How to Turn Off Snapchat Ads: A Practical Guide

Snapchat users often wonder how to reduce the number of tailored advertisements they see while still enjoying the app. Advertising is part of the platform’s business model, but you can take steps to turn off Snapchat ads in meaningful ways. This guide explains how to minimize personalized ads through in-app settings and device-level controls, so you can have a quieter, less targeted experience without sacrificing the basic use of the app.

Why ads appear and how personalization works

Ads on Snapchat are driven by a combination of factors, including your in-app activity, interests you’ve shown, demographic data, and the interests of similar users. Even if you choose to reduce personalization, you will still encounter ads because the platform relies on advertising to deliver free features and content such as friends’ stories, Discover channels, and sponsored lenses. The goal of turning off or diminishing personalization is not to remove ads entirely, but to limit how closely ads reflect your behavior and preferences.

Understanding this distinction helps set realistic expectations. If your primary goal is to avoid certain topics or sensitive categories, you can use ad preferences to hide topics you find intrusive, and you can opt out of certain data-sharing practices at the device level. The combination of in-app controls and OS-level privacy settings often yields a more comfortable ad experience.

Turn off Snapchat ads in the app: step-by-step

Turning off personalized ads directly from the app is the most straightforward route. The wording in settings may vary slightly depending on your version, but the core path is similar.

Open Snapchat and go to your profile. Tap the gear icon in the top-right corner to access Settings.
Find and select “Privacy” or “Ad Preferences.” This option controls how ads are served and how much you get personalized content.
Look for “Personalized Ads” or a toggle that says something like “Allow ads to be tailored to my interests.” Turn this off. By disabling personalized ads, Snapchat reduces the use of your in-app signals to tailor ads to your interests.
Review “Ad Topics” or “Ad Preferences.” Here you can hide specific topics you’re not interested in. Selecting multiple topics to hide helps reduce the relevance of ads you see, which can indirectly feel like fewer targeted ads.
If available, use “Reset Advertising ID” or “Clear Ad Data” to refresh the signals Snapchat uses. This step can help reduce the persistence of old ad preferences.
Exit Settings. The changes take effect soon, and you should notice ads that are less tailored to your past activity.

Notes:
– Depending on your region and app version, some labels may differ, but the underlying idea remains the same: limit personalization and hide unwanted topics.
– It’s normal to still see ads after these steps; the platform needs to display some sponsored material to fund features you enjoy. The aim is to reduce relevance-based targeting, not to eliminate ads entirely.

Beyond the in-app controls: device-level privacy options

Some users want even more control by limiting how apps on their phones share data. Your device can play a significant role in shaping the ads you encounter across apps, including Snapchat.

iOS devices

On iPhone and iPad, you can limit ad tracking across all apps by adjusting privacy settings and handling app-tracking permissions.

Open the Settings app > Privacy & Security (or Privacy) > Tracking. Turn off “Allow Apps to Request to Track.” This prevents apps like Snapchat from requesting permission to track your activity across other apps and websites.
Review any prompts from Snapchat and select the option that best aligns with your privacy preference (usually “Ask App Not to Track” or “Don’t Allow”).
Optional: In Settings > Privacy > Apple Advertising, you can enable features that reduce ad personalization from Apple’s advertising network. This helps limit data used for cross-application ad targeting.

The effect of these steps is broader than Snapchat alone. By reducing cross-app tracking, you decrease the amount of data advertisers can aggregate about you, which often translates into less precise ad targeting across the ecosystem.

Android devices

Android users have similar controls under Google’s advertising settings, and you can also manage app permissions more granularly.

Open Settings > Privacy (or Google > Ads on some devices) > Opt out of Ads Personalization. This setting tells apps to stop using your data to tailor ads to you.
Reset advertising ID if you want Snapchat to start with a fresh set of signals. This can help reduce prior ad personalization from reappearing quickly.
Review app permissions regularly. Some advertisers rely on cross-app data; limiting what you allow apps to access—such as location or contacts—can indirectly influence ad relevance.

In both iOS and Android, you won’t remove all ads, but you will reduce personalization and data sharing that drives highly targeted ads across apps, including Snapchat.

What to expect after turning off personalized ads

– Fewer “tailored” ads: You’ll still see ads, but they may be less aligned with your past behavior or interests.
– More generic ad content: Some campaigns are broad and not strictly targeted. Ads may feel less relevant but still appear.
– Improved privacy posture: You’ll have greater control over what data is shared for advertising purposes, which can be reassuring for many users.
– Possible impact on certain features: Some features like Discover recommendations may appear less aligned with your browsing preferences, but essential features remain available.

If your goal is a calmer ad experience, combining in-app ad preferences with device-level privacy controls usually delivers noticeable improvements without compromising the app’s core functionality.

Practical tips to optimize your Snapchat ad experience

– Regularly review ad preferences: Periodically revisit the Ad Preferences in the Snapchat app, especially after OS updates or app updates, to ensure your settings are still aligned with your preferences.
– Hide topics you dislike: Use the topic-hiding option to reduce exposure to topics you care little about or find intrusive.
– Limit data sharing: Keep device-level privacy settings enabled. Less data sharing often results in less precise ad targeting.
– Be mindful of Discover content: Some sponsored content in Discover may feel tailored to your interests. If you’re trying to minimize ad relevance, skip or hide topics in Discover when possible.
– Consider a temporary reset: If you’ve recently interacted with a lot of content and want a longer reset of ad signals, resetting your advertising ID can be a practical step.

Frequently asked questions

– Can I completely turn off Snapchat ads? Not entirely. Snapchat relies on ads to support its free features. You can significantly reduce personalization by adjusting both in-app ad preferences and device-level privacy settings, but some level of advertising will remain.
– Will turning off personalized ads affect my Snapchat experience? It can make ads less relevant, which some users appreciate. It may also slightly reduce the precision of recommendations in features like Discover, depending on how the platform balances content and ads.
– Do these steps affect other apps? Yes, device-level privacy settings apply across apps, not just Snapchat. Turning off ad personalization at the OS level reduces targeted ads in many services, which is often a net privacy gain.
– Is there a risk in resetting advertising IDs? Resetting the ID can temporarily reduce the link between your past activity and new ads, but it’s not permanent. Future use will generate a new profile based on current activity.

Conclusion

If you’re looking to lessen the intrusiveness of ads on Snapchat, combining in-app ad preferences with robust device-level privacy controls is a practical approach. While you cannot completely turn off Snapchat ads, you can turn off Snapchat ads that feel overly tailored and limit the extent to which your data is used for advertising across apps. By staying mindful of ad topics, refreshing ad IDs when needed, and using the available settings, you can enjoy a more comfortable, less intrusive Snapchat experience while still benefiting from the app’s core features.