How to Turn Off Pop Up Blocker on Mac (Safari, Chrome & Firefox)

How to turn off pop up blocker on Mac is one of the most common browser questions Mac users search for, since Safari, Chrome, and Firefox all block pop-ups by default. Most of the time that’s helpful — it stops ad spam and shady redirects before you ever see them. But sometimes a legitimate site needs a pop-up to work: a bank login window, a payment confirmation, a document download, or a chat widget. When that happens, you’ll need to know how to turn off the pop up blocker on Mac, either for one site or across your whole browser.

This guide covers how to turn off pop up blocker on Mac in the three browsers people actually use: Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

Quick answer: There’s no single system-wide pop-up blocker on macOS — each browser controls its own. In Safari, go to Safari > Settings > Websites > Pop-up Windows. In Chrome, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Pop-ups and redirects. In Firefox, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Permissions and uncheck “Block pop-up windows.” Full steps for how to turn off pop up blocker on Mac in each browser are below.

How to Turn Off Pop Up Blocker on Mac in Safari

Safari doesn’t call this a “pop-up blocker” in its menus — it’s folded into the Websites settings — but this is the control that governs it.

1. Open Safari and click the Safari menu in the top-left corner.
2. Choose Settings (this was called “Preferences” in older macOS versions).
3. Click Websites at the top of the window.
4. Select Pop-up Windows from the sidebar on the left.

From here you have two options, depending on how broad you want the change to be:

Turn Off Pop Up Blocker on Mac for One Site Only

If the site you need pop-ups for is already listed under “Configured Websites,” select it and change its setting to Allow using the dropdown next to its name. If it isn’t listed yet, visit the site first, then return to this panel — Safari will usually add it automatically.

Turn Off Pop Up Blocker on Mac for All Websites

Click the dropdown next to “When visiting other websites” at the bottom of the panel and choose Allow. This is the full method for how to turn off pop up blocker on Mac Safari globally.

Note: turning it off completely means every site can open pop-ups, including ad-heavy ones — it’s usually better to allow pop-ups on a per-site basis instead.

How to Turn Off Pop Up Blocker on Mac in Chrome

1. Open Chrome and click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
2. Select Settings.
3. Click Privacy and security in the left sidebar.
4. Click Site settings.
5. Scroll down and click Pop-ups and redirects.

At the top of this page, select “Sites can send pop-ups and use redirects” to complete how to turn off pop up blocker on Mac Chrome for every site.

To allow pop-ups on just one site instead, leave the default “Don’t allow sites to send pop-ups or use redirects” selected, and click Add next to “Allowed to send pop-ups and use redirects.” Enter the site’s URL and click Add again to confirm.

Allow a Pop-Up Right After It’s Blocked

If you just want to let through the specific pop-up Chrome blocked a moment ago, you don’t need to dig through Settings at all:

1. Look for the “Pop-up blocked” icon in the address bar.
2. Click it, then click the link for the pop-up you want to see.
3. Select “Always allow pop-ups and redirects from [site]” if you want this site whitelisted going forward.

How to Turn Off Pop Up Blocker on Mac in Firefox

1. Open Firefox and click the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner.
2. Select Settings.
3. Click Privacy & Security in the left sidebar.
4. Scroll down to the Permissions section.
5. Uncheck the box next to “Block pop-up windows” to disable the blocker for all sites.

That covers how to turn off pop up blocker on Mac Firefox globally. To allow pop-ups for specific sites while keeping the blocker on everywhere else, leave the checkbox checked and click Exceptions next to it instead. Enter the site’s address, click Allow, then click Save Changes.

Why You Might Need to Change Pop-Up Blocker Settings

Pop-up blockers work by intercepting the code websites use to open new windows automatically. Most of what they block is ads or scams, but a handful of legitimate features rely on the same mechanism, including:

• Bank or payment portals showing statements, receipts, or confirmation screens
• Login systems that use a separate authentication or two-factor window
• Live chat or customer support widgets
• Document previews and file downloads

If one of these features seems broken or unresponsive, an overzealous pop-up blocker is usually the first thing worth checking.

Still Seeing Pop-Ups Blocked After Changing Your Settings?

If you’ve followed the steps for how to turn off pop up blocker on Mac and pop-ups are still not showing up, try these:

• Check for a third-party ad blocker or extension. Tools like AdBlock, uBlock Origin, or built-in VPN ad-blocking features can block pop-ups independently of your browser’s native blocker. Disable them temporarily to test.
• Refresh the page after changing settings. Some sites only check pop-up permissions when the page first loads.
• Double-check you edited the right browser. If you use more than one browser on your Mac, pop-up settings don’t carry over between them — each has to be configured separately.
• Restart the browser. Occasionally a setting change doesn’t take effect until the app is fully quit and reopened.

Frequently Asked Questions

Now you know how to turn off pop up blocker on Mac in Safari, Chrome, or Firefox — whether you need it for one banking site or want it off across the board. Just remember settings are per-browser, so you’ll need to repeat the steps if you switch between them.