We’ve all been there… you are on a website and all is going swimmingly then you need to download a file or enter your password to buy that ticket and then …nothing.
The browser just sits there like a dog who’s been asked to compose a hiku.
There is no error, no dialog box… nothing.
There are a couple of reasons why this might happen but the last one on the list is the subject of this particular rant.
It could be that the website is faulty in which case, to make sure, you need to use your emergency browser (you should always have Firefox on hand) to open the site and makes sure.
Also it might be that the website is just not compatible with your browser… in which case you need to use your emergency browser again.
But, before you do any of that it is worth checking to see if you have turned on BLOCK POP UPS in your current browser. This service is designed to stop spammy websites from bombarding you with ads but it can also interfere with normal operations.
In Safari, on a Mac, you do the following:
Open Safari and click on Safari in the menu bar at the top left corner.
Select Preferences (or Settings).
In the Preferences window, click on the Websites tab.
On the left side, scroll down and select Pop-up Windows.
You can choose to Allow, Block, or Block and Notify for pop-ups from specific websites or all websites. Chances are the website you are having issues with is on that list and I would choose Allow.
In Firefox try looking here:
Open Firefox and click on the three horizontal lines (hamburger menu) in the top-right corner.
Select Settings.
In the Settings window, click on Privacy & Security on the left side.
Scroll down to the Permissions section.
Uncheck the box next to Block pop-up windows to disable the pop-up blocker.
If you want to allow pop-ups for specific websites, click on Exceptions next to the Block pop-up windows option and add the website addresses you want to allow
On an iPad or iPhone…
Open the Settings app.
Scroll down to the Apps section and select Safari.
Toggle the Block Pop-ups switch on or off.
This simple little setting can make sure beloved browser functional again and anything that helps stop the shuffling browsers between websites can only be a good thing.
