Ad settings for your phone, accounts and browser

Last checked: 28 Sep 2026; industry opt-outs 12 Oct 2026; comparison table built from the guides 6 Nov 2026

Your phone and each account you use have their own ad settings. One thing is the same everywhere: the free settings change how ads are personalised, not how many you see. Each company says so in its own help pages, and each guide below quotes it. Only a few offer a way to remove ads, and those are paid.

Can you turn the ads off?

Where	Can you turn ads off?	What the free switch changes	Paid no-ads option (UK price)
iPhone	No	"Allow Apps to Request to Track" off: apps can't ask to track you across other companies' apps and websites. Apple's Personalised Ads off: Apple stops using your account and activity to choose its ads, which Apple says "may not decrease the number of ads"	None mentioned
Android	No	Delete your advertising ID: apps get a string of zeros instead. You still see ads	None mentioned
Samsung Galaxy	No	Customisation Service and account switches off: Samsung's promotions stop being tailored to you, but Samsung says you may still see Samsung ads	None mentioned
Samsung Family Hub fridge (US)	Yes, the cover screen ads (Settings → Advertisements)	n/a	n/a
YouTube and Google	Only with YouTube Premium	Personalised ads off: ads are based on things like the video or page you're on and the time of day, not your history	YouTube Premium £12.99 a month; Premium Lite £7.99 (removes ads on most videos)
Facebook and Instagram	Only with the subscription	Ad topics and partner activity: fewer ads on a topic, or none based on partners' data. Meta says the free version can't hide all ads	£2.99 a month on the web, £3.99 in the app (UK and Europe, over-18s)
TikTok	Only with TikTok Ad-Free	Personalised ads off: TikTok stops using your activity to choose ads. You still see ads	TikTok Ad-Free £3.99 a month (UK, over-18s)
Echo Show	No, not the Sponsored ads, Amazon says	Home Content Categories off: other home-screen suggestions stop. Interest-based ads off on Alexa: ads aren't based on your interests	None mentioned
Amazon account	No	Interest-based ads off: Amazon says you may still see its ads, just not based on your interests	None mentioned
Microsoft and Windows	No	Account switch and advertising ID off: Microsoft says it still shows ads and offers	Microsoft 365 subscribers see no ads in Outlook
X	No	Personalized ads off: X says you'll still see ads, personalised from your activity on X and what you gave at sign-up	None mentioned

"None mentioned" means the official pages each guide uses don't describe a paid no-ads option. Prices are as each guide recorded them: Meta on 28 September 2026, YouTube and TikTok on 19 October 2026.

Guides

iPhoneStop apps tracking you, turn off Apple's personalised ads, and Lockdown Mode for people at higher risk.Android and Samsung GalaxyDelete your advertising ID, Samsung's Customisation Service and account switches, and Family Hub fridge screen ads.YouTube and GooglePersonalised ads across your Google account, partner sites, signed out, history used for ads, and what Premium removes.Facebook and InstagramAd preferences, and the UK subscription for no ads.TikTokPersonalised ads, ad topics, and the UK choice between free with ads and TikTok Ad-Free.Microsoft and WindowsAccount ad settings and the Windows 11 advertising ID.Echo Show, Alexa and AmazonHome-screen content, interest-based ads on Alexa and Amazon, and voice recordings.Do Not Track and Global Privacy ControlWhich browsers send them and where the switch is, plus cookies, ad IDs and fingerprinting in brief.

X

X: in Ads preferences, turn off Personalized ads. X says you'll still see ads, personalised from your activity on X and what you gave at sign-up.

For your TV's ad settings, see the TV settings guides by brand.

The advertising industry's opt-out tools

Advertising industry bodies run opt-out tools for interest-based advertising: ads chosen from what you've browsed before. Each tool covers the companies that take part in that body's programme, in one region. They change whether those companies personalise ads, not whether you see ads, and they complement the settings in your accounts and devices rather than replacing them.

The AdChoices icon

The small blue triangle icon on some ads is the AdChoices icon. Canada's Digital Advertising Alliance says it's there to tell you that interest-based advertising data is being collected or used on that device; clicking or tapping it gives you more information and choices.

Which tool, where

Region	Tool	Run by
UK and Europe	YourOnlineChoices	European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA)
US, web	WebChoices	Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA)
US, mobile apps	AppChoices app (App Store, Google Play, Amazon)	DAA
Canada	WebChoices and AppChoices for Canada	Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada (DAAC)

YourOnlineChoices (UK and Europe)

How: open Your Ad Choices. It shows each company's interest-based advertising status on the browser you're using, and lets you turn companies off one by one or all at once.
Per browser: you need to repeat it on every browser you use, on every device.
Cookies: the tools are cookie-based, and YourOnlineChoices says your browser must accept third-party cookies for the opt-out to work. If you clear cookies, you'll need to set it again.
Scope: it "does not turn off all internet advertising"; it affects ads tailored to your interests.

When we tested it on 28 September 2026, about half the companies on the UK page showed their status and the rest asked to "re-connect". That was one test in one browser, and results may differ with third-party cookies allowed.

WebChoices and AppChoices (US)

Web: WebChoices lets you opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies in your browser, on desktop or mobile.
Apps: the AppChoices app lets you turn interest-based advertising off for each participating company, or all of them, across apps. The DAA says you may still get other types of advertising, and companies may still collect information for other purposes consistent with its principles.
Keeping it: the DAA's "Protect My Choices" browser extensions (Chrome, Safari, Firefox) keep your opt-outs even if you delete your cookies.

DAAC (Canada)

Canada's choice tools include WebChoices and AppChoices for Canada. The DAAC says the tools cover interest-based ads from companies registered with it, and that you'll keep seeing ads, but they'll be less personalised. It notes that each browser may give different results, depending on the cookies or advertising IDs in use.

NAI (US)

The Network Advertising Initiative retired its own cookie-based and email-based opt-out tools on 15 September 2025, saying they were tied to its former Code of Conduct. Its opt-out page now points to the DAA's tools, a Global Privacy Control browser extension for Chrome, and guidance on browser, phone and TV settings. For the browser setting itself, see Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control.

Sources

This page describes your options and how organisations say they handle requests. It isn't legal advice. See About & sourcing, or report a correction.