How To Remove Adware, Pop-ups, or Lock Screen Ads from Android

If your Android phone or tablet is constantly being redirected to unwanted sites, or advertisements are popping up while you browse the Internet, then your smartphone may be infected with a malicious or adware app. Adware is unwanted software designed to throw advertisements up on your screen, most often within a web browser or lock screen.

Image: Example of malicious app that displays pop-up ads on Android — Image: Example of a malicious app that displays pop-up ads on Android

Browser redirects or pop-up ads may be caused either by malicious advertisements on the sites you visit or malicious apps. This guide was written to help Android users remove malware from their phones or tablets, so if you’re just looking for a way to block the unwanted redirects on a specific site, then you can use an app like AdGuard.

When a malicious app is installed on your Android phone, you may see ads about dubious miracle weight loss programs, offers for get-rich-quick secrets, and bogus virus warnings that invite your click.
These ads will overlay the content on the page and when you click on a link, it will just open a pop-up to another advertisement. When a malicious program displays advertisements it will either display them in pop-up windows, directly on a web page you are visiting, or will appear as videos, banners, or moving ads. Also, you might experience new tabs opening, a change in your home page, findings from a search engine you never heard of, or even a redirect to an NSFW website.

Here are a few typical telltale signs that you have adware on your phone:

Advertisements appear in places they shouldn’t be.
Your web browser’s homepage has mysteriously changed without your permission.
Web pages that you typically visit are not displaying properly.
Website links redirect to sites different from what you expected.
Your web browser slows to a crawl.

If you suspect your Android phone is infected with adware or any other type of malicious app, you can follow this free removal guide.

How to Remove Unwanted Ads, Pop-ups & Adware from Android Phone

This malware removal guide may appear overwhelming due to the number of steps and numerous programs that are being used. We have only written it this way to provide clear, detailed, and easy to understand instructions that anyone can use to remove malware for free.
Please perform all the steps in the correct order. If you have any questions or doubt at any point, STOP and ask for our assistance.

To remove Adware, Pop-ups, or Lock Screen Ads from Android, follow these steps:

STEP 1: Uninstall the malicious apps to remove lock screen ads
STEP 2: Use Malwarebytes to remove adware and pop-up ads
STEP 3: Reset Chrome settings to remove unwated ads and pop-ups
STEP 4: Clean-up the junk files from Android with Ccleaner

STEP 1: Uninstall the malicious apps to remove lock screen ads

Android phones can get infected with viruses from malicious apps that are installed on smartphones. In this first step, we will try to identify and uninstall any malicious app that might be installed on your Android phone.

Open your device’s “Settings” app, then click on “Apps”

To uninstall the malicious app from your Android device, go to the Settings menu, then click on Apps or Application manager (this may differ depending on your device).
Find the malicious app and uninstall it.

The “Apps” screen will be displayed with a list of all the apps installed on your device. Scroll through the list until you find the malicious app.

In our case the malicious app is “BaDoink” however this will most likely be different in your case. These are some known malicious apps: BaDoink, Porn-player, Browser update 1.0, Flash Player, Porn Droid or System Update.

Other apps that are not malicious, however, are known to display unwanted ads are: Peel Smart Remote, ES File Explorer, Xender, Amber Weather Widget, GO Weather Forecast & Widgets, Kitty Play, Touchpal, Z Camera.

Look out for any suspicious apps that could be behind all the drama – anything you don’t remember downloading or that doesn’t sound like a genuine Android service. Click the app’s name to open its dedicated App Info page.

If you cannot find the malicious app, we advise you to uninstall all the recently installed applications.
Click on “Uninstall”

Tap on the app you’d like to uninstall. This won’t start the app but will open up the program’s App Info screen. If the app is currently running press the Force stop button. Next, we will clear the cache and data, and we will uninstall the unwanted app.
1. First, tap on the Clear Cache button to remove the cache.
2. Next, tap on the Clear data button to remove the app data from your Android phone.
3. And finally, tap on the Uninstall button to remove the malicious app.
If the Uninstall button is grayed out (this may happen if your phone is infected with the Android Screen Locker malware) then go to:
1. Settings > Security > Device administrators.
2. Tap the app that you cannot uninstall.
3. Choose “Deactivate” > “OK” and immediately shut down your device.
4. Start your device again and then uninstall the malicious app.
Click on “OK”.

A confirmation dialog should be displayed for the malicious app, click on “OK” to remove the malicious app from your Android phone.
Restart your phone.

Restart your Android device to complete the removal process.

STEP 2: Use Malwarebytes to remove adware and pop-up ads

Malwarebytes is one of the most popular and most used anti-malware app, and for good reasons. It is able to destroy many types of malware that other software tends to miss, without costing you absolutely nothing. When it comes to cleaning up an infected device, Malwarebytes has always been free and we recommend it as an essential tool in the fight against malware.

The first time you install Malwarebytes, you’re given a free 30-day trial of the premium edition, which includes preventative tools like real-time scanning and anti-theft features. After 30 days, it automatically reverts to the basic free version that will detect and clean up malware infections only when you run a scan.

Download Malwarebytes.

You can download Malwarebytes by clicking the link below.

MALWAREBYTES DOWNLOAD LINK
(The above link open a Google Play Store from where you can download Malwarebytes)
Install Malwarebytes on your device

In the Google Play Store, tap “Install” to install Malwarebytes on your device.

When the installation process has finished, tap “Open” to begin using Malwarebytes for Android.
Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the setup process

When the Malwarebytes will open, you will see the Malwarebytes Setup Wizard which will guide you through the Malwarebytes for Android takes you through a series of permissions and other setup options.
This is the first of two screens which explain the difference between the Premium and Free version. Swipe this screen to continue.

Click on “Got it” to proceed to the next step.

Malwarebytes for Android will now ask for a set of permissions that are required to scan your device and protect it from malware. Tap on “Give permission” to continue.

Tap on “Allow” to give permission to Malwarebytes to access the files on your device.
Update database and run a scan with Malwarebytes

You will now be prompted to update the database and run a full system scan.

Click on “Update database” to update the Malwarebytes anti-malware definitions to the latest version, then click on “Run full scan” to perform a system scan.
Wait for the Malwarebytes scan to complete.

Malwarebytes will now start scanning your devices for adware and other malicious apps. This process can take a few minutes, so we suggest you do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan to see when it is finished.
Click on “Remove Selected”.

When the scan has completed, you will be presented with a screen showing the malware infections that Malwarebytes has detected. To remove the malicious apps that Malwarebytes has found, click on the “Remove Selected” button.
Restart your device.

Malwarebytes will now remove all the malicious apps that it has found. To complete the malware removal process, Malwarebytes may ask you to restart your device.
When the malware removal process is complete, you can close Malwarebytes and continue with the rest of the instructions.

STEP 3: Reset Chrome settings to remove unwated ads and pop-ups

Resetting the Chrome browser settings to their default it’s an easy task on Windows or Mac, however, when it comes to Android this can’t be done directly because it’s not an option built-in into the browser settings.
Restoring the Chrome browser settings on Android can be done by clearing the application data. This will remove all the cookies, cache, and other site settings that may have been saved. So let’s see how we can restore Chrome to its factory settings.

Open your device’s “Settings” menu, then tap on “Apps”

To reset Chrome’s settings from your Android device, go to the Settings menu, then tap on Apps or Application manager (this may differ depending on your device).
Find and tap on the Chrome app.

The “Apps” screen will be displayed with a list of all the apps installed on your device. Scroll through the list until you find the Chrome app.
Tap “Storage”.

Chrome’s “App info” menu should now be displayed. Tap on “Storage“.
Tap “Manage Space”.

Under the storage settings, you will get two options — Manage Space and Clear Cache. Tap on “Manage Space”.
Tap “Clear all data”.

Tap “Clear all data” to delete all Chrome’s data including accounts, bookmarks and save the setting in order to reset it defaults.
Confirm by tapping “Ok”.

A confirmation dialog should now be displayed, detailing the components that will be restored to their default state should you continue on with the reset process. To complete the restoration process, tap “Ok”.

(OPTIONAL) STEP 4: Clean-up the junk files from Android with Ccleaner

This step is only needed if you are still experiencing issues on your phone. In this step, we will clean the cache of your device with the Ccleaner application. CCleaner is a free app, which will help us clean up your device from junk files.

Download Ccleaner.

You can download Ccleaner by clicking the link below.

CCLEANER DOWNLOAD LINK
(The above link will open a new page from where you can download Ccleaner)
Install Ccleaner on your device

Click on the “Install” button, and when the app permissions will be displayed click on “Accept” to install Ccleaner on your device.

Ccleaner will be installed on your phone, this will only take a few seconds. When Ccleaner has finished installing, open the app
Click on “Analyze”

To perform a system scan with Ccleaner, click on the “ANALYZE” button .
Clean your device from junk files

Ccleaner will now start scanning your device for junk files. The scan may take a few minutes depending on how many apps you have installed.
When analysis is completed, tap to mark the check-boxes next to “History” & “Cache”. You may also want to check any other application that you want to delete its cached content.

Tap on the “CLEAN” button remove all the junk files from your Android device.

Your Android device should now be malware free. If you are still experiencing problems while trying to remove malware from your Android device, please do one of the following:

Backup your photos and documents, then reset your Android device to the factory settings
Ask for help in our Android, iOS and Mac Malware Removal Support forum.