Pop-Up Blocking
Pop-ups are advertisements in windows that appear when browsing on the internet. Enough people find them intrusive and annoying that there is now software that can get rid of pop-ups by blocking them. When deciding what pop-up blocker it's important to consider what your options are. Some cost money while others are free. There are several free and useful tools out there for you to use.
Internet Explorer
To turn the Pop-Up Blocker on or off:
- Click the Tools Button then Pop-up Blocker
- Click Turn Off Pop-up Blocker
- If the Pop-up Blocker is already off then the link will say Turn On Pop-up Blocker
To allow certian websites to use pop-ups an exception for the website must be created.
- When a pop-up is activated a message granting or denying permission for the pop-up should appear in the internet browser screen. Select the appropriate option:
- Temporarily allow Pop-ups from this website
- Allways allow Pop-ups from this website
- Never allow Pop-ups from this website
- To manually configure the Pop-up blocker:
- Navigate to the Pop-up Blocker Settings
- Type the URL of the website that has permission to use pop-ups in the "Address of website to allow:" field then click the Add.
- The URL will appear in the Allowed sites section then click the Close button the the OK button.
Mozilla Firefox
To turn on the pop-up blocking
- Go to the Tools menu then select Options
- Click the Content icon then pop-up blocking can be turned off or on by placing a check next to "Block pop-up Windows"
To allow exceptions for websites to use pop-ups:
- Click the Exceptions button
- Type the URL in the "Address of web site:" field then click the Allow button
- Click the Close button then the OK button
Safari
The Safari web browser also has a built in pop-up blocker. In order to turn it on click the Safari drop down menu and click on "block pop-up windows" and the option will then have a check mark by it. Once you've done this then your browser will begin
blocking pop-ups. If for some reason you need to stop blocking pop-ups then go through the same procedure to turn off the blocking.
There are many other ways of blocking pop-ups. You can find software for sale that blocks pop-ups and sometimes you can get bundles that have other kinds of blockers as well. In addition to pop-up blocking often there are things like banner ad blocking and leaning not to block pop-ups that are wanted. The ways listed above are free ways that you can use to block pop-ups but are by no means the only way to do it.
If you find that you are still getting pop-ups even though you have a blocker turned on then the problem could be spyware. You can find out more about spyware and how to remove it by looking our Spyware Information Guide. It is important that you deal with spyware as soon as you can because if it gets too bad then you may not be able to log into secure university sites like ISIS, Webmail, or WebCT when you need to. Though Mac users won't have as much to worry about there because most spyware and adware right now is written for the PC. So if you are on a Mac using Safari the most common cause of new pop-ups would be new coding for pop-ups and in that case you should check for software updates.
More information:
Google Toolbar
Mozila FireFox
Also check out our Spyware Information page for additional tips on permanently getting rid of those pop-ups.
Last Updated: 11/19/2008