How to remove unnecessary advertising from an Android phone: a step-by-step guide

Suddenly appearing pop-ups, banners on top of the desktop and intrusive notifications can turn the use of a modern smartphone into a real test. Advertising junk is not just visually annoying, it consumes RAM, consumes battery power and can block important interface elements. Users often encounter a situation where advertising messages appear even in applications where they did not exist before, or appear on the main screen for no apparent reason.

The nature of such intrusiveness is varied: from legal but aggressive marketing in free apps to malware secretly installed on the system. In some cases, the culprit is the browser itself, which retains permission to send notifications from dubious sites. Understanding the source of the problem is already half the battle in the fight for a clean screen on your device. In this article, we will look at all possible methods for eliminating advertising spam, from simple settings to advanced system changes.

You should not ignore the problem, hoping that it will go away on its own. Advertising modules are updated frequently and may begin to collect your personal data or redirect to phishing sites. Proper system cleaning requires an integrated approach, including checking installed applications, setting up network connections and revising access rights. Let's start with the simplest and safest actions that do not require deep technical knowledge.

Search and remove culprit applications

More often than not, newly installed free utilities become the source of annoying advertising: flashlights, QR code scanners, photo editors or simple games. The developers of such apps implement aggressive ones that cause full-screen banners to appear. To identify the culprit, carefully analyze the list of installed software, paying attention to applications without an icon or with a suspicious name. advertising SDKs, which cause full-screen banners to appear. To identify the culprit, carefully analyze the list of installed software, paying attention to applications without an icon or with a suspicious name.

Particularly cunning apps are those that hide their icon from the application menu, but continue to work in the background. They may masquerade as system services or have an empty name in the task manager list. If advertising appears immediately after unlocking the screen or on top of other windows, most likely this is the hidden agent running on the system. The standard removal method through the app menu may not work in this case, since you simply will not find the “Delete” button.

To detect hidden threats, use the following algorithm of actions:

• 🔍 Go to Settings → Applications → All applications and carefully look through the list for strange entries without a name or icon.
• 📉 Open the section Data usage or Battery and find an application with abnormally high resource consumption that you have not used.
• 🛡️ Use an anti-virus scanner, for example Dr.Web or Kaspersky, to search for known Trojan downloaders.
• 🗑️ Try uninstalling the suspicious application through safe mode by holding down power button on the desktop.

⚠️ Attention: If the "Uninstall" button is inactive and the application is listed in the "Device Administrators" list, first go to Settings → Security → Device administrators and uncheck the suspicious app. Only after this can it be uninstalled.

Sometimes malicious code is disguised as an update of system components, for example, under the guise of Android System or Google Services, but with a changed signature. In such cases, removal is only possible through a computer using USB debugging, but for most users it is enough to find a duplicate system application with a similar name and remove it. Be extremely careful when deleting files with names containing the words "System" or "Core" if you are not sure of their origin.

Ad blocking at the DNS level

One of the most effective and safest ways to get rid of advertising in the browser and most applications is to use private DNS server with filtering function. This method does not require the installation of third-party software and works at the network connection level, blocking requests to known ad servers even before the content is downloaded to your device. The technology is called Private DNS and is supported starting from version Android 9.

The essence of the method is to redirect all DNS queries of your phone to a server that automatically filters out domains belonging to advertising networks. As a result, instead of a banner, you will see an empty space or a standard placeholder, which significantly speeds up page loading and saves traffic. This solution is especially relevant for owners of smartphones Xiaomi, Samsung i Honor, where system advertising is built deep into the shell.

To activate the function, follow these steps:

1. Open the menu Settings of your smartphone.
2. Go to section Connections or Network and Internet.
3. Find item Private DNS server (may be called "Personal" DNS").
4. Select the "DNS Provider Hostname" option and enter the address: dns.adguard.com.
5. Save the changes and reboot the device.

It is important to understand that this method only blocks online advertising. It is powerless against videos embedded directly in the content stream (as in YouTube), or against banners that are part of the interface of the application itself and are loaded from the same domain as the useful content. However, for cleaning up the browser and removing pop-ups in games, this solution is the gold standard.

⚠️ Attention: Using third-party DNS servers may slightly increase the delay when opening sites (ping) if the server is physically located far from your region. In case of problems with Internet speed, return the setting to "Auto" mode.

Clearing notifications in the Chrome browser

Users often confuse system advertising with spam notifications that come from sites visited in the browser Google Chrome. After visiting a resource with questionable content, you may have accidentally clicked the "Allow" button in a pop-up window asking you to show notifications. After this, the site gets the right to send you push messages at any time, simulating system alerts about news, winnings or viruses.

These notifications are not viruses in the classical sense, they only use the legal browser mechanism to deliver spam. However, their abundance can completely paralyze the work with the phone, forcing the user to constantly close pop-up windows. The good news is that you can get rid of them by simply revoking access rights for specific sites in your browser settings.

The process of revoking access rights is as follows:

• 🌐 Launch your browser Chrome and click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
• ⚙️ Select item Settings and go to section Notifications.
• 🚫 In the "Allowed" list, find suspicious sites with unclear names.
• 🗑️ Click on the site name and select the option Block or Delete.

If the list of allowed sites is too large and you don’t want to deal with each one separately, you can reset all notification settings right away. To do this, in the same notification settings menu, find the "Reset permissions" button or delete the browser data completely through the menu Applications in the Android settings. This action will also clear browsing history and saved passwords in the browser, so make sure that your data is synchronized with your account Google.

What to do if notifications do not disappear?

If notifications continue to arrive after blocking sites, a malicious site may have created a shortcut on the desktop. Long press to check all the icons on the main screen: if clicking on an icon opens a website and not an application, remove this shortcut.

Disabling system advertising in shells

Manufacturers of budget and mid-budget smartphones, such as Xiaomi (MIUI/HyperOS), Samsung (One UI) and Realme, often integrate advertising modules directly into system applications. This allows them to reduce the cost of devices by monetizing the user experience through banner displays in the menu, weather, music player and explorer. Fortunately, most of these settings can be disabled manually, although developers sometimes complicate this process by hiding switches deep in the menu.

In the shell MIUI there is a special system service msa (MIUI System Ads), which is responsible for loading and displaying advertising content. Disabling this service is the first step to cleaning up the system. In addition, you need to go through each standard application and find individual recommendation switches there. For example, in the “Music” application you need to go to the settings and disable “Receive recommendations”, and in “Explorer” you need to disable the display of popular content.

Below is a table with the main system applications and ways to disable advertising for popular skins:

Shell / Brand	System application	Disable path	Key switch
Xiaomi (MIUI)	Security	Settings → Advanced settings	Get recommendations
Xiaomi (MIUI)	Downloads	Three dots → Settings	Show recommended content
Samsung (One UI)	Galaxy Store	Menu → Settings	Personalized advertising
Realme UI	Tools	Tool settings	Receive recommendations

On devices Samsung advertising often appears in the form of offers to install games or applications in folders on the desktop and in the store Galaxy Store. To disable personalized advertising system-wide, go to Settings → Privacy → Advertising service and activate the "Remove advertising identifier" option. This will not remove ads completely, but it will reset your interest profile, making impressions less targeted.

⚠️ Attention: Android shell interfaces are constantly updated. The names of menu items and their locations may differ depending on the firmware version. If you do not find the specified switch, use the search in the settings by entering the word “recommendations” or “advertising.”

Using content blockers

If system settings and DNS filtering do not give the desired result, specialized blocker applications come to the rescue. Unlike the DNS method, apps such as AdGuard or Blokada create a local one on the device, through which all traffic is passed for deeper analysis and filtering. This allows you to cut out advertising even inside some applications where the DNS method is powerless. VPN tunnel on a device through which all traffic is passed for deeper analysis and filtering. This allows you to cut out advertising even inside some applications where the DNS method is powerless.

Installation of such software requires permission to create a VPN connection. Don’t be afraid of this requirement: traffic doesn’t go to third-party servers, filtering happens locally on your processor. However, having an active VPN connection may conflict with other applications that use the protocol, such as enterprise clients or some games. In such cases, the blocker must be temporarily suspended.

Advantages of using local blockers:

• 🚀 Possibility of filtering HTTPS traffic (when installing a certificate).
• 🔋 Battery saving by preventing the loading of heavy advertising scripts.
• 🛡️ Protection from phishing sites and privacy trackers.
• ⚙️ Flexible configuration of filtering lists for specific tasks.

It is worth noting that for the full operation of some blocker functions, you may need root access, the receipt of which will void the device warranty and incur security risks. For most users, the version without root access is enough for comfortable use. When choosing an application, give preference to open source solutions or time-tested products, avoiding dubious “boosters” and “cleaners”, which themselves are often a source of advertising.

Why does the blocker not work in some applications?

Some applications use their own encryption protocols or load advertisements from the same domains as the main content. In such cases, blocking ads can lead to the application itself not working.

Resetting settings as a last resort

When none of the software methods helps get rid of pop-ups, and the phone turns into an uncontrollable source of spam, a radical but effective method remains - a full reset to factory settings. This procedure completely clears the internal memory of the device from all user data, applications and, most importantly, from hidden viruses that could have infiltrated the system partitions with user rights.

Before starting the procedure, it is critical to create a backup copy of all valuable data: photos, contacts, correspondence and documents. After the reset, it will be impossible to restore deleted information without a backup. Make sure you know the password for your Google accountas after the reset the system will require it to confirm ownership of the device (FRP protection).

The process of performing a reset (Hard Reset):

1. Login in Settings → System → Reset settings.
2. Select item Delete all data (reset to factory settings).
3. Confirm the action by entering the PIN code or pattern.
4. Wait until the process completes and the device automatically reboots.

Settings → About phone → Reset settings → Delete all data

After turning on, the phone will look like you just took it out of the box. Don't rush to restore all applications from a backup at once. First, set up your device as new, check for ads. If the problem disappears, then the culprit was one of the previously installed applications. Return apps one at a time, monitoring the system's response so as not to re-establish the source of infection.

⚠️ Attention: Resetting settings does not delete files from the memory card (SD card). If the virus is on the external drive, it may re-infect the phone after the reset. It is recommended to format the SD card through the phone settings before restoring data.

Preventing the appearance of advertising

In order not to encounter the problem of clearing your phone of advertising spam in the future, you should adhere to certain rules of digital hygiene. The main source of infection is the installation of applications from unverified sources. Always download software only from the official store Google Play, where the apps are checked for malicious code. Avoid sites that offer “hacked” versions of paid games or modified messenger clients.

Carefully read the permissions that the application requests during installation. If a simple flashlight asks for access to your contacts, geolocation and microphone, this is a clear sign of an unscrupulous developer. Reject suspicious requests or completely refuse to install such a app. Update your operating system and applications regularly, as updates often contain security patches that address vulnerabilities exploited by adware.

It is also recommended to periodically check the list of applications with rights to display on top of other windows. Go to Settings → Applications → Special access → Display on top of other applications and revoke this right from all apps that do not need it to work (for example, a calculator or voice recorder does not need it). This will prevent full-screen banners from appearing even if dubious software is accidentally installed.

Is it safe to use applications to block ads?

Using proven blockers (AdGuard, Blokada) safe. They operate locally and do not share your personal data. However, avoid unknown applications with names like "Super AdBlocker Free", which themselves may contain spyware modules.

Can an antivirus help remove ads?

An antivirus can find and remove known Trojans that cause ads. However, it is powerless against legal advertising in free applications or system settings that must be disabled manually.

Why do advertisements appear after updating the application?

Developers often add new advertising modules in updates to free versions. If, after an update, a particular application begins to show more advertising, try to find its analogue without intrusive banners.

Is it possible to remove advertising on YouTube without a subscription?

Officially, no. Third-party clients (for example, YouTube ReVanced) allow you to do this, but their installation requires technical skills and carries security risks for your Google account.

What to do if the ads are not removed even after a reset?

If the ads remain after a full factory reset, the problem may be hardware (rare) or related to the firmware containing a built-in advertising module at the kernel level. In this case, only flashing the device to a clean version of Android will help.