Xiaomi’s modern smartphones are known for their excellent value for money, but for an affordable price, manufacturers often charge a fee by paying attention to ads. Obtrusive banners can appear in the most unexpected places: when unlocking the screen, in system applications or even on top of the desktop.
Fortunately, MIUI and the more recent HyperOS provide enough privacy tools to set up your privacy, you don't have to be a programmer or root-rights to get rid of most ad integrations, you just have to go through the key settings and turn off the services.
In this article, we will go into detail each step of cleaning the interface, not only touching on standard switches, but also deeper settings that often remain hidden from the eyes of the average user. Complete disabling of ads on Xiaomi requires a comprehensive approach, since there is no single “Stop All Ads” button in the system.
Disabling the MSA Recommendation Service
At the heart of Xiaomi’s advertising ecosystem is the MSA (MIUI System Ads) system application, which is responsible for collecting data about your actions and loading banner ads into various parts of the interface, and without deactivating it, anti-advertising will be ineffective.
To start, you need to find the appropriate section in the settings. Go to Settings → Password and Security → Authorization and Review. In the list that opens, find msa and put the slider inactive. The system will try to convince you to leave the service on by offering to wait 10 seconds.
When the timer runs out, press the Review button. If you failed to turn it off the first time, try repeating the procedure several times in a row - the company's servers sometimes respond with an error, but persistence helps to achieve results, this action will stop the main stream of targeted advertising.
It's worth noting that once you revoke authorization, the MSA app will stop receiving your location and browsing history, and it will also have a positive impact on device autonomy, as the background statistical collection process will be stopped, and your privacy will be greatly enhanced.
Customization and Advertising in MIUI
Beyond the main service, the system has a separate mechanism for personalizing advertising offers, which analyzes your actions in standard applications to show more relevant, but still intrusive ads, and disabling this feature is the next mandatory step.
Go back to Password and Security and look for Advertising Services (or Advertising Service) where you need to turn off Receive Recommendations, which will break the link between your device ID and the ad servers.
Next, check your privacy settings. Go to Settings → Privacy → Special Permits → Ad Personalization. Make sure the Personalized Ads slider is off. This will prevent your data from being used to create an advertising profile.
⚠️ Note: After disabling these settings, the ads will not disappear completely, but will become less intrusive and will no longer be personalized.
It is also important to check your Mi Account settings. Sometimes, promotional subscriptions can be activated at the account level, go to your account settings and check the sections related to subscriptions and notifications.
☑️ Checklist of basic cleaning
Removing Advertising in Standard Apps
Even after system services are disabled, ads can continue to appear inside standard Xiaomi utilities such as Explorer, Music, Video, or Cleanup. Each of these apps has its own content display settings.
Start with the Security app. Open it, click on the settings gear in the top right corner, and find Receive recommendations. Disable it. Then go to the Cleanup section inside the app and also remove recommendation content there.
The File Manager app is the same. Click on three menu bars, select Settings → About and turn off recommendations. In Music and Video, you go to the settings and find Receive recommendations or Show ads, and then deactivate them.
For Downloads, the path may be different. Click three dots in the corner, select Settings → Show recommended content, and turn off this option. This will remove the news feed and banners from the download interface.
What to do if the advertising settings return?
Remember that app updates can bring back old settings, and check those sections periodically, especially after the system update, to help keep the interface clean.
Disabling Advertising on the Lock Screen
One of the most annoying forms of advertising is lock-screen cards, which often offer news, weather or merchandise, which can appear even when the screen is off, consuming battery power and interfering with quick access to the camera.
To remove them, go to Settings → Always On screen and Lock screen. Find the Wallpaper Carousel (or “Glance”) section. Inside this menu, turn off the Wallpaper Carousel function. This action will return a static image or your photos to the lock screen.
It’s also worth checking the theme settings. Some third-party themes downloaded from Themes store may contain embedded ads. If you notice strange banners after changing the design, return the standard theme or download the verified version without modifications.
⚠️ Warning: Turning off the wallpaper carousel will not only remove advertising, but also automatically change beautiful backgrounds. If you liked this feature, you have to choose between aesthetics and no advertising.
Once the carousel is turned off, the lock screen will become significantly cleaner, you will only see the time, notifications and widgets that you installed yourself, which will speed up the smartphone, as advertising content will no longer load in the background.
Blocking Advertising Through DNS (Method for Advanced Advertising)
For those who want to get the most out of it, there is a way to block ads at the network connection level, and using a private DNS allows you to filter advertising traffic before it gets to apps or browsers.
Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Private DNS. Select the DNS Host Name option and type in dns.adguard.com. Save settings. This method is effective not only for the system, but also for browsers and some games.
The advantage of this method is that it does not require the installation of additional applications and works globally for the entire device. DNS-The server will be unavailable, some sites or applications may stop downloading content.
| Parameter | Meaning | The effect |
|---|---|---|
| Type DNS | Host name | Enabling manual adjustment |
| Server address | dns.adguard.com | Advertising filtering |
| Status | Active. | Locking down trackers |
| Speed. | Tall. | Minimum delay |
If you use third-party antivirus or blockers (such as AdGuard or Blokada), they can also create a local VPN to filter traffic, in which case the system DNS setting may not be available or conflict with the application.
💡
Use the flight mode in combination with DNS Check the effectiveness of the lock. Turn off Wi-Fi, leave the mobile network and check for banners in standard applications.>
Cleaning notifications from system applications
Sometimes, the ads come in the form of regular push notifications from system applications, such as "Mi Credit", "Mi Store" or "GetApps" These notifications are often disguised as important system messages.
To stop this flow, pin your finger on an unnecessary notification and select Notification Settings. In the menu that opens, completely disable notifications for this app. The best way to do this is for all Xiaomi stores and service apps that you don't use daily.
It is also recommended to go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Notification management. Go through the list of applications and turn off notifications for those that are not critical (messengers, mail, calls).
⚠️ Warning: Do not disable notifications from security applications, antivirus or system low battery alerts.This may result in missing important device status information.
Regularly reviewing notification permissions helps keep your smartphone clean.New apps installed from third-party sources can also request access to notifications - be careful when installing them.
💡
Xiaomi’s comprehensive ad blocking is achieved only by a combination of system services shutdown (MSA), customization of personalization and use DNS-filtering.>