Android and Samsung: advertising ID and ad settings
Last checked: 28 Sep 2026; Samsung sections 19 Oct 2026, added here 6 Nov 2026
Android apps can use your phone's advertising ID to personalise ads. Deleting it is the main setting. You'll still see ads; they're just not tied to that ID. Samsung phones and Family Hub fridges have extra Samsung settings, below.
Advertising ID
- Delete advertising IDAds continue, less personalised
Settings → Google → All services → Ads → Delete advertising IDRemoves your advertising ID; apps that ask for it get a string of zeros. Available on Android 12 and later, and on all Google Play devices since April 2022.
Google's Android help puts Ads under "Privacy and security" in Settings → Google → All services; Google's developer page describes it as Settings → Privacy → Ads. Apps may use other identifiers of their own, and you still see ads.
- Reset advertising IDAds continue, less personalised
Settings → Google → All services → Ads → Reset advertising IDReplaces your advertising ID with a new one. Google says apps can still show personalised ads, but they may be less relevant for a while.
- Older Android versionsAds continue, less personalised
Settings → Privacy → Advanced → Ads → Opt out of Ad PersonalisationAsks apps not to use your advertising ID for personalised ads. Older versions only; newer ones have Delete advertising ID instead.
Ad privacy switches
- Ad privacyAds continue, less personalised
Settings → Google → All services → Ads → Ads privacyThree switches: Ad topics (Android infers topics from your apps and may share up to three with an app), App-suggested ads, and Ad measurement. Turn any of them off.
Removing a topic doesn't stop ads on that topic. Google's status page lists these Android features as scheduled for phaseout, so the switches may disappear in future; deleting your advertising ID remains the main step.
Samsung Galaxy phones
Samsung phones have the same Google advertising ID, plus Samsung's own ad and personalisation settings for promotions in Samsung's apps. Samsung's own account notice says you may still see Samsung ads that aren't tailored to you, shown to anyone.
Samsung phone settings
- Advertising ID on Samsung phonesAds continue, less personalised
Settings → Security and privacy → More privacy settings → AdsOn Samsung phones, Google's Ads setting (reset or delete your advertising ID, or stop apps using it to personalise ads) is listed here, in the Google section of the screen.
From Samsung's US support page, which doesn't state a One UI version.
- Customisation ServiceAds continue, less personalised
Settings → General management → Customisation ServiceSamsung says turning it off stops it tailoring content and promotions in Samsung's apps to your interests and how you use the phone, and stops it collecting and analysing data for that.
Path from Samsung's UK Galaxy user guides (Android 15 and 16, and One UI 9 from September 2026). Samsung UK's support article reaches it through Settings → Samsung Account → Privacy. Turning it off doesn't delete what's already been collected; you can ask Samsung to delete it through your Samsung account's privacy settings.
- Samsung account ad and marketing switchesAds continue, less personalised
Samsung account settings → Security and PrivacySamsung's account privacy notice lists switches here for more personalised advertising using your Samsung account data, news and special offers, and using your precise location. With them off, Samsung says you may still see Samsung ads, but they won't be tailored to you.
UK names: "Improve personalised advertising", "Get news and special offers", "Use precise location data". US: "Improve personalized ads with Samsung account data" and "…with precise location data". The notice doesn't say exactly where this menu starts on the phone.
- Notifications from an appRelated setting
Settings → Notifications → App notificationsTurn off notifications for an app that sends promotions. Some apps let you turn off only certain kinds of notification under Notification categories.
Samsung UK's support article also suggests long-pressing a promotional notification as it arrives and turning that app's notifications off.
- Samsung Free pageRelated setting
Touch and hold the Home screen → Swipe to the Samsung Free / Google Discover page → Switch at the topTurns that Home screen page on or off.
Your rights with Samsung
UK: Samsung's privacy policy says you can object to your data being used for marketing, including profiling, and withdraw consent at any time. See the right to object. You can unsubscribe from marketing emails and texts using the link in each one.
US: Samsung's privacy policy says US residents can opt out of the sale or sharing of their data and of targeted advertising, at samsung.com/us/privacy/rights or by calling 1-800-SAMSUNG. It says Samsung.com honours a browser's opt-out signal such as Global Privacy Control, but not Do Not Track.
Samsung Family Hub fridges
Samsung US says recent Family Hub software can show ads on the fridge's cover screen, and that you can turn them off:
Settings → Advertisements → Cover screen Ads
- If you don't see the option, Samsung says to update the fridge's software first (Settings → About Family Hub).
- Samsung says the Album and Art cover screen themes don't show ads (change the theme under Settings → Display → Screen and Style, or Wallpaper and Style on some models).
- You can close a single ad with its X. Samsung's announcement says a closed ad won't appear again during that campaign, and that the ads are contextual or non-personal.
- The fridge's online manual also lists Settings → Advertisement → Reset PSID (Family Hub's advertising ID).
UK: we haven't found a Samsung UK page on Family Hub ads or a UK setting. Samsung says the UK Family Hub manual is only on the fridge itself, under Settings → Help & Contact Us → Online Manual.
For Samsung TVs, see the Samsung TV settings guide. Your Google account has its own ad settings, separate from the phone's: see YouTube and Google ad settings.
Other Android privacy settings
- Google Maps Timeline and location history.
- Unknown tracker alerts and scanning on Android.
- Gemini on an Android phone.
Sources
- Google Play Console help: Advertising ID
- Android help: Ads settings (Google Play services)
- Android help: Ad privacy
- Google: My Ad Center help (on your devices)
- Privacy Sandbox status page (updated 14 Aug 2026)
- Samsung US: Privacy settings on Galaxy phones
- Samsung UK: Galaxy S26/S25/S24/S23 user guide, One UI 9 (Sep 2026, PDF)
- Samsung UK: How to remove ads from a Galaxy smartphone (24 Apr 2026)
- Samsung: Customisation Service privacy notice (UK)
- Samsung account privacy notice (UK, 27 Jul 2026)
- Samsung account privacy notice (US, 27 Jul 2026)
- Samsung US: Manage app notifications
- Samsung US: Samsung Free and Google Discover
- Samsung UK privacy policy (30 Sep 2026)
- Samsung US privacy policy (20 Jul 2026)
- Samsung US: Your privacy rights
- Samsung US: Ads on the Family Hub
- Samsung US: Customise the Family Hub cover screen
- Samsung US newsroom: Family Hub 2025 update (27 Oct 2025)
- Samsung US: Family Hub online manual, Settings (Aug 2025)
This page describes your options and how organisations say they handle requests. It isn't legal advice. See About & sourcing, or report a correction.