Ad blocking
Pop-up ads come from three places: ad networks, apps that draw ads over other apps, and website notifications you once allowed. Here’s how to stop pop-up ads of each kind on an Android phone, iPhone, Windows and Mac.
In short
Knowing how to stop pop-up ads starts with finding where they come from. Each kind has its own fix, and the rest takes a few minutes.
This is the most common kind. A DNS ad blocker stops it for the whole device: when a browser, app or game asks for an ad server, the address isn’t given out, so the pop-up never loads.
Seawall works this way on Android, iPhone, computers and smart TVs, no app needed. The Android and iPhone guides take about a minute.
Browsers also have a built-in pop-up ad blocker. It’s on by default, but check it if pop-ups open in new windows:
If ads appear over your home screen or inside apps that never had ads, an app is drawing them. A DNS ad blocker stops many of these ads from loading, but the real fix is removing the app.
These look like system alerts: “Your phone is infected”, “You won a prize”. They come from a site you once allowed to send notifications. Turn them off in the browser:
If you’re looking for how to stop pop-up ads on your phone, start here. Three steps cover almost every case:
On a Samsung phone, Private DNS is in Settings › Connections › More connection settings, and Samsung’s own apps can show offers too. The Samsung guide shows how to stop pop-up ads on a Samsung phone and turn those offers off.
On iPhone, pop-ups mostly come from websites. Turn on Block Pop-ups in Settings › Apps › Safari (Settings › Safari on older iOS). Then install the Seawall profile to stop ads from ad networks in Safari, other browsers and apps.
Chrome blocks most pop-up windows by itself. Check that it’s on: Settings › Privacy and security › Site settings › Pop-ups and redirects, then choose Don’t allow sites to send pop-ups or use redirects. On Android, the same switch is in Chrome › Settings › Site settings.
Chrome’s blocker doesn’t stop ads that load inside a page from ad networks. A DNS ad blocker does, in Chrome and in every other app on the device.
Ads that come from the same servers as the content stay, such as ads in YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Pop-ups that a website draws itself, like a newsletter sign-up box, aren’t ads from an ad network and also stay. For everything else, blocking ad networks removes most pop-ups at once.
Find where they come from: uninstall apps that show ads over other apps, turn off notifications for sites you don’t know, and set a DNS ad blocker like Seawall to stop ads from ad networks in every app.
Usually because of a recently installed app or a site you allowed to send notifications. Check apps installed just before the ads started and your browser’s notification settings.
The ad itself rarely can, but scam pop-ups push fake downloads and payment pages. Don’t tap them, close the tab. Seawall blocks known scam and phishing sites.
No. A DNS lookup takes milliseconds, and pages without ads load faster.
A DNS ad blocker, or DNS adblock, stops ads before they load by refusing to look up the servers that deliver them. Here’s how using DNS to block ads works, how it compares with browser extensions and where it falls short.
Private DNS for Android is a built-in setting that encrypts your DNS lookups and sends them to a server you choose. Here’s what it does, whether it should be on or off, and how to use it to block ads.
Seawall blocks ads and trackers in apps, browsers and on smart TVs. No app needed.