How to Turn Off Pop-Up Blockers on My Computer

by Paul Higgins

Image courtesy of Google

While browsers come with a pop-up blocker that is enabled by default, there are cases where you may want to disable it, for example, if you frequently visit websites that display critical information in pop-up windows or if you want to troubleshoot a site you manage. Disabling Chrome, Internet Explorer or Firefox's built-in pop-up blocker requires you to edit your browser's content or privacy settings.

Google Chrome

Step 1

Launch Google Chrome 41 on either Windows 7 or 8.1 and open the **Chrome** menu. Select **Settings.**

Step 2

Once you click it, the link disappears and a new set of options displays.

Click on the **Show Advanced Settings** link to reveal Chrome's advanced settings options.

Step 3

The Content Settings option allows you to edit various settings, such as your browser's cookies or JavaScript preferences.

Select **Content Settings.**

Chrome recommends that you keep the pop-up blocker enabled.

Select **Allow All Sites to Show Pop-Ups** and click on **Done** to finish disabling the pop-up blocker. Instead of disabling the pop-up blocker for all websites, you can instead select **Manage Exceptions** and type in a uniform resource locator address to allow pop-ups only on that specific site.

Mozilla Firefox

Step 1

The Options screen opens in a new window.

Open Firefox 36's Options window by clicking on the **Firefox** menu and selecting **Options.**

Step 2

The Content tab allows you to modify your pop-up, font and languages preferences.

Select the **Content** tab.

Deactivate the check box next to **Block Pop-Up Windows** and select **OK** to save your settings. Alternatively, clicking on **Exceptions** allows you to disable the pop-up blocker only on specific websites by entering their URL addresses in the Allowed Sites window and clicking on **Allow.*

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Step 1

You can also access the Internet Options window from the Windows Control Panel.

Launch Internet Explorer 11 and click on the **cog** icon to open the program's main menu. Select **Internet Options.**

Step 2

The Privacy tab also lets you assign sites to different Internet zones, depending on how much you trust them.

Open the **Privacy** tab.

Internet Explorer disables the Settings button when the pop-up blocker is turned off.

Untick the check box next to **Turn on Pop-Up Blocker** and save your new settings by clicking on **Apply.** Instead of disabling the pop-up blocker entirely, you can also click on **Settings** and enter a domain name to prevent Internet Explorer from blocking pop-ups generated by that website.

Tip

If you installed a browser extension or add-on that automatically blocks pop-ups -- such as the Yahoo Toolbar with built-in pop-up blocker, you can disable that add-on by following a browser-specific procedure. On Chrome, open the "Settings" page, click on "Extensions" and deactivate the check box next to the name of the extension you wish to disable. On Firefox, select "Add-ons" from the Firefox menu, click on "Extensions" in the sidebar and select "Disable" next to the name of the extension. Finally, on Internet Explorer, select "Manage Add-Ons" from the Internet Explorer menu, click on the name of the add-on and select "Disable."