How To Enable Pop-Ups In Chrome | Desktop And Android Steps

To enable pop-ups in Chrome, open Chrome’s Settings, navigate to Site Settings, and change Pop-ups and redirects from blocked to allowed, or set up site-specific exceptions.

Chrome blocks pop-ups by default because most of them are ads, tracking scripts, or phishing bait. But a small number of trusted sites — banking portals, government applications, university course pages, and event ticketing platforms — depend on pop-ups for logins, receipts, or document display. The setting to allow them lives inside Chrome’s Site Settings menu, and you have two options: flip the global toggle to allow all pop-ups, or grant permission to specific sites one at a time. Both approaches work on desktop and Android, and each takes about thirty seconds once you know the menu path.

Enabling Pop-Ups In Chrome On Desktop: Menu Path For The Setting

On Windows, Mac, and Linux, Chrome’s pop-up setting sits in the Site Settings menu inside the main Settings page. Google’s official procedure uses six clicks and works the same across recent Chrome versions.

1. Open Chrome on your computer.
2. Click the three-dot More menu in the top-right corner.
3. Select Settings.
4. Click Privacy and security in the left sidebar, then click Site Settings.
5. Under the Content section, click Pop-ups and redirects.
6. If the toggle shows Blocked, switch it to Allowed.

That’s it. Chrome will now show pop-ups from any site. When the toggle is set to Allowed, the address bar will show a check icon next to the padlock on pages that open pop-ups.

Allow Pop-Ups For One Site On Desktop

If Chrome blocks a pop-up on a specific site you trust, you can grant permission directly from the address bar — no need to dig through Settings again.

1. Visit the site where Chrome blocked a pop-up.
2. Click Pop-up blocked in the right side of the address bar.
3. Click the link for the blocked pop-up you want to see.
4. A dialog appears — click Always allow pop-ups and redirects from [site].
5. Click Done.

You can also add a site in bulk from the Settings page. In Pop-ups and redirects, under Not allowed to send pop-ups or use redirects, click Add and enter the site URL. A wildcard pattern like [*.]example.com allows all subdomains of that site to show pop-ups.

Enable Pop-Ups In Chrome On Android

On Android phones and tablets, the pop-up setting lives in a slightly different menu location but functions the same way. Chrome for Android blocks pop-ups by default just like the desktop version.

1. Open Chrome on your Android device.
2. Tap the three-dot More menu to the right of the address bar.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Site settings.
5. Tap Pop-ups and redirects.
6. Turn the toggle off (gray) to allow pop-ups.

When the setting is turned off, Chrome will show pop-ups from all sites. To allow pop-ups only for a specific site, visit that page first. If Chrome blocks a pop-up there, tap Always show at the bottom of the screen and confirm the permission. The site then gets added to your allowed list automatically.

Pop-Ups Vs Notifications: What’s Different

A common source of confusion is mixing up pop-ups with browser notifications. They are managed in completely different parts of Chrome’s Settings and serve different functions. Notifications are messages that appear outside the browser window, even when Chrome is closed — the little banners from news sites, email, or messaging apps. Pop-ups are new browser windows or tabs that open in response to clicking a link or button on a page.

To manage notifications, click the lock icon in the address bar and look for Notifications. To manage pop-ups, use the Site Settings menu described above. If you changed the notification setting expecting it to affect pop-ups, that’s the wrong menu — go back to Pop-ups and redirects instead. The two settings have no overlap, so changing one has zero effect on the other.

What If Chrome Still Blocks Pop-Ups?

If you’ve changed the setting correctly and a trusted site’s pop-ups still won’t appear, one of a few things has gone wrong. Here is what to check in order.

• You changed the wrong setting. Double-check that you’re on the Pop-ups and redirects page, not the Notifications page or a generic Content Settings menu. The toggle should explicitly say “Pop-ups and redirects.”
• The site isn’t on your allowed list. When you allow pop-ups globally, every site gets permission. If you’re using per-site mode, verify the site appears under Allowed to send pop-ups and use redirects in the Pop-ups and redirects Settings page.
• The pop-up is actually a notification. Some sites show a notification request that mimics a pop-up. Check the address bar for a bell icon — if it has a red “Blocked” label, you’re dealing with notifications, not pop-ups.
• Your browser is managed by an organization. School, work, or managed Chromebook accounts often lock pop-up settings for security. If you see “Managed by your organization” at the bottom of the Settings page, you cannot override the pop-up policy yourself — contact your IT admin.
• The page’s pop-up is triggered by a click that isn’t happening. Some sites require a genuine user click (not a script) to open a pop-up. Try clicking the button or link yourself rather than relying on an automated page action.

Why Chrome Blocks Pop-Ups By Default

Google keeps pop-ups blocked globally because the vast majority of them serve ads, trackers, or malware. Chrome has no reliable way to tell the harmful pop-ups from the legitimate ones automatically, so the safest default is to block everything and let the user grant exceptions. This is the same approach browsers have used for over a decade, and it works well: the rare site that genuinely needs pop-ups gets a manual exception, while every other site stays locked down.

The per-site permission model also means you never have to remember to turn pop-ups back off after visiting a trusted site. Once you grant an exception to your bank or school portal, that site keeps its permission, and every other site still gets blocked automatically. That balance between usability and security is why Google’s official help pages recommend keeping the global setting on Blocked and adding individual sites to the allowed list instead.

Check These Two Settings Before You Leave

Before closing Chrome and returning to the site that needed pop-ups, confirm both settings are correct. First, open Settings → Privacy and security → Site Settings → Pop-ups and redirects and check whether the global toggle is set to Allowed or Blocked based on your preference. Second, if you’re using per-site permissions, verify the site is listed under Allowed to send pop-ups and use redirects. On Android, the path is More → Settings → Site settings → Pop-ups and redirects — same check, different menu structure.

The fastest shortcut on either platform: if Chrome blocks a pop-up on a site you trust, click the address bar indicator and allow the site directly. That per-site override takes about two seconds and bypasses the full Settings navigation each time. You can manage the complete list later from the Pop-ups and redirects page whenever you need to revoke or review permissions.