Get Rid of Pop Ups
Are you getting pop-ups every time you open a window? Pop-ups can make browsing a chore, especially when they don’t want to close. You can fight back against pop-ups by making sure you have your browser configured correctly, having the latest version, or even changing to a new one. See Step 1 below to get started.
Contents
Steps
Updates
- Check for updates. Keeping your browser up to date will go a long way in the fight against pop-ups. Most browsers are set to update automatically, but this may have been disabled. Updating your browser usually only takes a few minutes.
- Firefox – Click The Firefox button in the upper-left corner. Hover over Help and select About Firefox. This will open a window displaying your Firefox version information. If your browser is not up to date, updates will be automatically downloaded and installed. See Check-for-Updates-in-Mozilla-Firefox for more details on updating Firefox.
- Chrome – Click the menu button in the upper-right corner of the Chrome window. Select About Chrome towards the bottom of the menu. A new tab will open and Chrome will check to see if updates are available. If they are, they will be installed automatically. Update-Google-Chrome has more details on updating Chrome.
- Internet Explorer – The method of updating depends on the version of Internet Explorer you are using. For older versions, you will need to update through Windows Update. For Internet Explorer 10 and 11, you can enable automatic updates by clicking the Gear icon and then selecting About Internet Explorer. See Update-Microsoft-Internet-Explorer for more details on updating your specific version.
- Reinstall your web browser, or install a new one. Sometimes, the pop-up software is embedded too deep to remove by updating. In cases like these, reinstalling or changing your web browser may help solve the problem.
- First, download the latest version of the browser you want to use. You can find the download links on the homepage of each browser.
- Uninstall your current browser. You can do this from the Control Panel, which can be accessed from the Start Menu. Open the “Programs and Features” or “Add/Remove Programs” application and look for your browser on the list. Once you’ve found it, click Uninstall/Remove and follow the prompts. Note: Internet Explorer cannot be uninstalled in Windows.
- Be sure to keep your bookmarks and user settings so that they can be imported again when the new browser is installed. You will be prompted about this during the uninstallation process.
- Install the new browser. After the old browser has been uninstalled, run the installation file that you downloaded earlier. Follow the prompts to install the browser, and import your old bookmarks. When asked if you want to make the browser your default, select Yes.
Pop-Up Blockers
- Enable pop-up blocker in Firefox. By default, pop-up blocking is enabled in Firefox. If it has been disabled, you can access the pop-up blocker settings in the Options menu.
- Click the Firefox button and select Options.
- Click the Content tab.
- Check the “Block pop-up windows” box.
- Click the Exceptions button. Make sure that only trusted sites are on the list.
- Enable pop-up blocker in Chrome. Pop-ups are blocked by default in Chrome, but this may have been disabled. You can access the pop-up settings from the Settings menu.
- Click the menu button in the upper-right corner and click Settings.
- Click the “Show advanced settings” link at the bottom of the page.
- Click the “Content settings” button in the Privacy section.
- Scroll down to the Pop-ups section. Make sure that the “Do not allow any site to show pop-ups” option is selected.
- Click the “Manage exceptions” button. Make sure that only trusted sites are listed.
- Enable pop-up blocker in Internet Explorer. Pop-up blocking is enabled by default in later versions of Internet Explorer, but you can check to make sure it hasn’t been disabled.
- Click the Tool menu or the Gear icon. Select “Internet options”.
- Click the Privacy tab.
- Make sure that the “Turn on Pop-up Blocker” box is checked.
- Click the “Settings” button. Make sure that only trusted sites are on the list.
- Adjust the “Blocking level”. Use the dropdown menu at the bottom to choose your blocking level. Set it at “High” to disallow allow pop-ups.
- Install browser add-ons. There are several browser add-ons that you can install on Firefox and Chrome that will help minimize the number of pop-ups you encounter. There are a lot of different add-ons available, so be sure to read reviews and only download trusted add-ons.
- For Firefox, install Remove-Ads-from-Mozilla-Firefox-Using-Adblock-Plus and NoScript to prevent sites from loading pages and content that you don’t want.
- For Chrome, NoScript is not available, but Remove-Ads-on-Google-Chrome-Using-AdBlock.
Cleaning Up
- Run an antivirus scan. Viruses can install pop-ups that take over your browser and circumvent blockers. In order to get rid of these pop-ups, you’ll need to Install-an-Antivirus to get rid of intrusive programs.
- Besides running an antivirus scan, you should also run an anti-malware/spyware scan, such as Malwarebytes or Spybot Search & Destroy. The programs are available for free and should only be downloaded from their respective developers’ websites.
- Scanning in Start-Windows-in-Safe-Mode is much more effective than in a standard Windows environment.
- Uninstall any toolbars. Toolbars can get installed without you realizing it during the installation of other programs. These toolbars can slow down your browser and actually lead to more pop-ups. The process for removing them will vary from toolbar to toolbar, but the general idea is the same. Follow Remove-Toolbars to remove toolbars from any web browser.
- Run a registry cleaner. This will remove any lingering entries in your registry, which may cause pop-ups to return. Registry cleaners won’t remove viruses or malware, so they should be run after removing those with other programs. Use-CCleaner is one of the most popular free registry cleaners.
- Avoid sites with pop-ups. You’ll encounter pop-ups more on sites with less than legitimate content. Sites that contain illegal files or scams will often bombard you with pop-ups. Try to stay away from sites that sound too good to be true. Follow Be-Safe-on-the-Internet for more information on browsing safely.
Tips
- Be careful of where you go on the internet in general. Some sites will seem to look ok, but as you exit they may tag a pop-up onto your screen.
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