Turn off Apple's personalized ads on your Mac

Why it happens

Apple shows ads in a few of its own apps, such as the App Store and Apple News. With Personalized Ads on, it uses things like your account details and what you've downloaded to pick which ones you see. Turning it off doesn't remove the ads, but they're no longer chosen using your information.

How to fix it

1. Click the Apple menu, choose System Settings, then click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Apple Advertising, then turn off Personalized Ads.

   Privacy & Security›Apple Advertising

3. To see what Apple uses to pick ads for you, click View Ad Targeting Information on the same page.

Still not fixed?

1. Do the same on your iPhone and iPad. Open Settings, tap Privacy & Security, then Apple Advertising, and turn off Personalized Ads there too.

2. Ads on websites come from the sites themselves, not from Apple. To limit how sites track you, open Safari, choose Settings… from the Safari menu, click Privacy and make sure Prevent cross-site tracking is ticked.

3. If the switch is greyed out, the Mac may be managed by a company or school, or the account may belong to a child, where personalized ads are already off. Ask whoever manages it.

4. If Personalized Ads keeps turning itself back on after a restart and the latest macOS update, contact Apple Support.