How To Turn Off Ads On Pixel Phones: My Pixel Promos And Theme Packs
If a Pixel 11 offer landed in your notification shade, or your Wallpaper & style menu is pushing Harry Potter packs at you, your phone is working as Google intended.
Pixels now have two promo channels built in: marketing notifications from the My Pixel app, and branded theme packs that arrive with Pixel Drops.
Both can be switched off without losing anything useful, and the whole job takes about 5 minutes.
Where Pixel ads come from and how to turn each one off
| Source | What You See | Off Switch | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| My Pixel app | Notification ads for new Google hardware | New products and offers toggle | 30 seconds |
| Theme packs app | Sponsored packs in Wallpaper & style | Uninstall or disable the app | 2 minutes |
| Theme packs notifications | Alerts when a new pack drops | App notification toggle | 30 seconds |
| An applied branded pack | Changed icons, clock, sounds, Gboard GIFs | No Theme | 30 seconds |
| Play Store auto-update | Theme packs app returning after a Pixel Drop | Per-app auto-update toggle | 1 minute |
Why is my Pixel showing ads now?
Two separate changes landed within a year of each other.
My Pixel notifications:
My Pixel used to be called Pixel Tips, and it only carried tutorials, update notes, and support.
The rebrand added a Store tab, and after the Pixel 11 launch in August 2026, owners of older Pixels began receiving notification ads for the new phones.
These promos are on by default.
Theme packs:
Pixel Themes launched in November 2025, and as of September 2026 every pack Google has released has been a tie-in for someone else’s product.
Neither change is a bug, a virus, or something you installed.
Step 1: Turn off My Pixel promo notifications
This is the switch most people are looking for.
- Long-press the
My Pixelapp icon. - Tap
App info. - Tap
Notifications. - Open the
My Pixelnotification categories. - Turn off
New products and offers.
If you can’t find the app icon:
Go to Settings → Notifications → App notifications, switch the dropdown to All apps, and open My Pixel from the list.
Which My Pixel notifications are worth keeping?
My Pixel splits its alerts into categories, so you can cut the marketing and keep the useful parts.
| Category | What It Sends | Suggested Setting |
|---|---|---|
| New products and offers | Hardware promos and discounts | Off |
| Basket reminders | Nudges about items left in the Store cart | Off |
| Surveys and research | Feedback requests | Off |
| Features and tips | What changed after an update | On |
| Account and order updates | Order tracking and support | On if you buy from Google |
Do not disable My Pixel entirely.
You would lose the post-update notes and the built-in support tools along with the ads.
Step 2: Revert a branded theme you already applied
If your icons, clock, or sounds changed after you tapped a theme pack, this undoes all of it at once.
- Long-press an empty spot on the home screen.
- Tap
Wallpaper & style. - Tap
Theme packs. - Select
No Theme.
If the ringtone didn’t change back:
Go to Settings → Sound & vibration → Phone ringtone and pick your old tone manually.
Do this step before removing the Theme packs app, or you may have to undo the branded icons and sounds one at a time.
Step 3: Keep part of a pack and drop the rest
You can keep the wallpaper and lose the sounds.
- Open
Wallpaper & style → Theme packs. - Tap the pencil icon on the applied pack.
- Toggle off what you don’t want:
App icons,Clock,Sounds, or the Gboard GIFs.
Step 4: Uninstall or disable the Theme packs app
Theme packs is a separate app delivered through the Play Store, not a fixed part of Android.
- Open
Settings → Apps → See all apps. - Find
Theme packs. - Tap
Uninstall, orDisableif uninstall isn’t offered.
If it isn’t in the list:
Tap the three-dot menu and choose Show system.
Step 5: Stop the Play Store from bringing it back
A Pixel Drop can quietly reinstall or update the app.
- Open the Play Store and search for
Theme packsby Google. - Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
- Uncheck
Enable auto update.
Check this again after each Pixel Drop.
Step 6: Silence Theme packs without removing it
If you’d rather keep the app but never hear from it:
- Go to
Settings → Apps → See all apps → Theme packs. - Tap
Notifications. - Turn off all Theme packs notifications.
Step 7: Remove Theme packs with ADB if Disable is greyed out
Use this only if the app is locked as a system package on your phone.
- Enable
Developer optionsandUSB debugging. - Connect the phone to a computer with ADB installed.
- Find the exact package name on your phone:
adb shell pm list packages | grep -i customization
- Remove it for your user profile, replacing the package name with the one your phone returned:
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.apps.pixel.customizationbundle
To bring it back later:
adb shell cmd package install-existing com.google.android.apps.pixel.customizationbundle
This removes the app for your user only, so a factory reset restores it.
Do not run pm uninstall on a package name you haven’t confirmed. Removing the wrong system package can break Wallpaper & style entirely.
Which theme packs has Google released so far?
| Theme Pack | Released | Available Until | What It Promoted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wicked: For Good (3 packs) | November 4, 2025 | Removed January 31, 2026 | Film in theaters November 21, 2025 |
| SpongeBob | March 2026 | Limited run, since removed | SpongeBob franchise |
| Harry Potter Audiobook Packs | September 2026 Pixel Drop | December 31, 2026 | Audible Full-Cast Audio Editions |
| Google-made, non-branded themes | None | — | — |
The Harry Potter packs work on Pixel 6 and newer.
They arrived alongside a free two-month Audible trial that expires January 24, 2027, offered in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, and Australia.
How do you get real icon packs on a Pixel?
Icon pack support is what most people expected from Pixel Themes, and Pixel Launcher still doesn’t offer it as of September 2026.
| Option | Icon Pack Support | Cost | Keeps Pixel Launcher? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pixel Launcher themed icons | No, single-color tint only | Free | Yes |
| Lawnchair | Yes | Free | No |
| Niagara Launcher | Yes | Free, optional Pro | No |
| Smart Launcher | Yes | Free, optional Pro | No |
The trade-off:
A third-party launcher moves At a Glance out of its native spot and loses some of Pixel Launcher’s gesture animation polish.
The zero-install option:
Go to Wallpaper & style → Home screen and turn on Themed icons for a consistent, brand-free look based on your wallpaper colors.
Which fix do I need?
| Your Situation | Go To | Time Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Got a Pixel 11 ad in your notifications | Step 1 | 30 seconds |
| Icons or sounds changed after tapping a pack | Step 2 | 30 seconds |
| Like the wallpaper, hate the sounds | Step 3 | 1 minute |
| Never want to see Theme packs again | Steps 4 and 5 | 3 minutes |
| Theme packs keeps notifying you | Step 6 | 30 seconds |
| Disable button is greyed out | Step 7 | 10 minutes |
| Want actual icon packs | Launcher table | 5 minutes |
The Harry Potter packs disappear on their own on December 31, 2026.
The My Pixel promo toggle does not reset on its own, but it is worth re-checking after each major Android update.