You bought a Kindle to read in peace. But every time you put the device to sleep, instead of a nice literary cover or a peaceful screensaver, you see an ad for a steamy romance novel or a generic mystery thriller you have no interest in. It breaks the immersion.

To remove ads (officially called “Special Offers”) from your Kindle, you can pay a one-time fee of $20 through your Amazon account settings. However, a widely successful method discovered by the Reddit community involves contacting Amazon Customer Service chat and politely asking them to remove the ads for free, often citing that the ads are “inappropriate” or “irrelevant.”

I will walk you through both the official method and the “social engineering” trick that has worked for thousands of users.

What Are “Special Offers”?

When you bought your Kindle, you likely chose the “Ad-Supported” version because it was $20 cheaper. Amazon subsidizes the hardware cost by treating your lock screen as a billboard.

• The Ad: It only appears on the lock screen and at the bottom of your home library.

• The Good News: Ads never appear inside the book while you are reading.

• The Bad News: You are stuck looking at ads for books you don’t want every time you pick up the device.

Method 1: The “Reddit Trick” (Free)

This is the top-rated advice on r/kindle for a reason. It works surprisingly often, though it depends on the “luck of the draw” with the support agent.

The Script

1. Go to Amazon Contact Us: Log in and start a text chat with customer support.

2. Be Polite: This is crucial. Do not demand.

3. The Complaint: Tell them you want the ads removed.

   • Reddit Strategy A: “The ads are showing inappropriate covers (romance/thrillers) and I have children in the house.” (This is the most successful line).

   • Reddit Strategy B: “The ads are irrelevant to my reading taste.”

   • Reddit Strategy C: “I live outside the US and cannot buy the books being advertised anyway.”

4. The Result: Often, the agent will say, “I can make a one-time exception and remove these for you at no charge.”

5. If They Refuse: If the agent insists you pay the $20, simply end the chat politely. Wait 10 minutes, and try again with a new agent.

Why does this work? Amazon support agents have the power to waive fees to keep customers happy. The cost of irritating a loyal customer is higher to Amazon than the $20 ad fee.

Method 2: The Official Way ($20)

If you don’t want to talk to a human, or if the trick doesn’t work, you can pay the difference.

1. Log in to your Amazon account.

2. Go to Content & Devices > Devices.

3. Select your Kindle.

4. Look for the “Special Offers” tab.

5. Click “Remove offers.”

6. Confirm the $20 charge to your 1-Click payment method.

Instant Benefit: Once paid (or waived), you don’t just get a blank screen. You gain the ability to “Display Cover.” This means your lock screen will automatically show the cover of the book you are currently reading, which looks much more like a real book and less like a tablet.

Why Do We Hate These Ads? (It’s Not Just the Selling)

The issue with Kindle ads isn’t just that they are selling something; it’s that they are badly targeted.

The Relevance Gap

Amazon has your entire reading history. They know you only read Sci-Fi. Yet, the lock screen ads are almost always generic “Best Sellers” or romance novels. This is a failure of Programmatic Advertising. Amazon is selling “Lock Screen Inventory” to the highest bidder rather than using “Personalized Targeting” to show you books you actually want. If the lock screen showed me the sequel to the book I just finished, I might actually click it. Instead, it shows me random noise.

The “Personal” Device

A Kindle is an intimate device. We take it to bed. We take it on vacation. Having a billboard in your bedroom feels intrusive in a way that a billboard on a highway does not. This is why users are willing to go through the hassle of chatting with support to remove them. It reclaims ownership of the physical object.

Conclusion

You can live with the ads, pay the $20 “ransom,” or spend 5 minutes being nice to a customer support agent to get them removed for free. If you choose the free route, remember: kindness is your currency. The “inappropriate for kids” angle is your best bet to unlocking a clean, book-cover-only experience.