Block Ads in Chrome on Android: Setting Up Control D Secure DNS

Step by step

1. 1

   First, set expectations: what this blocks and what it does not

   This works without installing anything on your phone. Before Chrome connects to a site, it asks a DNS server to turn the domain name into an IP address. Normally that server belongs to your carrier and resolves every address as-is. Point Chrome at Control D's filtering resolver instead, and ad and tracking domains come back as "no such place" — the browser never makes the request at all.

   What that gets you:

   • Pages load faster and use less data, because the ads are never downloaded.

   • Cross-site tracking drops noticeably, since tracking scripts are on the same lists.

   • Battery and mobile data savings are obvious on ad-heavy news sites.

   What it will not do — know this up front:

   • YouTube ads. The ad comes from the same domain as the video, so DNS cannot separate them. Blocking it would take the video with it.

   • Ads served from the site's own domain. Some sites proxy ads through their own hostname; DNS cannot tell those apart from real content.

   • Anything outside Chrome. This setting affects Chrome only. Instagram, games and other browsers are untouched. Step 9 covers the device-wide method.

   In short: most ads go away, not all of them. Set your expectations accordingly — before you undo the setting because you still see an ad, read Step 8.

2. 2

   Open Chrome and find the menu

   Open Chrome on your phone. At the right end of the address bar, next to the tab counter, there is a three-dot icon — three small circles stacked vertically.

   Tap it. A long menu opens.

   • On some Android versions and on tablets this menu sits in the top right.

   • Newer Chrome builds may put the address bar at the bottom of the screen, in which case the three dots are down there too. Both open the same menu.

   If you are in an Incognito tab, switch to a normal tab first. The setting applies to both modes, but the menu looks slightly different in Incognito.

3. 3

   Open Settings from the menu

   Scroll the menu to the bottom. Settings is one of the last entries, with a gear icon beside it.

   Tap Settings.

   You will get a long list — account, passwords, payment methods and so on. The section we want is further down.

4. 4

   Open Privacy and security

   Scroll the Settings list down and tap Privacy and security.

   This section holds cookie settings, Safe Browsing, "Do Not Track" and similar. The entry we need is towards the bottom of it.

   You do not need to change Safe Browsing here. That is a separate feature for blocking malicious sites and has nothing to do with ad blocking.

5. 5

   Tap Use secure DNS and turn it on

   Inside Privacy and security, scroll down to Use secure DNS and tap it.

   At the top of the screen there is a toggle. If it is off, turn it on — it goes green.

   Two options appear underneath:

   • Use your operating system's provider — follows Android's own system setting.

   • Choose another provider — lets you pick from a list or enter one by hand.

   Select Choose another provider. A dropdown appears with ready-made providers such as Google, Cloudflare and OpenDNS.

   None of the built-in providers block ads; they only give you encrypted DNS. Ad blocking needs the Custom option in the next step.

6. 6

   Enter Control D as a custom provider

   Open the dropdown and pick Custom at the bottom. An empty text field appears.

   Type this address exactly:

   https://freedns.controld.com/p2

   Copy and paste rather than typing it — a single wrong character makes the setting fail silently.

   When it is correct, a green check mark appears at the right of the field. A red warning means the address is wrong, or you are offline at that moment.

   The p2 at the end selects the filter level. Control D offers four for free:

   • p0 — blocks nothing, encrypted DNS only.

   • p1 — malware and phishing sites only.

   • p2 — malware plus ads and trackers. This is what this guide uses.

   • p3 — everything in p2, plus social media domains.

   To block social media too, just change p2 to p3 at the end of the address. For most people p2 is the right choice.

   There is no separate save button; the moment the green check appears it is stored. Back out with the back button.

7. 7

   Fully close and reopen Chrome

   The setting takes effect immediately, but Chrome keeps earlier DNS answers in memory for a while for pages that are already open. For a clean start, actually close Chrome:

   • Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold (or press the recents key).

   • Find Chrome among the open apps and swipe it away.

   • Open Chrome again.

   Pressing back does not close Chrome; it keeps running in the background.

   If the change still has not taken, restarting the phone always settles it — but that is rarely necessary.

8. 8

   Verify that it is actually working

   Two quick checks.

   First, confirm the setting stuck. Go back through Chrome → Settings → Privacy and security → Use secure DNS. The toggle should be on, Custom selected, and your address in the field. If it switched itself off, see the VPN note in Step 9.

   Second, see the difference. Open a news site you know is full of ads. Ad slots should sit empty and the page should load noticeably faster.

   Sometimes blank white boxes or "advertisement failed to load" text stays behind where the ads were. That is normal, and it is the sign that blocking is working — the page reserved the space but the content never arrived.

   If you see no difference at all, the browser cache may be showing you the old page. Pull down to refresh, or try it in an Incognito tab.

9. 9

   If it is not working: the three usual causes

   A VPN is on. This is by far the most common cause. While a VPN app is running, all DNS traffic goes to the VPN provider and Chrome's Secure DNS setting is bypassed. On some Android versions the setting still looks enabled but does nothing. Turn the VPN off and test. To use both, enter the Control D address in your VPN app's own DNS setting.

   The network blocks encrypted DNS. Some corporate, school and hotel networks block DNS-over-HTTPS. Chrome then quietly falls back to the network's own DNS. Switch to mobile data and test; if it works on mobile data but not on Wi-Fi, the network is the cause.

   A site will not open. Occasionally the filter blocks a domain you actually need. To check, turn Secure DNS off temporarily and try the site again. If it loads, the filter is the cause — change p2 to p1 at the end of the address to drop back to malware blocking only.

   If something goes wrong mid-way through banking or a government service, turn Secure DNS off and finish what you were doing first, then re-enable it. Do not leave a transaction half done.

10. 10

    Bonus — extending the blocking to the whole device

    Everything so far applies to Chrome only. Ads inside apps, other browsers and games are unaffected.

    Android 9 and later has a device-wide setting: Private DNS.

    Open your phone's Settings app — the phone's own settings, not Chrome's. Then:

    • Go to Network and internet (on some phones, Connections).

    • Under Advanced or More connection settings, find Private DNS.

    • Select Private DNS provider hostname.

    • Enter this and save:

    p2.freedns.controld.com

    Note the format differs: Chrome takes an address starting with https://, while the system setting takes the hostname without https://. Mixing the two up is the most common mistake.

    Afterwards you can set Chrome back to Use your operating system's provider, or leave it as it is — the two do not conflict.

    Menu names vary a little across Samsung, Xiaomi and other manufacturer skins. Typing DNS into the Settings app's search box is the fastest route.

11. 11

    Undoing all of it

    If you change your mind, reverting is instant and leaves nothing behind.

    For the Chrome setting: Chrome → Settings → Privacy and security → Use secure DNS → turn the top toggle off. Chrome goes straight back to your carrier's DNS.

    If you also did the device-wide setting: Phone Settings → Network and internet → Private DNS → select Off or Automatic.

    Since you never installed anything, there is nothing to uninstall. Your history, passwords and tabs are untouched.

    If pages still look ad-free after you switch it off, that is the cache. It returns to normal shortly.