Hidden Apps or Hidden Folders.
4. Add the Game folder to the list of hidden ones.

On devices with HyperOS (for example, Xiaomi 13 Ultra) instead of the standard launcher can use MIUI Launcher 5.0+.

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Launcher by default.
2. Select the launcher settings → Hidden elements.
3. Mark the Game folder.

For devices with an unlocked bootloader (bootloader), you can remove the system APK-files responsible for recommendations:

adb shell


su




mount -o rw,remount /system




rm -rf /system/priv-app/GameCenter




rm -rf /system/priv-app/GameCenterSDK




mount -o ro,remount /system




reboot

⚠️ Attention: Deleting system files without backup can lead to bootloop ( looped boot).Before experimenting, create a backup through TWRP Or OrangeFox Recovery.

Frequent Questions (FAQ)