How To Block or Allow Pop-Ups

Last updated on June 24th, 2020

Pop up blockers are great at keeping annoying or unwanted advertising off your computer screen. However, there are times when you’ll need the information a pop-up contains and it is essential for some websites to work properly. In those cases, you’ll want to enable or disable your browser’s pop-up blocker and here is how you can do it.

Google Chrome on PC (Windows or Mac)

1) Turn pop-ups on or off within Settings: 

1. On your computer, open Chrome.
2. At the top right, click More   Settings.
3. At the bottom, click Advanced.
4. Under “Privacy and security,” click Content settings.
5. Click Popups.
6. At the top, turn the setting to Allowed or Blocked.

2) Block or allow pop-ups from a specific site: If a Web page tries to send you a pop-up when your blocker is turned on, an icon with a red “x” will appear in your address bar.

Clicking the icon will allow you to:

• Always allow pop-ups from this site
• Continue blocking pop-ups
• Manage pop-up blocking – It will take you to the pop ups under content settings.

Google Chrome on iPhone & iPad

1) Turn pop-ups on or off within Settings: 

1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Chrome app .
2. Tap More   Settings.
3. Tap Content Settings  Block Pop-ups.
4. Turn Block pop-ups on or off.

2) Block or allow pop-ups from a specific site: Not all pop-ups are ads or spam. Some legitimate websites display web content in pop-up windows.

• On your iPhone or iPad, open the Chrome app Chrome.
• Go to a page where pop-ups are blocked.
• At the bottom, under “Pop-ups blocked,” tap Always show.

Google Chrome on Android

1) Turn pop-ups on or off within Settings:

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Chrome app .
2. To the right of the address bar, tap More  Settings.
3. Tap Site settings and then Pop-ups.
4. Turn Pop-ups to Allowed or Block.

2) Block or allow pop-ups from a specific site: Not all pop-ups are ads or spam. Some legitimate websites display web content in pop-up windows.

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Chrome app .
2. Go to a page where pop-ups are blocked.
3. At the bottom, tap Always show.

Firefox on PC (Windows or Mac)

1. Open Firefox.
2. At the top right, click ☰.
3. Click Options. This is halfway down the drop-down menu.
   On a Mac, you’ll click Preferences here instead.
4. Click on the Privacy & Security Tab. It is on the left side of the window.
5.  Scroll down to the “Permissions” section. You’ll find this heading near the bottom of the “Privacy & Security” section.
6. Uncheck the “Block pop-up windows” box. This option is near the bottom of the “Permissions” section. Doing so will disable the pop-up blocker for your Firefox browser.

Firefox on iPhone

1. Open Firefox.
2. Tap ☰.  It’s at the bottom of the screen. A pop-up menu will appear at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap Settings. This is the gear-shaped icon in the pop-up menu.
4. Tap the blue “Block Pop-up Windows” switch . It will turn white . Doing so will allow pop-ups in your Firefox browser app.

Firefox on Android

1. Open Firefox.
2. Tap ☰. It’s at the top of the screen.
3. Enter about:config into the address bar. This will take you to the system settings page.
4. Tap the “Search” text field. It’s in the top-right corner of the screen.
5. Search for the pop-up blocker script.  Type dom.disable_open_during_load into the search bar. This will result in an item labelled dom.disable_open_during_load appearing near the top of the screen.
6. Tap Toggle. It’s in the lower-right corner of the dom.disable_open_during_load box. Doing so will set this item’s value to “false”, which you’ll see appear in the bottom-left corner of the item’s box. This will prevent pop-up windows from being blocked.
7. Close and re-open Firefox. Once Firefox is open again, you should be able to view pop-ups.

Safari on Desktop

1. Open Safari app.
2. Click Safari. This menu item is in the top-left corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
3. Click Preferences. It’s near the top of the drop-down menu. Doing so prompts a window to open.
4. Click the Security tab. You’ll find it at the top of the window.
5. Uncheck the “Block pop-up windows” box. It’s in the “Web content” section of this menu. This will disable Safari’s pop-up blocker.
6. Close the window and restart Safari. Doing so will save your changes. You should now be able to view pop-ups in Safari.

Safari on Mobile

1. Open your iPhone’s  Settings.
2. Scroll down and tap Safari. It’s about a third of the way down the Settings page.
3. Scroll down to the “GENERAL” group of settings. This is the second large group of settings on the page.
4. Tap the green “Block Pop-ups” switch . It’s near the bottom of the “GENERAL” section of settings. The switch will turn white , signifying that your iPhone’s Safari app will no longer block pop-ups.

Microsoft Edge

1.  Open Microsoft Edge.
2.  Click ⋯. It’s in the top-right corner of the Edge window. A drop-down menu will appear.
3. Click Settings. It opens up the Settings pop-out menu on the right side of the page.
4.  Scroll down and click View advanced settings. It’s near the bottom of the pop-out menu.
5. Click the blue “Block pop-ups” switch . The switch will turn white . Microsoft Edge will no longer block pop-ups.

Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click Settings .
3. Scroll down and Click Internet Options.
4. Click the Privacy tab.
5. Uncheck the “Turn on Pop-up Blocker” box.
   – If this box is already unchecked, Internet Explorer is allowing pop-ups.
   – You can also add specific sites to the unblock list by clicking Settings to the right of the “Turn on Pop-up Blocker” heading, typing a site’s address into the top text field, and clicking Add.
6. Click Apply, then click OK.

Sources: Google Chrome Help, WikiHow