Android, the Google-owned entity, is the world’s most used operating system for smartphones, surpassing iOS found on Apple’s line-up of smartphones. Android, an open-source operating system, can be highly customizable, which establishes its greatness. But in some instances, this customizability can cause certain problems. For example, many users have reported an annoying issue where the browser opening by itself in Android or whenever the phone is unlocked.
The ads keep opening in the browser. So today, we are going to find out how to fix this issue once and for all.
Table of Contents
Why Does The Browser Opening by Itself in Android Happen?
Downloading third-party apps from unknown sources over the internet sometimes allow malicious side apps to be installed simultaneously on your android phones. These apps can then take automatic access to your browser, thus pushing ad notifications to open randomly or whenever you unlock your phone.
There are instances where you could be asked to allow notifications to be sent on your notification area on visiting certain unsecured websites. They could gain access to open the random pages on their own which is one the major causes for browser opening by itself in Android issue.
Other minor causes that might lead to this issue are Factory resetting your Android phone in the wrong way or a defective Android Upgrade rollout by the particular smartphone manufacturer.
Now downloading third-party apps isn’t an issue most of the time, but there are instances where this can pose a problem. Hence it is recommended that you download apps on your android phone from the Google play store.
See also: {Solved} Fix Unfortunately Google Play Services Has Stopped
Solve Browser Opening by Itself in Android
Clearing Browser Cache
This step can come in handy for many occasions, such as if the app is misbehaving or slowing down or operating independently. In our case, something as simple as “Force Stop” or “Clear Cache” can stop the browser from opening all by itself. Now, how to go about doing this on your own for your android smartphone, here is how:
- Go to Settings (either from the app menu or usually by scrolling down from the top and clicking on the cog-gear icon at the upper-right corner)
- Scroll down and tap on Apps.
- Scroll down from the options and locate your browser. On finding it tap on your browser
- Now tap on Force Stop (Doing this will completely end all foreground and background processes that your browser is performing)
- But if Force Stop fails, tap on Storage and then tap on Clear Cache. Now select Manage Storage and then tap on Clear All Data. This will help you fix the browser opening by itself in Android issue.
Notes:
- Inside the app info page of your browser, you can find an option for installing apps from unknown sources. Click on it and disable it. (Doing this ensures that no app gets auto-installed without your permission).
- Tapping on Clear All data will delete all your browser data. Hence, you should backup all your important data and note your passwords (You can use password managers, backup databases, etc., for that purpose).
- Usually, your phone browser syncs with Chrome, Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, or other desktop browsers. So you have to make sure your desktop browser history is clear as well. Then on resyncing, hopefully, the issue will have resolved itself.
See also: 7 Ways to Fix ERR_CACHE_MISS In Google Chrome
Uninstall any Unnamed Suspicious App
Sometimes while installing a third-party app from the internet, a malicious app can side-load itself. These apps are generally unnamed and aren’t visible in the app list. Such apps usually open full-screen popup ads and the browser opening by itself in Android can happen to load spam pages, ads or news articles, etc.
Identifying and removing such apps ain’t very difficult, though. Here’s what you need to be doing:
- Go to Settings (either from the app menu or usually by scrolling down from the top and clicking on the cog-gear icon at the upper-right corner)
- Scroll down and tap on Apps.
- Now, from the list of all installed apps, scroll down at the bottom, and you can see the unnamed app.
- Uninstall this app and restart your phone. (Restarting is optional but recommended as it essentially serves as a “refresh’ for your smartphone)
- Change your Browser notifications settings.
See also: 6 Ways to Fix Google Chrome has Stopped Working
Disallow Push Notifications
Some websites ask you to allow sending push notifications, which then open popup spam notifications on the browser. It’s always best not to allow any push notifications from any random site. But if that has happened, it can cause the browser opening by itself in Android issue, if so, then follow the steps below:
- Go to Settings (either from the app menu or usually by scrolling down from the top and clicking on the cog-gear icon at the upper-right corner)
- Scroll down and tap on Apps. Scroll down from the options and locate your browser. On finding it tap on your browser.
- Now select the Notifications option.
- Disable the Show Notifications option under Sites. Or you could subsequently select the site name and disable the push notification tab. Do this for all the sites that are unrecognizable to you.
Change your default Browser
You could always switch your default browser to an alternative till you can get to the exact cause of what’s causing the issue of browser opening by itself in Android. There are several great browsers for Android to choose from, like Chrome, Brave Browser, Opera, etc. Doing this is fairly simple. You need to follow these steps:
- Go to Settings (either from the app menu or usually by scrolling down from the top and clicking on the cog-gear icon at the upper-right corner)
- Scroll down and tap on Apps.
- Select the Default apps option from the list.
- Tap on the Browser app option and select the alternative app that you want to use as default.
See also: 5 Ways To Fix Facebook Notifications Not Working Error
Factory Reset
If the browser opening by itself in Android keeps happening, even after following all of the above methods. You have to follow these steps below to factory reset your android phone.
- Go to Settings (either from the app menu or usually by scrolling down from the top and clicking on the cog-gear icon at the upper-right corner)
- Scroll down and select About Phone
- Find the Reset Option and click on it
- Now select the Factory Data to reset option (Resets your android phone to its factory default settings, earing all the all data).
Note: Before you factory reset your Android phone, make sure you backup all your files to prevent losing any important data.
See Also: Achieving Business Success with Android Mockup
Conclusion
Hopefully, your issue of browser opening by itself in Android is resolved by now, and you aren’t being annoyed by your Browser anymore.
See also: 5 Best Android Spy Apps Without Target Phone
Gravit Sinha is the founder of ValidEdge. Ever since he was a kid, he has been a problem fixer and that passion is what inspired him to start and grow this website! 🙂
