Ads aren’t necessarily bad. They help keep a lot of the apps and websites we use every day free (including us).
But there are times when ads become too intrusive, especially inside apps and games where you’re bombarded with full-screen ads every few minutes, or on websites where you can barely scroll.
The usual solution is to use a browser like Brave or Samsung Internet that supports ad blocking, or install a VPN or dedicated ad-blocking app that runs in the background and blocks ads across apps and websites.
But you don’t need to do either. Android has a built-in feature called Private DNS. When paired with the right DNS provider, it can block a surprising number of ads across your phone.
The best part is that you don’t need to install a third-party app.
Choosing the right ad-blocking Private DNS for Android
Not every ad-blocking DNS works equally well across apps and websites
Before I tell you how to set up Private DNS on your Android phone and start blocking ads, the first thing you need to do is choose the right DNS provider.
There are plenty of DNS providers that offer ad blocking, but the one you use depends on how much control you want.
If you want a customizable block list that lets you decide what is filtered, NextDNS is the better option. It offers plenty of customization and gives you up to 300,000 queries per month for free.
If you want customization, go with NextDNS. If you want something you can set up once and forget about, go with AdGuard DNS.
If you want a one-stop solution that works out of the box with minimal setup and no query limits, AdGuard DNS is the easier choice. You can use its public ad-blocking DNS and forget about it.
AdGuard also offers a paid option if you want more control. That gives you a Private DNS address, along with custom filtering and block lists, which can be useful if the default filtering ends up breaking certain websites or services.
Our sister site MakeUseOf has a great guide on choosing the right DNS provider if you want to dig deeper.
For me, the choice is simple: If you want customization, go with NextDNS. If you want something you can set up once and forget about without worrying about monthly query limits, go with AdGuard DNS.
How to set up a Private DNS on your Android phone
Android makes switching to an ad-blocking DNS surprisingly easy
Unlike VPN-based ad blockers that need to run continuously in the background, Private DNS works without an extra app.
You need to change a couple of Android settings, and you’re good to go. Here’s how to set it up:
- Open the Settings app on your Android phone.
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Go to Network & internet > Private DNS.
- Select Private DNS provider hostname.
- If you’re using AdGuard DNS, enter dns.adguard-dns.com.
- If you’re using NextDNS, go to the NextDNS website and create an account. Open the Privacy section and add the blocklists you want to use.
- Return to Setup, select Android from the setup guide, and copy the Private DNS hostname provided for your account. It should look something like [username].dns.nextdns.io.
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Paste that address into the Private DNS provider hostname field on your phone.
- Tap Save.
And that’s pretty much it. Your Android phone will now use the ad-blocking DNS you’ve configured, and you should see fewer ads across apps and websites.
If you’re using NextDNS, you can manage your blocklists and filtering rules through its Android app.
What to do when Private DNS breaks an app or website
You can quickly switch back to automatic mode until the issue is fixed
The downside of ad-blocking apps and DNS services is that aggressive filtering can sometimes break websites or apps.
After enabling a Private DNS, you may occasionally find that something that worked perfectly before suddenly stops loading or doesn’t work properly.
This can happen for a couple of reasons. The DNS blocklist may accidentally block a domain the website needs to function, or the DNS provider could be having an outage or connectivity issue.
There’s a very easy workaround. If you run into a website or app that isn’t working, go to your phone’s Private DNS settings and switch it from your custom provider to Automatic.
You can then use the website or app normally. When you’re done, go into the Private DNS settings and switch it back to the AdGuard or NextDNS hostname you configured earlier.
Private DNS is my favorite way to block ads on Android
Using a Private DNS is still the easiest way I’ve found to block ads on Android.
After setting it up, you don’t need to do anything else, and you don’t have another app constantly running in the background and potentially draining your battery.
It won’t block everything. YouTube ads, for example, will still appear in the app, and you’ll need YouTube Premium to remove them.
But for most apps and websites, switching to an ad-blocking Private DNS makes the experience noticeably cleaner.