How to Remove Ads in Viber on Windows 10 PC

Ads in Viber can be quite distracting, especially if you frequently use this messaging app on your Windows 10 PC. While completely removing ads is challenging, there are several methods to reduce the number of ads and enhance your experience.

1. Disable Notifications from Promotional Chats

Viber automatically adds users to promotional chats or sends notifications from official channels. To turn them off:

Open Settings in the Viber app on your computer.
Go to the Notifications section.
Find options related to notifications from promotional channels and disable them.

This way, you can reduce the number of notifications from advertising sources.

2. Adjust Privacy Settings

Turning off personalized ads is another way to minimize the number of promotional messages:

Go to the privacy settings in Viber on your computer.
Turn off features related to analyzing your data for personalized ads.

3. Block Ads Using the Hosts File

On Windows 10, you can modify the hosts file to block access to ad servers, which may reduce the amount of advertising:

Open Notepad as an administrator.
Go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.
Add lines to block Viber ad domains. For example:
```
127.0.0.1 ads.viber.com
```
Save the changes and restart Viber.

This can help block some ads, though keep in mind that Viber updates may occasionally override these settings.

4. Use Third-Party Ad Blockers

There are third-party programs available for blocking ads on Windows, such as AdGuard or uBlock Origin:

AdGuard: blocks ads in both browsers and some apps, including Viber.
uBlock Origin: if installed system-wide, it may also reduce ads, although support in desktop apps is limited.

These programs help block ads at the network level, which can reduce the amount of promotional content in Viber.