Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face intrusive behavior from the MIUI operating system or the new HyperOS. After viewing photos or videos in the standard gallery, and sometimes immediately when you open the application, banner ads or recommendations appear on the screen. This is not a virus, but an embedded monetization feature known as MSA (MIUI System Ads).
Advertising modules are deeply integrated into system applications, making it difficult to completely remove them without special knowledge. However, there is a proven algorithm of actions to minimize the amount of advertising debris. You do not need to be a programmer to limit the appetite of the system.
It's worth noting that after major firmware updates, some switches can be reset or moved, so if you've tried to turn off ads before but they reappear, you need to check all the items again. Below we'll discuss the detailed instructions that will help you get back to a clean interface.
Disabling Advertising Recommendations Inside the Gallery App
The first step is to set up the app itself, where pop-ups are most common. In the latest versions of the shell, the interface may be different, but the logic remains the same. You need to find a recommendation section that is often masquerading as "helpful tips" or "story."
Go to the Gallery app and click on the profile icon or three dots in the top right corner. In the drop-down menu, select Settings. Here you are interested in the Recommendations or Receive Recommendations section. Put the switch to an inactive state. This action will remove banners that appear on the Detect tab or when you scroll through albums.
Also in the gallery settings, you should pay attention to Autoplay Video. Often, ads are integrated into the preview mechanism of videos. Disabling this feature will not only remove unnecessary data, but also save battery life. If you use the Xiaomi Cloud service, check the sync settings, since advertising albums can be downloaded from there.
- 📸 Open the gallery settings through the profile menu.
- 🚫 Find and disable the slider Get recommendations".
- ▶️ Turn off autoplay video on Wi-Fi and mobile networks.
- 🗑️ Clear the app cache through your phone's settings if banners are left.
⚠️ Warning: After updating the firmware settings may reset. periodically check this section to prevent ads from coming back unexpectedly.
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If the “Recommendations” option is not on the menu, your version of MIUI may require you to disable the MSA service through your phone’s general settings, as we’ll explain below.
Deactivation of MSA Service – the main source of advertising
The most effective way to combat intrusive ads is to disable the system service MSA. This process is responsible for collecting user data and displaying targeted advertising in all system applications, including gallery, guide and music.
Go to Settings, then select Password and Security (or simply Security). Find Personal Data Access or Special Opportunities (depending on the Android version). Find msa in the app list. Click the switch to deny access. The system will issue a warning and start a countdown of 10 seconds. You need to wait until the timer ends and click Accept.
Often the first time you can not turn off the service. Xiaomi deliberately makes the interface uncomfortable: the button can be barely noticeable, and the timer can be long. If you did not have time to press the button or the system gave an error, repeat the procedure 3-4 times in a row. Usually on the 3rd attempt, the restriction is removed, and the status of the service changes to "Disable".
☑️ Shutdown checklist MSA
It's important to understand that disabling MSA can affect some personalized features, such as smart selections in a music app, but for most users, losing those features will be invisible as ads disappear, a key step to clean up the interface.
Configure the Recommendation Receiving System (MRA)
In addition to MSA, there is another mechanism in the system, MRA (MIUI Recommendation Service), which is responsible for notifications and pop-ups that can appear on top of other applications, and turning off this service is critical to completely removing advertising noise.
The path to settings is similar to the one before: Settings → Password and Security → Access to Personal Data. Find Recipient of Recommendations (or Recommendation Service) on the list. Click the switch and go through the procedure again with the timer. Without this step, ads can continue to pop up even if the MSA is disabled.
In some regions and firmware versions, this item may be called differently. Look for any names that contain the words "Recommendation," "Ads," or "Recommendation Service." If you can't find this item, it may be hidden in the Authorization and Security section. → Advertising.
| Service | What is responsible for? | Location on the menu | Impact on the system |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSA | Displaying advertising in system applications | Access to personal data | High (principal source) |
| MRA | Push notifications and pop-up windows | Access to personal data | Average (intrusive notifications) |
| miuiDaemon | Collection of usage statistics | Access to personal data | Low (background data collection) |
| Analytics | Analysis of user actions | Access to personal data | Low (telemetry) |
⚠️ Warning: Do not disable system processes that you do not know the names of unless they are related to advertising.
Managing personalized advertising and identifiers
Even after the core services are disabled, personalization settings remain in the system, allowing advertisers to use your unique identifier to match content, and resetting and limiting this identifier is an important part of protecting privacy.
Find the Password and Security section in the settings → Privacy → Advertising (or Ad Settings). Here you will see the Personalized Advertising switch. Disable it. It is also recommended to click Reset the Ad ID button. This action will assign your device a new random number, breaking the link with previously collected data about your interests.
The same menu may contain the option to Receive recommendations on a general system scale, making sure that all sliders in this section are turned off, which will prevent advertising offers from appearing in standard applications such as Calendar, Weather and Security.
Why do you need an advertising ID?
Disabling notifications from system applications
Often, gallery ads don’t come as a pop-up, but as a simple notification that opens the browser or app store when clicked, and the source of these messages is Xiaomi’s system utilities.
Go through the list of installed applications in the Applications → All Apps section. Find the system utilities: Cleanup, Security, Explorer, Music, Video. Go to the information about each of them and select Notifications. Disable all categories of notifications except critical ones (such as "Complete Cleanup" or "Viruses found"). Marketing mailings, "Tips", "News" and "Promotions" should be blocked.
Pay special attention to GetApps, which often generates notifications about “discounts” and “popular games.” If you do not use this store, its notifications can be turned off completely or even removed the application itself, if your firmware version allows you to do so.
- 📱 Open the settings of all applications.
- 🔍 Find system utilities (Security, Explorer, Video).
- 🔕 Go to the "Notifications" section for each application.
- ❌ Disable the categories "Marketing", "Recommendations", "News".
After doing this, the ad litter stream should run out, the system will stop bothering you with unnecessary messages, and the gallery will work faster, since it will not need to download advertising modules.
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Blocking notifications from system applications is not only about the purity of the interface, but also about saving traffic and battery power, since the phone does not need to constantly poll the servers for new advertising.
Additional measures: DNS and third-party solutions
If standard methods have not completely eliminated ads, or if they appear as pop-ups in the browser (which is often confused with gallery ads), more advanced methods can be used, and one of the most effective is setting up a private DNS.
Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing (or Wi-Fi) → Private DNS (Private DNS). Select the DNS Host Name mode and type in the address: dns.adguard.com. Save settings. This method blocks network-level ads for all applications, including the gallery, if it tries to download a banner from the network.
Another radical but powerful method is to use ADB (Android Debug Bridge) to remove system ad packets, which requires connecting your phone to your computer and having basic command line knowledge. ADB can remove com.miui.misys or com.miui.daemon, but it requires caution to keep the system running smoothly.
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.msa.global
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.miiservice
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.miui.analytics⚠️ Attention: Use ADB-The commands can lead to loss of warranty or unstable operation of the system if you remove the excess.