Let’s face it: Pop-up windows on web browsers can be annoying. Conveniently, Safari on macOS Monterey allows you to choose which ones will pop up and which ones won’t.
What is a pop-up window?
A pop-up is a graphical user interface (GUI) display that usually pops up in a small window in the foreground of Safari’s visual interface. Pop-up windows can be unwanted or annoying. However, some that appear legitimate or useful websites can be helpful.
In fact, some websites require you to allow pop-ups. For example, a bank website might show your monthly statements in pop-ups. Other websites might fill your screen with pop-up ads.
With Safari in macOS Monterey, you can allow or block pop-ups on individual websites or all websites. If you’re not sure whether you want to block pop-ups on a website, you can choose to block and be notified when the site wants to display a pop-up, then decide if you want to show the pop-up.
How to allow or block pop-up windows on a specific website
To add a website to Safari’s list of sites where you want pop-ups blocked or allowed, do the following:
1. Go to the website.
2. With Safari open, choose Safari > Preferences, then click Websites.
3. Click Pop-up Windows (it’s on the bottom of the left pane so you may have to scroll to see it).
4. In the pop-up menu for the website, choose one of the following:
- Allow: Pop-ups for the website appear
- Block and Notify: Pop-ups for the website don’t appear, but when you visit a website with blocked pop-ups, you can choose to show them by clicking in the Smart Search field
- Block: Pop-ups for the website don’t appear
How to allow or block pop-ups on all websites
To configure Safari to allow or block pop-ups on all applicable websites, do the following:
1. With Safari open, choose Safari > Preferences, then click Websites.
2. On the bottom of the left pane (you may need to scroll to see it), click Pop-up Windows.
3. If there are websites listed under Configured Websites, and you want to change the setting for these sites, select each website, then click Remove. If you don’t see Configured Websites, either you haven’t set pop-up blocking preferences for any sites yet, or you’ve cleared the list.
4. Click the “When visiting other websites” pop-up menu, then choose one of the following:
- Allow: Pop-ups for the websites appear
- Block and Notify: Pop-ups for the website don’t appear, but when you visit a website with blocked pop-ups, you can choose to show them
- Block: Pop-ups for the websites don’t appear
If you block pop-ups on a website, but you continue to see pop-ups on the website, you might have unwanted software on your Mac. To learn more, see the Apple Support article About pop-up ads and windows in Safari.
