What are pop-ups?

Pop-up windows, or pop-ups, are windows that appear automatically without your permission. They vary in size, but usually don't cover the whole screen. Some pop-ups open on top of the current Firefox window, while others appear underneath Firefox (pop-unders).

Firefox allows you to control both pop-ups and pop-unders in Firefox Settings . Pop-up blocking is turned on by default, so you don't have to worry about enabling it to prevent pop-ups from appearing in Firefox.

When blocking a pop-up, Firefox displays an information bar (if it hasn’t been previously dismissed – see below), as well as an icon in the address bar.

When you click either the Options Preferences button in the info bar or the icon in the address bar, a menu is displayed with the following choices:

• Allow/Block pop-ups for website address>
• Manage pop-up settings…
• Don't show this message when pop-ups are blocked
• Show pop-up web address>

Blocking pop-ups may interfere with some websites: Some websites, including some banking sites, use pop-ups for important features. Blocking all pop-ups disables such features. To allow specific websites to use pop-ups, while still blocking all others, you can add those specific websites to the list of allowed sites. Blocking pop-ups doesn't always work: Although Firefox blocks most pop-ups, some websites may show pop-ups using uncovered methods, even when they are blocked.

Pop-up blocker settings

To access the pop-up blocker settings:

1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings , depending on your macOS version. Click the menu button and select Settings .
2. Select the Privacy & Security panel.
3. Go down to the Permissions section.
   • Uncheck the box next to Block pop-up windows to disable the pop-up blocker altogether.
   • Click the Exceptions… button to the right of Block pop-up windows to open a dialog box to choose which sites are allowed to display pop-ups.
   

The dialog box offers you the following choices:

• Type or paste the address of a website and click the Allow button to add it to the list of sites that will be allowed to open pop-up windows.
• Select a website from the list and click the Remove Website button to remove it from the exceptions list.
• Click the Remove All Websites button to remove all websites from the exceptions list.

Click the Save Changes button to apply your changes.

Pop-ups not being blocked

Is the pop-up coming from Firefox?

The pop-up may not actually be coming from Firefox. You can determine where the pop-up is coming from by the appearance of the window.

• If you see the address bar with the Tracking Protection button and the Site Identity button in the pop-up window, the pop-up is coming from Firefox.
• If you don't see these buttons, you may have malware on your computer that causes the pop-ups. For help, see Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware.

Is the pop-up blocker on and enabled for this site?

1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings , depending on your macOS version. Click the menu button and select Settings .
2. Select the Privacy & Security panel and go to the Permissions section.
3. Make sure the Block pop-up windows checkbox is checked.
4. To the right of Block pop-up windows, click the Exceptions… button. A dialog box will open with a list of sites that are allowed to show pop-ups.
5. If the site that's opening pop-ups is listed here, select it and click Remove Website .
6. Click on Save Changes to update your changes.
7. Close the Settings page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.

Is the pop-up shown after a mouse click or a key press?

Certain events, such as clicking or pressing a key, can spawn pop-ups regardless of if the pop-up blocker is on. This is intentional, so that Firefox doesn't block pop-ups that websites need to work.

Is it a true pop-up window?

Sometimes ads are designed to look like windows, but really aren't. Firefox's pop-up blocker can't stop these ads.

Mozilla surveys

When you visit a Mozilla website, sometimes you'll see a pop-up asking you to participate in a survey. The only third-party that Mozilla ever uses for surveys is Alchemer (formerly SurveyGizmo), which has been vetted by our legal and privacy teams. The Firefox pop-up blocker doesn't block these pop-ups.

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