How to remove google pop up notifications

Pop-ups, modals, overlays, interstitials: there are a lot of different ways to refer to the design elements that websites use to notify you of something (e.g., this site uses cookies) or encourage you to take an action (e.g., sign up for our newsletter). Regardless of what you call them, these notifications can be annoying, intrusive, and distracting.

But you don't have to deal with the process of closing multiple pop-up notifications to read content online. With the right

• How to block website notification requests

• How to block cookie notifications

• How to block auto-playing videos

• How to remove clutter from any page

• How to block ads

How to block website notifications on Chrome

Real-time desktop or browser notifications for something like incoming emails or Slack messages make sense. New articles on a website you just heard of for the first time because it showed up in the search results? That makes less sense. That doesn't stop websites from asking you to let them send push notifications to your desktop or browser.

If you're tired of seeing these pop-ups and having to decline the requests, you can change your Chrome settings to either block all push notification requests or block them on specified sites.

1. Open Chrome.

2. Click the More icon (three vertical dots at the top-right corner of the browser).

3. Select Settings.

4. Scroll down to the Privacy and security section, then click Site settings.

5. Select Notifications.

6. Toggle the Sites can ask to send notifications switch to the off position.

Then, if you want to allow notifications from certain sites or applications, scroll to the bottom of the page, and add the URL of the site you want notifications from to the Allow section.

If you're already getting notifications you don't want from specific sites, click the more icon (three vertical dots) next to the offending site, and select Remove to stop getting notifications.

How to block cookie notifications on Chrome

Since the European Union started enforcing GDPR in mid-2018, nearly every website you visit now covers a part of the content you're trying to read with a notification about the use of cookies on the site.

If you're tired of clicking accept buttons and close icons to get cookie notifications out of the way of the content you're trying to consume, use the I don't care about cookies Chrome extension to banish them for good.

I don't care about cookies is a free (with donations accepted) Chrome extension that claims to remove cookie notifications from almost all websites. To find out how well it works, I tested it on 10 different websites, each using varying types of cookie notification displays:

• In website headers and footers

• As pop-ups/overlays

• With an accept button only

• With accept and decline buttons

• With a close icon only

It got rid of the cookie notifications on all 10 sites.

And if you do find a cookie notification that slips past the blocker, you can report it by clicking Report a cookie warning in the extension's options menu.

Important: Though cookie notifications can be annoying and distracting, they do contain important information that helps you understand—and in some cases opt-out of—how the websites you visit collect and use your personal data. For that reason, we recommend that you seriously consider the implications of blocking cookie notifications before installing this extension. H/T to commenter Martijn Hoppenbrouwer for pointing out the potential ramifications of blocking cookie notifications.

How to block auto-playing videos on Chrome

Last night, you blasted your favorite song through your laptop's speakers. Today, you're sipping coffee and getting prepared for the day with a little online research. You were having a nice morning until you landed on a site with an auto-playing video that started playing at the volume of your evening jam session and scared the snot out of you.

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Auto-playing videos—especially those that play audio and video—are the modern equivalent of websites with background music: unnecessary, unexpected, and generally unpleasant. And they slow down your page load speeds.

To stop auto-playing videos altogether, you can use the free AutoplayStopper Chrome extension.

I tested AutoplayStopper on 10 sites with auto-playing videos—including CNN, ESPN, and YouTube—and it prevented videos on every single site from playing both audio and video.

And if for some reason you do want to allow videos to autoplay on a specific site, you can approve sites quickly by opening the extension's options menu from the omnibar and selecting Allow autoplay for [site].

Remove all clutter from any site in one click

Too many websites are a cluttered mess—the article you want to read is hidden beneath layers of ads, marketing pop-ups, and worse. How many times do you have to click "Close"?

Instead of doing all of that clicking and waiting, try using Mercury Reader. This free extension shows you the article you want to read and nothing else—just click the icon or use the keyboard shortcut (

This makes reading a lot easier and can even be used to send articles to your Kindle. Give it a try.

How to block ads on Chrome

Online ads aren't as much of a nuisance as they used to be. Generally, sites have stopped doing things like cramming ads into every open space on the page and using pop-ups and pop-unders. But even though things are better, you'll still occasionally run across a site like the one above that hasn't caught up to the new user experience best practices for advertising.

If ads are slowing down your browsing experience consistently, you can use an ad blocker to get rid of them altogether. I've been using the free AdBlocker Ultimate, and I'm completely happy with it. It blocks display ads, YouTube pre-roll ads, and even AdWords ads (the text ads that appear in Google's search results).

Other popular free ad-blockers for Chrome include uBlock Origin (known for its customizability) and Ghostery (blocks ads and trackers).

Something to remember: ads can be obnoxious, but if there's a website consistently producing content you enjoy, consider adding that site to an allow list in your ad blocker. Many sites can only continue producing content because they earn advertising revenue. If you really don't want to see ads, you could also consider paying for a subscription to the site, donating to a creator's Patreon, or offering some other alternative method of monetary support.

Ads, overlays, notification requests, and auto-playing videos aren't quite everything annoying you might run into online. There are other things you'd probably like to be able to disable (hello, chatbots) that don't currently have solutions. However, these setting changes and extensions are a good starting point for enjoying a more pleasant and less distracting internet browsing experience.

Related reading:

• The best apps to help you focus and block distractions

• Stay private: How to hide your webcam, mute your mic, and turn off notifications

This article was originally published in January 2019 and has since been updated with contributions from Justin Pot.

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