Removal of system applications on Xiaomi Redmi 9A: instructions

Redmi series smartphones are famous for their budget price segment, but for affordable cost users often have to put up with a crowded system partition. owners of the Redmi 9A model often face a lack of internal memory after a few months of active use of the device. The main reason lies not in personal files, but in preinstalled system applications that cannot be removed by standard methods through the settings menu.

The process of cleaning up the system requires some technical training and care. Deleting Android-based system applications without Root rights is possible thanks to the ADB (Android Debug Bridge), an official tool from Google that allows a computer to interact with the smartphone operating system at a deep level, granting rights that are not available to the average user.

In this guide, we will discuss in detail how to clean MIUI from unnecessary components, you will learn to distinguish between critical services and advertising software that can be painlessly deactivated, and the right approach will significantly speed up the interface and extend the battery life of your gadget.

Systemic garbage analysis: what can be removed

Before we take any drastic measures, we need to be clear about which components of the Android operating system are vital and which are only ballast. Xiaomi has a huge number of services in its firmware, many of which duplicate each other’s functions or are responsible for collecting telemetry. System debris takes up precious space and consumes the CPU resources even in the background.

The safest way to remove apps that are connected to the Google ecosystem if you don't use them, or analytics services from the manufacturer. For example, MSA (MIUI System Ads) services are responsible for displaying ads in system interfaces, and turning them off is a priority for many users. You can also safely remove stock applications that you never run, such as navigators, cloud storage or social networks preinstalled by the manufacturer.

⚠️ Warning: Never remove components named "Security", "Framework", "Phone", "Contacts" or "Settings" unless you are 100% sure of their purpose.

For clarity, consider the table of the main packages that are often found on Redmi 9A, and the degree of risk of their removal:

It’s important to understand that removing system applications through ADB doesn’t physically erase them from the recovery partition, it only hides them for the current user, meaning that if you crash, you can always reset everything back to the factory settings.

Preparation of the smartphone Redmi 9A for modification

To get started, activate the hidden developer menu on your device. Without this step, your computer will not be able to access your smartphone file system to execute commands. Go to Settings → About Phone and find the MIUI version line. Click on it quickly 7-10 times in a row until you notice that you have become a developer.

After activating the menu in the section Additional → For developers, you need to enable a few critical settings. First of all, activate the debugging switch over USB. The system will warn you about the potential risks, but for the cleaning procedure it is a mandatory requirement. It is also recommended to enable the option “Do not turn off the screen when charging” so that the device does not fall asleep during operation.

When you connect your smartphone to your computer, for the first time, a dialog box will appear on the device screen asking for debugging permission. Be sure to tick "Always Allow from this computer" and press "OK", otherwise the connection will break after each command. If the window doesn’t appear, try another one. USB-cable or port, as some cables only support charging.

Installation and configuration of tools on PC

To interact with Redmi 9A, you will need a minimum set of software on your computer. The main tool is Google’s Platform Tools, which contains ADB and Fastboot executables. Download the full Android Studio package for this task is redundant, just download the lightweight version from the official developer site.

Once you download the archive, unpack it into the root folder of the disk, such as C:\platform-tools, so that the path does not contain Cyrillic characters and spaces. For ease of work in Windows 10 and 11, you can open the command prompt right in this folder: press Shift, right click on the empty space and select "Open PowerShell window here" or "Open terminal".

Check if you're installing the drivers correctly. Connect your phone and type in the command:

adb devices

If the list shows the serial number of your device with device status, then the connection is established successfully. Unauthorized status means that you need to confirm access on the smartphone screen. Offline status indicates problems with drivers or cable.

Removal process through the command line

The most effective cleaning method is the use of uninstall commands. The command removes the application for the current user (user 0), which is equivalent to a complete deletion, but leaves the possibility of recovery.

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 name packet

Here pm stands for Package Manager, and the -k flag stores the cache and application data (although when deleting it often doesn't matter to the user). --user 0 indicates deletion for the main profile. For example, to remove the ad service, type:

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.msa.global

Once successful, the terminal will see a Success message. The application will disappear from the menu and the list of installed programs. If you make an error in the name of the package, the system will give an error Failure [not installed for 0].

💡

The adb uninstall command removes the application only for the current user, without affecting the system partition recovery, which allows you to safely experiment with settings.

For mass removal, you can create a text file with a list of packages and run a loop, but for beginners it is safer to delete applications one at a time, checking the stability of the system after each operation.

Alternative method: use of graphical shells

If you find the command line too difficult or inconvenient, there are specialized GUI utilities that automate the process. One of the most popular and proven tools is Universal Android Debloater. It supports Xiaomi-based devices and has a built-in database of secure packet removal.

The advantage of these programs is that they have a color risk indication: secure applications are marked green, questionable applications are marked yellow, and system critical components are marked red, which minimizes the risk of accidental removal of an important driver or service.

• 🟢 Safe: Google Apps, Third-Party Launchers, Analytics Services.
• 🟡 Dangerous: System components MIUI, themes, theme store.
• 🔴 Critical: Phone, Messages, Settings, Task Manager.

When using graphics utilities, always back up the list of applications before you start cleaning. Most programs offer the function of exporting the list of installed packages, which will allow you to quickly restore the original state of the system if necessary.

Recovery of Remote Components

Since we haven't physically erased applications from the system partition, it doesn't require you to flash the smartphone back. To return a remote package, you just run the install command by specifying the packet name.

adb shell cmd package install-existing name packet

This command is forced to reinstal an application for the current user. For example, if you delete a standard browser and you need it, just type in its packet name after the command prefix. The system instantly returns the icon to the desktop and restores functionality.

⚠️ Warning: The recovery team only works if you haven't performed a full reset (Wipe Data) after deleting.Resetting will permanently remove the recovery option through ADB, as the user section where links to hidden packages are stored is cleared.

If the smartphone stops booting after removing the critical component, you will have to boot into Recovery mode and perform a full data reset.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)