How to Get Rid of Ads on My Phone (Step-by-Step for Android and iPhone)

If you are searching for how to get rid of ads on my phone, the answer depends on where the ads are actually coming from.

Most come from a downloaded app, a website notification you allowed, or a system personalisation setting. Identify the source first, and the fix usually takes under five minutes.

What Kind of Ads Are Showing on Your Phone?

Before changing any settings, work out what type of ad you are actually dealing with. The fix for a browser pop-up is different from the fix for a lock screen ad.

Browser pop-up ads

These appear when you open Chrome, Safari, or another browser and a new tab or window opens by itself.

They are usually triggered by a website with aggressive ad scripts, or by a browser setting that allows pop-ups and redirects.

Notification-style ads

These show up in your notification tray alongside your messages and emails.

They are almost always caused by a website that asked to send you notifications and you tapped "Allow," sometimes without realising it.

Lock screen ads

These appear before you unlock your phone. On Android phones, this usually comes from a specific app that has permission to display on the lock screen.

Some phone brands sold in South East Asia and the Middle East show lock screen ads through their own system apps.

Ads inside apps

Every free app can legally show ads. These are built into the app itself. You generally cannot remove them without paying for a premium version or uninstalling the app entirely.

Ads inside system apps (Android)

On certain Android brands like OPPO and Samsung, built-in apps such as the file manager, weather app, and app store can display personalized recommendations and ads. These are controlled separately from regular downloaded apps.

Quick Reference: Ad Type and How to Fix It

Ad Type	Where It Comes From	Fix
Browser pop-up	Website scripts or browser settings	Block pop-ups in Chrome or Safari settings
Notification ad	Website push notification permission	Revoke site notification access in browser
Lock screen ad	App with lock screen display permission	Remove app permission or uninstall app
In-app ad	Built into free app design	Pay for premium version or uninstall
System app ad	Phone brand personalisation settings	Turn off in brand-specific privacy settings
Home screen pop-up	Background app running ad scripts	Identify and uninstall the app

How to Stop Pop-Up Ads on Android

These steps apply to most Android phones regardless of brand. Samsung-specific and OPPO-specific steps follow in separate sections below.

Step 1: Disable personalised ads on your Google account

Google serves personalized ads across apps and services based on your account activity.

Go to Settings > Google > Ads (or Settings > Privacy > Ads on newer Android versions).

Tap Delete advertising ID or toggle off Opt out of Ads Personalisation. This does not block all ads, but it stops Google from targeting you based on your browsing and app history.

Step 2: Find the app causing pop-up ads

If ads appear on your home screen while your phone is idle, a recently installed app is almost certainly the cause.

Open the Google Play Store, tap your profile icon, go to Manage apps and devices > Manage, and sort by Last used. Any unfamiliar app showing recent activity is worth investigating.

Step 3: Uninstall the offending app

Go to Settings > Apps > See all apps, tap the suspicious app, and select Uninstall. If the uninstall button is greyed out, the app has claimed device administrator privileges.

Go to Settings > Security > Device admin apps, find the app, disable its admin access, then return and uninstall it normally.

Step 4: Block pop-ups and disable notification ads in Chrome

Open Chrome, tap the three-dot menu, and go to Settings > Site settings > Pop-ups and redirects. Turn this off.

Then go back to Site settings > Notifications, disable the main toggle, and revoke access from any site listed under "Allowed" that you do not recognise.

Clearing Chrome's cache before this step (Settings > Apps > Chrome > Storage > Clear cache) makes the change take effect more reliably.

Step 5: Remove ads from your phone's lock screen

Go to Settings > Apps, find the suspected app, tap Notifications, and turn off "Show on lock screen."

On some Android phones, you can also check Settings > Display > Lock screen for any content or personalisation toggles and disable them there.

How to Get Rid of Ads on My Phone: Samsung Galaxy Steps

Samsung Galaxy phones have a personalisation layer within Samsung's own account system that sits on top of standard Android settings.

Disable personalised ads in your Samsung Account

Open Settings and tap your Samsung Account at the top. Go to Privacy > Customisation Service and turn the toggle off.

This stops Samsung from using your data to serve personalized promotions inside Samsung apps such as Samsung Pay, the Galaxy Store, and Samsung Health. It reduces ad frequency inside those apps but does not remove all ads.

Block ads in Samsung Internet browser

Open Samsung Internet, tap the three-line menu, and go to Settings > Sites and downloads. Toggle on Block pop-ups. Then go back to the Samsung Internet menu and tap Ad blockers.

From here you can download a compatible third-party ad blocker that works inside the browser. In practice, users who switch from Chrome to Samsung Internet often find that adding an ad blocker here covers most of their browser ad issues in one step.

Mute ad notifications from Samsung apps

Open Settings > Notifications and scroll through the list. Look for Samsung apps you did not intentionally sign up to receive alerts from. Tap each one and disable its notification permission.

You can also long-press any notification as it arrives and turn off notifications for that app directly from the notification panel.

How to Stop Ads on OPPO and ColorOS Phones

OPPO phones sold in South East Asia and the Middle East show ads inside several built-in system apps. These are controlled app by app and also through a master setting. The steps below apply to ColorOS 14 and later.

Master toggle: Settings > Security and Privacy > App Content

Open Settings, go to Security and Privacy, then More Security and Privacy, and turn off App Content.

This is the broadest control available and reduces personalised content across the system in one step.

Turn off ads in individual system apps

Each OPPO system app has its own toggle:

In Phone Manager, tap the three-dot icon, go to Phone Manager Settings > Privacy, and disable personalised recommendations.

In App Market, go to My Account > gear icon > Privacy Settings > Ads and recommendations and turn off personalised advertising.

In My Files, tap the three-dot icon, go to Settings > Privacy, and turn off personalised services.

In the Weather and Calendar apps, open each app's settings individually and disable personalised services.

The Music and Videos system apps do not currently offer an option to disable ads.

The available workaround is to stop automatic updates for those apps in both the Play Store and the App Market, as ad features are sometimes added through updates rather than the original installation.

How to Block Ads on iPhone

iOS handles ads differently from Android. Apple does not allow third-party apps to show ads outside of their own interface, which means you will not see home screen pop-ups or lock screen ads from apps on an iPhone.

The ads iPhone users most commonly deal with are inside apps, inside Safari, and through website push notifications.

In practice, iPhone users who report "ads everywhere" are often seeing in-app ads from free apps, or browser pop-ups they assumed were phone-wide. Knowing the distinction saves time.

Turn off personalised ads on iPhone

Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Apple Advertising and turn off Personalised Ads. This stops Apple from targeting you in the App Store, Apple News, and Stocks. It does not affect ads shown by third-party apps inside their own interfaces.

Block pop-ups in Safari

Go to Settings > Safari and turn on Block Pop-ups. This handles the majority of browser pop-up ads. Enabling Fraudulent Website Warning on the same page adds a second layer that blocks known malicious sites before they load.

Stop website notification ads in Safari

Go to Settings > Notifications, scroll to Safari, and check whether any individual websites have notification access. Revoke access for any site you do not recognise. To clear old data, go to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data and clear your data.

For ongoing browser ad blocking on iPhone, installing a content blocker from the App Store (such as AdGuard or 1Blocker) and enabling it under Settings > Safari > Extensions is the most consistent option available on iOS.

Is It a Virus or Just an App?

Most of the time, it is an aggressive ad-supported app, not malware.

Malicious ad software is less common on phones than the volume of concerned searches might suggest, according to TechCrunch, which noted that only 0.04% of Google Play downloads were classified as potentially harmful applications.

That said, a few specific signs point toward something more harmful.

If ads appear on your home screen when no app is visibly running, if pop-ups survive after you uninstall the app you suspected, or if ads require you to interact with them before you can close them, those patterns are worth taking more seriously.

On Samsung phones, run a scan through Settings > Device Care > Device protection. On OPPO phones, Phone Manager includes a built-in virus scan.

The iPhone does not have a native equivalent scanner, but Apple's mandatory review process for every app submission, as documented by Wikipedia's App Store overview, makes malicious ad software considerably rarer on iOS than on Android.

What's often overlooked is that many of the most aggressive ad behaviours come from apps that are technically legitimate but built with monetisation as the primary goal.

A free flashlight or wallpaper app with unusually broad network access is a common source. Removing it is enough.

How to Prevent Ads from Coming Back

Before installing any free app, check what permissions it requests.

An app that asks for permission to display over other apps, or that requests full network access without an obvious reason, is worth skipping. Most useful free apps function with fewer permissions than they request.

Stick to the Google Play Store on Android and the App Store on iPhone. Apps from outside official stores carry a higher risk of bundling aggressive ad behaviour. On Android, confirm that "Install unknown apps" is turned off under Settings > Security.

In practice, most people dealing with aggressive phone ads installed something quickly without checking permissions first. One brief look before tapping install saves the uninstall-and-rescan process later.

Conclusion

Ads on your phone come from downloaded apps, browser notification permissions, or brand-level personalisation settings. The right fix depends on the type of ad.

The steps above cover Android, Samsung, OPPO, and iPhone without requiring any paid tools or technical knowledge.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Get Rid of Ads on My Phone When They Appear Suddenly?

A recently installed app is the most common reason. Free apps with aggressive monetisation, especially those downloaded outside official stores, often push ads to your home screen or notification tray. Check your recently installed apps first and remove anything you no longer use or do not recognise.

Can I block YouTube ads on my phone?

Not through phone settings alone. YouTube ads are served through the app itself. On Android, watching YouTube through a browser with built-in ad blocking, such as Brave, removes most ads. On iPhone, some content blockers work in Safari's YouTube view but not inside the YouTube app.

Do ad-blocking apps actually work on Android?

Yes, within limits. Browser-based blockers like AdGuard or the Brave browser block ads reliably within the browser. System-wide blocking requires a VPN-style setup. For most users, browser ad blockers plus the notification and pop-up settings above cover the majority of ad sources.

Will blocking ads break my phone or apps?

No. Disabling personalised ad settings, blocking browser pop-ups, and revoking notification permissions will not affect how your phone functions. Some free apps may show blank spaces where ads appeared, but nothing will stop working.

How do I stop ads on my phone's lock screen?

On Android, go to Settings > Apps, find the responsible app, tap Notifications, and turn off "Show on lock screen." On Samsung phones, also check Settings > Display > Lock screen for content or widget options. On iPhone, third-party apps cannot display lock screen ads due to iOS restrictions.