How to Turn off Pop-up Blocker on Mac

A pop-up blocker hides ads and protects your device from irritating notifications so you can be undistracted and focus on your work. However, as helpful as a pop-up blocker is, some websites you visit legitimately use pop-ups to display vital information.

You may experience sign-in issues or blocked access to certain web pages unless you enable pop-ups on your Mac—even just for a specific page. If you want to know how to enable pop-ups on your Mac, read on.

This article teaches you how to turn off pop-up blockers on Mac browsers, including Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

Before we start:

 

Block annoying advertisements, browser alerts, and site trackers with MacKeeper’s StopAd feature. StopAd is built into MacKeeper, but works as a separate browser extension in Safari and other Mac Browsers such as Chrome.

 

Here’s how to add MacKeeper's StopAd to Safari:

1. Open MacKeeper.
2. Select StopAd from the left sidebar and click Open.
3. Click Enable to install the Safari extension.
4. Click Open Safari Preferences.
5. Select all checkboxes for MacKeeper in the Safari Extensions Preferences.
6. Go back to MacKeeper and click Turn on.

What is a pop-up blocker on a Mac?

A pop-up blocker on Mac is a default program that stops internet windows, ads, notifications, or pop-ups from a webpage when you're using your device. Pop-up blockers on Mac work in various ways, including:

• They block virus pop-ups from opening.
• They turn off the command that calls the pop-up.
• They change the window's source HTML.

A tip from our experts: 

 

Read MacKeeper’s blog to learn how to stop virus pop-ups on your Mac.

In most cases, the browser you’re using will notify you when a pop-up is blocked on your device. It's your duty to locate and deactivate the pop-up blocker to get the most out of your web browsing experience.

Where is the pop-up blocker on a Mac?

Pop-up blockers are a default setting on popular Mac browsers like Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. However, you must manually disable them on your Mac so that the sites or web pages you visit can display pop-up windows and notifications.

Here are the steps to follow if you want to locate a pop-up blocker on Mac’s Safari browser:

1. Open Safari and then click Safari > Settings in the Apple menu.
2. Scroll to the right and click Websites.
3. Scroll through the drop-down menu on the left and click Pop-up Windows at the bottom.
4. From here, you can customize pop-up windows by the websites you visit on your Mac. You can also select block and notify about the pop-up windows when visiting other websites.

Should you turn off pop-up blockers on your MacBook?

Most pop-ups on your Mac are a nuisance, and you would most likely prefer to avoid seeing them. However, if a pop-up blocker interferes with your ability to visit a website, read its content, or receive a discount, you should disable it.

For example, an e-commerce site may display a discount notice pop-up as a welcome offer. On such sites, the pop-up will appear soon after the page loads the first time you access it. You may miss discounts and promos if you’ve enabled a pop-up blocker.

A pop-up may also appear as a modal that deactivates an entire page until you click on the pop-up notification. Some websites also require cookie consent before you can interact with the rest of the page displayed.

However, as much as you would want to turn off the pop-up windows and disable the ad blocker, look out for the nature of the pop-ups and ads before turning off your pop-up blocker. Some pop-up windows may be a conduit for malware and viruses.

A note from our team: 

 

Read the devoted blog article on MacKeeper to learn how to remove browser viruses on your Mac.

How to disable pop-up blocker on Mac

If you’re unsure whether to remove pop-ups on a website, you can turn off the pop-up blocker and decide what to do if a pop-up window appears. Follow the steps below to disable pop-up blockers on popular Mac browsers, starting with Safari.

How to deactivate pop-up blockers in Safari

Follow these simple steps to deactivate a pop-up blocker in Safari:

1. Open Safari, click Safari in the Apple menu in the upper-left corner and choose Settings from the drop-down window.
2. Select the Websites tab and click Pop-up Windows on the bottom left.
3. Wait for your Mac to display websites where pop-up windows are allowed or have been blocked.
4. Click on Allow to remove the pop-up blocker if enabled. If no websites are listed in the Currently Open Websites section, it means you don’t have pop-up blockers for any websites.
5. Similarly, change the setting to Allow under the When visiting other websites section to allow other websites open pop-up windows.

Important: 

 

The majority of pop-up ads are scams that aim to illegitimately obtain information or personal data. Fortunately, MacKeeper has a dedicated ad filter specifically designed to prevent pop-ups on Mac for several browsers at once.

 

You can easily avoid annoying pop-ups in Safari or Google Chrome by using MacKeeper's StopAd feature through these simple steps:

1. Open MacKeeper and select StopAd from the bottom of the menu sidebar.
2. Select your browser (Safari or Chrome), select Install, and follow the on-screen instructions on installing the extension.
3. Get back to MacKeeper and press Enable.
4. Enjoy the ad-free browsing experience.

How to turn off pop up blocker in Chrome

Here are simple steps to turn off the pop-up blocker in Chrome:

1. On your computer, open Chrome and click on the three dots in the top right corner.
2. Scroll to the bottom and select Settings.
3. Go to Privacy and Security.
4. Scroll to the bottom and click on Site settings.
5. Scroll down to Additional permissions and click on Pop-ups and redirects.
6. Tick in the circle that indicates sites can send pop-ups and use redirects or customize your Mac to allow specific sites to send pop-ups.

How to stop pop-up blocking in Firefox

Follow these steps to stop pop-up blocking in Firefox:

1. Open Firefox, and click on the three horizontal lines in the upper right menu.
2. Scroll down and select Settings.
3. From settings, click on the Privacy and Security tab and scroll through the browser settings up to permissions.
4. Under Permissions, untick the box Block pop-up windows.

How to take off pop-up blocker in Opera

Follow these simple steps to take off the pop-up blocker in Opera Mini:

1. Open the Opera browser on your Mac, locate the three arrows in the top right corner, and scroll down to Go to full browser settings.
2. Click Privacy & Security and go to the Site settings.
3. Navigate through additional permissions and locate pop ups and redirects. Tick the ‘Sites can send pop-ups and use redirects.’

How to disable pop-up blocker for one website on Mac

To disabling a pop-up blocker for a specific website on Mac’s Safari default browser, you need to open the website in Safari and follow the steps below:

1. Open Safari, open the website in question, and click on Safari in the Apple menu in the upper left corner.
2. Go to Settings, click Websites tab and Pop-up windows.
3. Next to the website you’re currently browsing, choose Allow to disable the add and pop-up blockers for the specific website.

Conclusion

Turning off pop-up blockers on your Mac is a simple process that you can undertake in various macOS versions, including Big Sur and Ventura. For the most part, most websites will require you to interact with the pop-ups before accessing or logging into their services.

That's why it can be useful to turn off pop-up windows on your Mac, whether for specific sites or for all websites.

However, if you want to stop annoying ads and pop-ups without going through the confusing Mac settings, try MacKeeper’s StopAd feature. It is an easy tool designed to neutralize ads and trackers across all websites.