• Operating System: All
• Application: Google Toolbar

Many browser toolbars include pop-up blockers. Generally these are easily detected and turned off. Below are some of the most common toolbars and how to disable them.

1. Click on the options icon to view Google Toolbar Options.
   
   
   
2. Make sure the Popup Blocker checkbox is NOT checked. Popup Blocker is located under Accessories.
   
   
   

The pop-up blocker in the Toolbar Options menu prevents new windows from automatically opening when you visit a website. Often times, these new windows display advertising that can interfere with your ability to see the content on the page you're trying to read. When the pop-up blocker intercepts an incoming ad, your cursor changes briefly to look like this: . The pop-up blocker button displays this icon: along with a count of the number of pop-ups blocked since the last Toolbar installation.

To let a pop-up through on a one-time basis, press and hold the CTRL key as you click on a link to navigate to a new page.

Sometimes sites communicate useful information via pop-up windows. The pop-up blocker can be told to remember these sites so pop-up windows are allowed to launch. This information is stored on your computer in what's known as a "whitelist" (as opposed to a "blacklist"). The pop-up blocker uses the whitelist to turn itself off when you visit sites whose pop-ups you don't mind viewing.

As you find sites that have pop-ups you want to see, click the pop-up blocker button to add that site to your whitelist. (The whitelist is never actually displayed.) Repeat this process as you find websites where you want to see pop-ups.

If you'd like to remove a site from the pop-up blocker whitelist, simply visit that page and click the pop-up blocker button. The button text will change from "Site popups allowed" to the count of your blocked ads. This indicates that the pop-up blocker has been re-activated on this site.

To set the pop-up blocker count back to zero, hold down the 'Shift' and 'Alt' keys while clicking on the pop-up blocker button. You can also hide the pop-up count entirely by opening the Options window, selecting the More tab, and checking the box next to the setting "Hide popup blocker count."

To completely disable the pop-up blocker, open the Toolbar Options window and clear the checkbox next to pop-up blocker in the Accessories section.

The pop-up blocker is available only for Internet Explorer version 5.5 and later.