How to See Fewer Ads on Facebook

You can’t remove all ads from the free version of Facebook, but you can see fewer of the ones you don’t want. Hide individual ads and advertisers from the ad’s Options menu, then open Settings & privacy > Settings > Meta Account > Ad preferences to turn down ad topics and limit ads based on outside activity.

Your feed keeps showing sponsored posts for something you looked at once, and you want Facebook to show you less of it.

What You Can and Can’t Change About Facebook Ads

It helps to start with what Meta actually promises. Its Ad preferences help page says plainly that there is no way to hide all ads, and another Meta page says you can’t opt out of or block seeing ads on Facebook. Ads are how the free service is paid for.

What you can change is which ads you see. Meta also says that changing your ad preferences influences which ads you see but won’t change the total number of ads you see. So the realistic goal is fewer ads you dislike and fewer from advertisers you’re tired of, not an empty feed.

Here are your options, roughly from quickest to most thorough:

Control	What it does	Where
Hide ad	Removes one ad and tells Facebook you don’t want ads like it	The ad’s Options menu
Hide advertiser	Stops ads from one business	Options > Why am I seeing this ad?, or Ad preferences
Ad topics	Shows you less of a topic such as alcohol or parenting	Ad preferences > Customize ads
Activity from other businesses	Limits ads based on what you do on other websites and apps	Ad preferences > Manage info
Report ad	Flags an ad that breaks Meta’s rules	The ad’s Options menu
Subscription for no ads	Removes ads for a monthly fee	Only in the European Region and the UK

Hide One Ad Straight From Your Feed

This is the fastest fix, and it also teaches Facebook what you don’t want. Meta’s page on blocking or hiding ads describes it:

1. Find a post marked as sponsored in your feed.
2. Tap or click Options in the top right of the ad (usually shown as three dots).
3. Choose the option that says you don’t want to see the ad, or that you want to see fewer ads like it.
4. If Facebook asks for a reason, pick the one that fits. Meta treats hiding ads as feedback about what you want to see.

The ad disappears from your feed. Keep in mind that hiding an ad is feedback, not a permanent block on a whole category. If a type of ad keeps coming back, use the ad topics setting covered below as well.

Stop Ads From One Advertiser

If the same store keeps following you around after you looked at a pair of boots once, hide the advertiser instead of the individual ad.

1. On one of that advertiser’s ads, open Options.
2. Choose Why am I seeing this ad?
3. Choose the option to hide ads from this advertiser.

The Why am I seeing this ad? screen is worth reading before you hide anything. Meta’s page on why you see ads from an advertiser lists the main reasons: your activity on Meta technologies (Pages you’ve liked, ads you’ve clicked, things you’ve posted, check-ins), information businesses share with Meta about your activity elsewhere, and choices the advertiser made, such as targeting your location, interests or a customer list. Knowing which one applies tells you which control will help. If the reason is outside activity, for example, the Manage info settings below will do more than hiding a single ad.

The same screen may ask “Was this information useful?” Meta lists your answer as another form of feedback.

Open Ad Preferences

Ad preferences is where all the account-wide ad controls live. Meta is gradually moving people to Meta Accounts, so you may see either Meta Account or Accounts Center in your settings. Meta’s steps name Meta Account, and it says the same settings may appear under Accounts Center for some people.

1. Tap or click your profile picture (top right on a computer).
2. Choose Settings & privacy, then Settings.
3. Choose Meta Account (or Accounts Center if that’s what you see).
4. Choose Ad preferences.

If Ad preferences doesn’t appear, Meta suggests updating the Facebook app or going to accountscenter.facebook.com in a browser. The page has two tabs:

• Customize ads: your ad activity, ad topics, ads you’ve saved, and advertisers you’ve seen ads from.
• Manage info: the profile information used for ads, ads based on your activity from other businesses, ads Meta shows in other apps, and who can see your social interactions alongside ads.

Meta says the ad topics setting applies to both Facebook and Instagram when those profiles are in the same Meta Account, so one change can cover both apps.

See Less of a Topic You’re Tired Of

Ad topics cover categories that some people find sensitive or just don’t want, such as alcohol, parenting, pets, and social issues, elections or politics. Meta notes that the political topic isn’t offered in every country.

1. In Ad preferences, open the Customize ads tab.
2. Choose See all next to Ad topics.
3. Pick a topic and choose See less.

To undo it, return to the topic and choose No preference. Meta says you may still see some ads related to a topic after choosing See less. Picture someone who has just stopped drinking: setting alcohol to See less should cut down on beer and wine ads a lot, but an occasional restaurant ad that mentions a bar menu may still slip through.

Hide Advertisers You’ve Already Seen

You don’t have to wait for an advertiser’s next ad to hide it. Ad preferences keeps a list of advertisers whose ads you’ve recently seen.

1. In Ad preferences, open Customize ads.
2. Choose See all next to Advertisers you saw ads from.
3. Choose an advertiser, then Hide ads.

Going through this list once is a quick way to clear out a batch of retailers you shopped with once and never want to hear from again. Meta says the same section also shows the advertisers you’ve already hidden, so look there to reverse a choice.

Limit Ads Based on Your Activity Elsewhere

That ad for something you looked at once usually comes from here. Businesses can share information with Meta about what you do on their websites and apps, and Meta can use it to choose your ads. Meta calls this activity from other businesses.

1. In Ad preferences, open the Manage info tab.
2. Open the setting for ads based on your activity from other businesses.
3. Look for the choice that turns off personalizing ads with that activity, and select it.

This is the setting most closely tied to the “I looked at it once and now it’s everywhere” problem. It won’t reduce the number of ads, but ads should rely less on your browsing outside Facebook. While you’re on the Manage info tab, also review which profile details are used for ads and who can see your social interactions next to ads.

Review the Rest of the Manage Info Tab

The other settings on Manage info don’t change how many ads you see either, but they shape what advertisers can use and what your friends see. They take a couple of minutes:

• Manage information from your profile used to show you ads: Meta’s label suggests this is where you review which profile details can be used for ads, so it may be worth a look if ads seem based on details that no longer fit.
• Choose if you get ads shown by Meta in other apps: as the label suggests, this choice may control whether Meta shows you ads in apps outside its own.
• Choose who can see your social interactions alongside ads: Meta’s label suggests this sets who may see your activity, such as liking a Page, shown next to ads. Check it if you’d rather friends didn’t see that kind of activity.

A Ten-Minute Ad Cleanup

If you’d rather work through everything in one sitting, start with the advertiser list and ad topics, since those act right away, then change the activity from other businesses setting. Over the following week, hide any ad that still bothers you from its Options menu.

Take a home cook who searched for a stand mixer on a store’s website. Mixer ads from three retailers start filling the feed. Hiding those three advertisers removes them right away, and changing the activity from other businesses setting makes it less likely the next website visit turns into a new wave of ads.

Report an Ad That Breaks the Rules

Reporting is a different tool from hiding. Meta’s page on giving feedback about ads explains that reported ads go to ad review, where they’re checked against Meta’s Advertising Policies and removed if they break them.

Use Report ad (from the ad’s Options menu) for ads that look like scams, are misleading, or are offensive. For ads that are simply irrelevant or annoying, Hide ad is the right choice, since reporting won’t reduce how many ads you see. If you think an ad is a scam, see how to report a scam on Facebook.

Pay for No Ads in the European Region and UK

There’s one way to remove ads entirely, and it isn’t available everywhere. Meta’s Subscription for No Ads page says the subscription is only available in the European Region and the United Kingdom. Meta’s Ad preferences page also says ad choices are different for people in those places.

If you live there, Meta’s page covers how to subscribe, cancel, update your payment method and request refunds, along with the alternative of using Meta’s products free of charge with ads. Prices and steps can change, so check Meta’s page for the current details. If you live elsewhere, including the US, Meta doesn’t offer this subscription, and Meta’s Help Center doesn’t describe any other ad-free version of Facebook, so be wary of apps or sites that promise one.

What About Ad Blockers?

Browser extensions that block ads may hide some ads on facebook.com on a computer. They’re browser add-ons, so don’t expect them to change what you see in the Facebook app. Meta’s page on ad blockers on Facebook warns that an ad blocker may stop Facebook from working properly: it can block content from loading, including posts from your friends, cause visual glitches, break Feed and Marketplace features, and slow Facebook down. If Facebook acts strangely on your computer after installing one, turning it off for facebook.com is the first thing to try.

Why Your Feed Still Feels Full of Ads

Even after all of the above, two things can make a feed feel ad-heavy. First, not everything you didn’t ask for is an ad. Suggested posts and Reels from accounts you don’t follow can look similar, but they usually aren’t labeled as sponsored, and the ad preferences above are built for ads. Second, if your friends and followed Pages don’t post much, ads can make up a bigger share of what you scroll past.

For suggested posts and stale content, the better tools are feed controls rather than ad controls. See how to reset your Facebook feed for those options, and how to hide Reels on Facebook if short videos are crowding your screen.

Check What You’ve Changed and Undo It

• Ad topics: open each topic you changed and switch it back to No preference.
• Advertisers: return to Advertisers you saw ads from and look for the ones you hid to reverse the choice.
• Activity from other businesses: return to Manage info and change the setting back.
• Your ad activity: Customize ads includes a See your ad activity option, which is a useful place to check over a week or two whether your changes are having an effect.

Facebook Ad Questions

Will These Settings Reduce How Many Ads I See?

No. Meta says ad preferences change which ads you see, not the total number. Expect the same number of ad slots, filled with ads that are less likely to bother you.

Do My Changes Carry Over to Instagram?

For ad topics, yes, if your Facebook and Instagram profiles are in the same Meta Account, according to Meta. Hiding a single ad in your Facebook feed is feedback on Facebook, so do the same on Instagram for ads you see there.

Can I Hide Ads in Reels and Marketplace?

The Help Center pages covered here describe the Options menu on ads in general and don’t give separate steps for Reels or Marketplace. Where an ad there shows an Options or three-dot menu, look for the same hide choices. The account-wide Ad preferences settings apply no matter where the ad appears.

Does Hiding an Advertiser Stop Every Ad From Them?

Meta describes the choice as hiding ads from that advertiser, so you shouldn’t see their ads after that. Meta’s pages describe it as an ad setting only, so their regular posts may still show up if you follow their Page; unfollow the Page if you want those gone too.

Does Liking Pages Change My Ads?

It can. Meta lists the Pages you like and the interests on your profile among the things that help it pick relevant ads. Unliking Pages you no longer care about gives Facebook less outdated information to work from.

Start with the Advertisers you saw ads from list and the activity from other businesses setting, since those two changes target the ads that follow you around after you browse elsewhere.