How to Block Ads on Android Phones: Step-by-Step Guide

Advertisements are everywhere, and while they help websites earn, they could also quickly turn into a nuisance, affecting the user experience. Adverts are especially hard to manage on Android, as smartphones have limited screen real estate. Some websites and apps turn up the frequency of ads to the maximum, due to which you may want to feel like getting rid of them completely. And there are a few ways to get rid of Ads on Android, which we will touch upon in this guide.

Stop ads on Android phones

Now, before we get started, Ads on Android come in various shapes and sizes. They could refer to pop-up ads and redirects on browsers, or too many ad banners on websites that ruin your browsing experience.

Besides, ads on Android could also be referred to as a full-screen advert page that appears on top of an app, or via app notifications in the Notification pull-down menu. The good news is, all of these adverts can be evaded with ease using the methods mentioned below.

1. Remove ads from Android using NextDNS

Using a DNS is a universal and the easiest way to instantly get rid of ads on Android. A Domain Name Service intercepts devices' requests to translate domain names to IP addresses. We will be using NextDNS for this guide, as it's a completely free and open-source ad blocker. You could also use AdGuard.

When a request is made to a page that contains lots of ads, the DNS does not give the ad services serving ads on the page our IP address. This kills ads, and that's why we see white spaces on websites in their place. Here's how to use NextDNS on Android:

On your phone, head over to Settings > Network & internet and tap on Private DNS.

Android Settings page with Private DNS option

Select Private DNS provider hostname and enter "d7d9d6.dns.nextdns.io".
Then hit Save to save the DNS configuration. You should no longer see ads when browsing the internet.

Enter private DNS address and tap on save

2. Block ads in a web browser on Android

Using a DNS is punishing for the websites because it affects them financially. If all you want is to avoid unnecessary pop-ups and redirects, you can do so by using a browser that automatically blocks trackers and pop-ups.

If you also want to block ads alongside blocking pop-ups and redirects, Brave for Android is one of the best browsers out there. If tracker protection is all you care about, Firefox for Android has it built in. However, if you want to stick to Chrome, which comes pre-installed in Android, you can enable a toggle in settings to block pop-ups and redirects.

Launch Chrome on your Android phone, tap on the 3-dots icon at the top right corner and then hit Settings.

Google chrome 3-dots icon with settings option

Now, swipe down to the Advanced section and go to Site settings > Pop-ups and redirects.
Turn off the Pop-ups and redirects toggle to start blocking sites from showing pop-ups and redirects.

Pop ups and interface with pop-ups and redirects option

3. Stopping ads on Android home screen

Oftentimes, apps in Android use a clever way to display ads on top of the apps using Android's Display over other apps option. This way, they get the permission to display ads on your home screen, which could be annoying. Fortunately, disabling the permission is very easy on Android.

However, before you disable, you need to find out which app is abusing this permission. You can do so by just looking at the app that sent you the overlay. Once you identify it, considering you're using a relatively recent Android version, follow these steps to disable the permission.

Head over to Settings > Apps > Special app access on your Android phone.

Android apps settings with special app access option

Tap on the Display over other apps option and select the app that's serving full-screen ads.
Turn on the Allow display over other apps toggle to turn off the permission.

Settings app with display over other apps option

4. Remove ads from Android notifications

Push notifications in apps are supposed to send you important updates, but apps these days leverage them to send spam notifications, which you can essentially classify as advertisements. While you can turn off all Notifications for a certain app, you may miss out on important notifications.

Luckily, Android has a very clever way around this problem thanks to Notification Channels. Apps have different notification channels, which users can turn off to stop receiving only certain types of messages. So, they can disable the "Promotional" channel to stop adverts. Here's how to do it:

Long-press on an app and tap on the i icon. Then select Notifications.

Android app info page with notifications highlighted

Here, turn off all the toggles but the ones that you think are important and want to receive notifications from.
The adverts are usually the result of the Promotional notifications option that's enabled by default. You can disable them by turning off this toggle.

Swiggy app notifications with all notification channels

And those are all the ways to block ads in Android. By far the easiest way to block ads is by using an ad-block DNS. If you want to block pop-ups and/or ads in your browser, you can try out a browser that comes with a built-in ad and tracker blocker.

Turning off the "Display over other apps" option disables apps from pushing full-screen advertisements, while disabling certain notification channels prevents notification spam that could be technically regarded as ads.