Can You Turn Off Pinterest Ads? The Honest Answer
Tam Nguyen
· 5 min read
No. Pinterest has no setting that turns off ads, and you can’t pay to remove them. Pinterest’s own help center says “you can’t turn off ads completely”; the ad settings it does offer only change which ads you see. The one thing that actually removes promoted pins is a browser extension on a computer. In the iPhone and Android apps, the best you can do is hide ads, block advertisers and limit tracking.
Here’s what each option really does, so you don’t waste time flipping switches that won’t help.
Is there an off switch for Pinterest ads?
There isn’t one, on any device. Ads (Pinterest also calls them promoted pins) are, in its words, “Pins that businesses pay to promote”, and they show up in your home feed and search results. They’re the core of the business: Pinterest’s 2025 annual report states that “we generate substantially all of our revenue from advertising.” A company that earns nearly everything from ads has little reason to give users a way out.
That doesn’t mean you’re stuck with every ad. It means the fix comes from outside Pinterest’s settings.
Can you pay to remove ads on Pinterest?
Not as of October 2026. We checked Pinterest’s help center and its latest annual report and found no ad-free subscription or premium tier for regular users. Some other platforms do sell one: Facebook and Instagram, for example, launched paid no-ads subscriptions in Europe in 2023. Pinterest hasn’t followed.
You’ll see apps in the App Store with names like “ad-free for Pinterest”. They’re made by third parties, not Pinterest, so treat them like any app that wants your login: read the reviews and privacy details first.
What do Pinterest’s ad settings actually control?
Pinterest gives you four native tools. All of them shape your ads. None of them shrinks the number of ads.
| Tool | What it does | Does it reduce ads? |
|---|---|---|
| Hide an ad | Removes that one ad and tells Pinterest you weren’t interested | No, another ad fills the slot |
| Block an advertiser | Blocks that brand’s profile (you can block up to 1,000 advertisers) | No, but it removes a repeat offender |
| Ads personalization settings | Limits how your data is used to pick ads | No |
| Refine your recommendations | Tunes regular pins (AI content, activity) | No, Pinterest says it doesn’t affect ads |
The first two come from Pinterest’s Ads help page. The last one is spelled out on the Refine your recommendations page, which says changing those settings doesn’t affect the ads in your home feed.
The personalization settings, in plain terms
You find these under Settings > Privacy and data on desktop, or by tapping your profile picture, then your profile photo, then Privacy and data in the app (Pinterest Help). Depending on where you live, you’ll see switches like:
- Use info from sites you visit: whether data collected through Pinterest widgets on other sites and apps is used to improve your ads.
- Use of partner info: whether data from Pinterest’s partners is used for personalized ads.
- Activity for ads reporting: whether advertisers can get info about your activity to measure their ads.
- Sharing info with partners and Ads off Pinterest: whether your info is shared so you get ads elsewhere.
These are privacy controls. They’re worth turning off if you don’t want your browsing used for targeting, and they may matter more than you’d think: in 2024 the privacy group noyb filed a complaint in France after a user found ads personalization switched on by default (Pinterest says its approach complies with GDPR). Just don’t expect fewer ads afterward. You’ll see the same number, only less tailored.
What actually works on each device?
On a computer: an extension removes them
A browser extension is the only way we know of to make ads disappear from the feed. Pinterest ads are regular pins mixed into the grid, so a general ad blocker may need extra Pinterest-specific rules to catch them. A tool built for Pinterest knows what to look for.
Feed Cleaner for Pinterest is the one we make. It’s free, needs no account, and removes promoted pins from the home feed, search results and the “More to explore” section on pin pages, on 22 Pinterest country domains and in 25+ languages. You can also hide shopping pins, video pins and blocks like “Shop the look”, each with its own switch. It runs in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi.
For full setup steps and the three display modes, see how to stop seeing ads on Pinterest. If you already use uBlock Origin and want to know whether it’s enough, read uBlock Origin vs a Pinterest ad blocker.
On iPhone: hide, block and deny tracking
Extensions can’t run inside the Pinterest app, and that includes ours. What you can do:
- On an ad you don’t want, tap the … menu and hide it.
- For brands that keep coming back, open their profile, tap …, and choose Block (steps).
- Turn off the switches under Privacy and data.
- If iOS asks whether Pinterest can track you, choose Ask App Not to Track. Pinterest’s personalization page says your ads will then be less personalized. You can change it later in the iOS Settings app under Privacy & Security > Tracking.
On Android: hide, block and limit data
Same story: no extensions in the app. Use steps 1 to 3 above. Blocking the advertisers you see most often is the change you’ll notice most.
Quick summary by device
| Device | Can you turn off ads? | Best option |
|---|---|---|
| Windows or Mac browser | Not in Pinterest, but an extension removes them | A Pinterest ad blocker extension |
| iPhone app | No | Block advertisers, deny tracking, privacy settings |
| Android app | No | Block advertisers, privacy settings |
FAQ
Can you block ads on Pinterest?
On desktop, yes, with an extension. Inside Pinterest you can block individual advertisers (up to 1,000), but there’s no way to block ads as a whole.
Does Pinterest Premium remove ads?
Pinterest doesn’t offer a premium plan for regular users as of October 2026. If you see one advertised, it’s a third-party product, not Pinterest.
Why do I still see ads after turning off ads personalization?
Because that setting controls data use, not ad volume. Pinterest keeps showing ads; they’re just picked with less information about you.
The bottom line
You can’t turn off Pinterest ads from inside Pinterest, and you can’t buy your way out. The settings are still worth a few minutes for privacy, and blocking repeat advertisers helps on your phone. If you browse Pinterest on a computer, an extension is the only thing that actually clears ads from the feed. Pinterest’s menus change from time to time, so if a label above looks slightly different, the option is usually still in the same place.
Written by Tam Nguyen, who builds Feed Cleaner for Pinterest. Feed Cleaner is independent and not affiliated with Pinterest. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.