Echo Show devices are designed to be helpful, hands-free smart displays, but many users are frustrated by the constant appearance of sponsored content, product suggestions, and promotional cards on the home screen. These ads can interrupt the experience, clutter the display, and make a personal device feel more like a billboard than a smart assistant.
This guide explains exactly how to turn off ads on Echo Show devices, what settings control sponsored content, and which types of promotions can and cannot be disabled. You will learn how to reduce visual clutter, stop interest-based ads, manage notification categories, and customize the home screen so it shows information you actually want.
Understanding Ads on Echo Show Devices
What Counts as an Ad on Echo Show
Ads on Echo Show devices typically appear as rotating cards on the home screen. These may include product recommendations, service promotions, sponsored suggestions, or reminders encouraging you to purchase items or subscribe to services. While some cards are helpful, many are promotional in nature and qualify as advertising.
It is important to understand that Echo Show does not show traditional third-party banner ads. Instead, the ads are internal promotions and sponsored recommendations. Because of this, they are controlled through personalization and notification settings rather than a single on or off switch.
Why Ads Appear by Default
Echo Show devices are configured by default to display a wide range of content categories. This includes shopping recommendations, trending products, and service suggestions. These settings are enabled automatically during device setup and are tied to your account preferences.
The system assumes users want proactive suggestions. If no changes are made, the device continues to surface promotional content based on browsing behavior, voice interactions, and general usage patterns.
Types of Promotional Content You May See
Promotional content on Echo Show generally falls into three categories. The first is shopping-related suggestions, such as deals or recommended products. The second is service promotions, including subscriptions or device features. The third category includes sponsored reminders that encourage actions like reordering items.
Each category is controlled by different settings, which means reducing ads requires adjusting multiple options rather than relying on one universal control.
Turning Off Ads Using Device Settings
Accessing Home Content Controls
The most effective way to reduce ads is through the Home Content settings on the Echo Show itself. These controls determine what types of cards appear on the display when the device is idle.
To access these options, open the device settings menu on the Echo Show screen, navigate to Home Content, and review the list of available categories. Each category can be enabled or disabled individually.
Disabling Shopping and Promotional Cards
Within Home Content, locate options related to shopping, deals, and recommendations. These settings are responsible for most product-focused ads. Turning these options off prevents the device from displaying shopping suggestions and promotional offers.
After disabling these categories, the home screen becomes noticeably cleaner, showing fewer sales-driven messages and more neutral information such as time, weather, or personal reminders.
Managing Interest-Based Recommendations
Echo Show uses interest-based personalization to decide which promotions to display. This includes content tied to past interactions, shopping history, and general preferences.
By turning off interest-based recommendations in the settings, you limit the device’s ability to tailor promotional content. While this does not eliminate all ads, it significantly reduces their frequency and relevance.
Using Account Settings to Reduce Sponsored Content
Adjusting Personalized Advertising Preferences
Account-level advertising settings influence how promotional content appears across Echo devices. These controls allow you to limit the use of personal data for ad customization.
Disabling personalized advertising reduces targeted suggestions and generic promotional messaging. This change affects all compatible devices linked to your account, not just a single Echo Show.
Controlling Notifications That Act Like Ads
Some ads appear in the form of notifications, such as reminders to reorder items or alerts about deals. These can be mistaken for system messages but function as promotional prompts.
Notification settings allow you to turn off categories related to shopping and announcements. Once disabled, the device stops pushing promotional alerts that interrupt normal usage.
What Cannot Be Fully Turned Off
Even after adjusting all available settings, some promotional content may still appear. System-level announcements, feature updates, and certain service reminders are built into the device experience.
These cannot be completely disabled, but they occur less frequently than traditional ads. Understanding this limitation helps set realistic expectations when customizing your Echo Show.
Beyond basic device and account settings, there are additional steps you can take to further minimize ads and sponsored content on Echo Show. These advanced adjustments focus on voice purchasing controls, data usage preferences, and content visibility options that many users overlook.
Advanced Controls to Minimize Ads Further
Disabling Voice Purchasing and Reorder Prompts
Voice purchasing features are closely tied to shopping-related ads on Echo Show. When enabled, the device actively promotes reorders, product reminders, and purchase suggestions based on past buying behavior.
Turning off voice purchasing prevents the device from prompting you to buy items or reminding you about products you previously ordered. This significantly reduces shopping-related cards and notifications that resemble ads.
Limiting Activity-Based Suggestions
Echo Show analyzes daily usage to surface suggestions tied to routines, entertainment, and smart home usage. While not all of this content is promotional, some recommendations are tied to paid services or subscriptions.
Reducing activity-based suggestions limits the device’s tendency to recommend new services or paid features. This results in a more neutral, utility-focused display experience.
Turning Off Announcements That Feel Promotional
Announcements can include messages about new features, seasonal promotions, or limited-time offers. Although these are not labeled as ads, they function similarly by encouraging engagement with promoted services.
By disabling non-essential announcements, you prevent promotional messages from appearing unexpectedly on your Echo Show screen.
Optimizing the Echo Show Home Screen Experience
Choosing Useful Content Over Promotional Cards
Replacing ads with practical information improves the overall value of the Echo Show. Options such as weather updates, calendar events, timers, and personal reminders provide functionality without promotional intent.
Selecting only the content categories you genuinely use ensures the device prioritizes usefulness instead of advertising-driven suggestions.
Understanding Rotating Content Behavior
Even with ads minimized, the Echo Show home screen still rotates through enabled content categories. If too many categories remain active, promotional content may still slip through.
Keeping the number of enabled categories to a minimum reduces rotation frequency and helps maintain a cleaner, more predictable display.
Restarting the Device After Changes
After making multiple setting changes, restarting the Echo Show helps ensure all adjustments are properly applied. Some content preferences may not update immediately without a restart.
A fresh restart allows the system to reload your preferences and often results in fewer ads appearing afterward.
Common Questions and Misconceptions About Echo Show Ads
Does Turning Off Ads Affect Core Features
Disabling ads does not reduce the core functionality of the Echo Show. Features such as voice commands, smart home control, video calls, and daily information remain fully operational.
The only noticeable change is a less cluttered home screen and fewer interruptions from promotional content.
Why Ads Sometimes Reappear After Updates
Software updates can occasionally reset certain content preferences. After major updates, some promotional categories may be re-enabled by default.
Reviewing Home Content and notification settings after updates ensures ads remain minimized.
Is It Possible to Remove Ads Completely
While most ads and sponsored content can be significantly reduced, complete removal is not currently possible. Some system messages and service-related suggestions are embedded into the device experience.
However, following all recommended steps can eliminate the majority of promotional content and create a far more streamlined display.
Turning off ads on Echo Show requires a combination of device-level adjustments, account preference changes, and careful content selection. While there is no single switch to disable all promotions, taking control of these settings dramatically reduces sponsored content and restores the device’s purpose as a helpful, distraction-free smart display. With the right configuration, Echo Show can focus on delivering useful information instead of unwanted ads.