Manage pop-up ads on your Galaxy phone

Pop-ups are often used for advertising purposes and can appear in various forms such as ads, notifications, or rewards. They might show up within the browser window while using the internet app, in a new or separate tab. Ads can also appear while using other apps or even on your Home screen. In most cases, if not all, pop-up ads are caused by a third-party app you recently installed. It is time to get rid of these pop-up invaders and get your phone - and peace of mind - back.
Person holding a phone with confused face
Person holding a phone with confused face

Manage pop-up ads on your Galaxy phone

Block pop-up ads

The pre-installed internet apps on your Galaxy phone have built-in browser tools you can turn on to block pop-ups from websites to avoid being bombarded by unwanted and suspicious ads when you surf the web.

Samsung Internet

  1. Open the Samsung Internet app on your phone.
  2. Tap Menu (three horizontal lines), and then tap Settings.
  3. Tap Privacy dashboard, and then turn on the switch next to Block pop-ups.
    Block pop-ups highlighted and enabled
  4. Tap the Back icon twice at the top of the screen to return to the Samsung Internet menu. 
  5. Tap Menu (three horizontal lines), and then tap Ad blockers.
  6. You'll see a list of Ad blockers. Tap the Install icon next to your desired Ad blocker to download it. You can also tap the name of the Ad blocker to view more information. Keep in mind that not all ad blockers are free.
  7. Once the Ad blocker is installed, it will be automatically turned on and added to the Installed list. To enable or disable the Ad blocker, tap the switch next to it.

Chrome

  1. Open the Chrome app on your phone.
  2. Tap More options (three vertical dots) in the top right corner of the screen.
  3. Tap Settings, and then swipe to and tap Site settings.
  4. Swipe to and tap Pop-ups and redirects, and tap Pop-ups and redirects again to turn it on.
    Pop-ups and redirects enabled
  5. Tap the Back icon twice at the top of the screen to return to the Chrome browser's main Settings screen. 
  6. Tap Privacy and security, and then tap Ad privacy.
  7. From here, you'll see Ad privacy features you can control. Tap the desired feature to view more information about it and turn on or off functions to tailor your personalized ad experience in Chrome.

For more details on ad privacy settings in Chrome, visit Google's Chrome Help center. 

Other browsers

To block pop-up ads for other third-party internet browsers not listed in this section, please visit their website for more support.

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Allow pop-up ads

Note
Pop-up ads can pose a potential risk for malware making it difficult to navigate your phone.
Allowing pop-up ads on your phone increases the number of ads you see promoting various products, services, offers, and trends while surfing the web.

Samsung Internet

  1. Open the Samsung Internet app on your phone.
  2. Tap Menu (three horizontal lines), and then tap Settings.
  3. Tap Privacy dashboard, and then turn off the switch next to Block pop-ups.
    Block pop-ups highlighted and the switch disabled
  4. Tap the Back icon twice at the top of the screen to return to the Samsung Internet menu. 
  5. Tap Menu (three horizontal lines), and then tap Ad blockers.
  6. Turn off the switch next to the installed Ad blocker(s) to disable it. To uninstall the Ad blocker, tap the name of the Ad blocker, and then tap Uninstall. 

Chrome

  1. Open the Chrome app on your phone.
  2. Tap More options (three vertical dots) in the top right corner of the screen.
  3. Tap Settings, and then swipe to and tap Site settings.
  4. Swipe to and tap Pop-ups and redirects, and tap Pop-ups and redirects again to turn it off.
    Pop-ups and redirects with the switch disabled in Chrome settings
  5. Tap the Back icon twice at the top of the screen to return to the Chrome browser's main Settings screen. 
  6. Tap Privacy and security, and then tap Ad privacy. 
  7. From here, you can tap the Ad privacy feature you'd like to turn off. 

For more details on ad privacy settings in Chrome, visit Google's Chrome Help center. 

Other browsers

To allow pop-up ads for other third-party internet browsers not listed in this section, please visit their website for more support.

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Remove the app responsible for the pop-up ads

Pop-up ads have nothing to do with the phone itself. They are caused by third-party apps installed on your phone. Ads are a way for app developers to make money, and the more ads that are displayed, the more money the developer makes. This is why some of them are so persistent. You can get rid of pesky ads in a few steps.

Remove apps in Safe mode

  1. First, enter Safe mode. Your phone won't run any third-party apps in this mode, so you shouldn’t see the pop-up ad anymore.
  2. While in Safe mode, navigate to Settings, and then swipe to and tap Apps.
    Apps highlighted in Settings on a Galaxy device
  3. From here, you can remove the most recently installed or updated app(s) that might be causing the pop-up ads.
  4. To help you find the bad app, you can sort the list to show the most recently installed apps or latest updated apps.
  5. Tap the filter icon. It is on the right side of "Your apps." Then, select your desired sorting option.
    Filter icon highlighted in Apps settings on a Galaxy device
  6. Finally, select your desired app, and then tap Uninstall to remove it from your device.
  7. Restart the phone and check if the pop-up ads disappeared. If required, repeat the procedure until you find the culprit.
Note
If you recently backed up all your data and don’t want to spend a lot of time going through apps, you can perform a factory reset on your device and start fresh.
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