How to Allow Pop-ups on Google Chrome

In the early 2000s, pop-up windows were the scourge of the internet. Malicious websites would bombard users with dozens of cascading advertisements, rendering their computers entirely unusable. Today, Google Chrome violently blocks almost every pop-up window by default to protect you.

However, modern web developers often use pop-up windows for legitimate, critical functions. If you are trying to print a PDF receipt, log into a secure banking portal, or launch a video conference call, the website might rely on a pop-up window to execute the command. If Chrome blocks it, the website will simply appear broken. You must know how to bypass the blocker for specific, trusted websites.

Method 1: The Address Bar Icon (The Fastest Way)

If you click a button on a website (like “Download Receipt” or “Log In via SSO”) and absolutely nothing happens, Chrome has likely blocked a pop-up behind the scenes without telling you.

You do not need to dig through complex settings menus to fix this. Chrome places a temporary, hidden icon in your address bar when it blocks a window.

1. Look at the absolute far-right side of your Chrome Address Bar (where you type the www.website.com URL).
2. If Chrome just blocked a pop-up, you will see a tiny icon that looks like a miniature web browser with a red X across it.
3. Click that icon.
4. A small menu will drop down. It will list the exact URL of the pop-up it just blocked.
5. Select the radio button that says: “Always allow pop-ups and redirects from [website name]”.
6. Click the blue Done button.
7. Refresh the webpage (press F5 or click the circular arrow icon) and click your download/login button again. The pop-up will now launch successfully.

This is the safest method because it whitelists only that specific website, while leaving the global pop-up blocker intact to protect you everywhere else.

Method 2: Manually Whitelist a Site in Settings

If you know ahead of time that a website requires pop-ups (perhaps an internal company portal), you can proactively whitelist the URL in Chrome’s settings before it even tries to launch a window.

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Look at the absolute top-right corner of the window and click the Three Vertical Dots (the Chrome menu).
3. Scroll down and click on Settings.
4. On the left-hand navigation menu, click on Privacy and security.
5. In the middle of the screen, click on Site settings.
6. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and click on Pop-ups and redirects.
7. Look for the section labeled Allowed to send pop-ups and use redirects.
8. Click the Add button next to it.
9. Type the exact URL of the website (e.g., https://mybank.com) and click Add.

Method 3: Disable the Blocker Globally (Not Recommended)

If you are testing software, running automated web scrapers, or intentionally browsing archaic legacy systems, you can completely turn off Chrome’s global pop-up blocker. Warning: Doing this on the modern internet will expose your computer to intense spam and malicious redirects.

1. Open Chrome Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Pop-ups and redirects.
2. Look at the very top of the page under the “Default behavior” section.
3. By default, the radio button for “Don’t allow sites to send pop-ups or use redirects” is selected.
4. Click the radio button above it: Sites can send pop-ups and use redirects.

The global shield is now down. Every website you visit will be able to launch as many windows as they desire.