Control How Pop-ups Behave in Internet Explorer 8
Posted on September 9, 2010 at 6:22 am
Although Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) comes with a built in pop-up blocker, it turns out some pop-ups are good. Most people associate pop-ups with annoying advertisements that must be closed to continue reading the web page underneath. However, there are times when you need pop-ups to use a webpage as it was intended to be used. Learn to control how pop-ups behave when using IE8 on the web.
Pop-up Blockers
Both the pop-up blocker that is built in to IE8 and other third-party pop-up blockers are excellent ways to avoid annoying interruptions when using the web. However, pop-ups are actually necessary on some websites.
Many e-commerce sites use pop-ups to display the contents of your shopping cart while some sites contain proprietary content requiring you to sign in using a pop-up window. Still other websites use pop-ups to control how files are downloaded. The lesson here is that pop-ups are not just a tool of overeager advertisers. Using the options built in to Internet Explorer 8, you can control how the good kind of pop-up behaves within the browser.
Control Pop-ups in Internet Explorer 8
Open up IE8 and click on Tools>Internet Options.
Choose the General tab and locate a section of the window labeled Tabs. Then, click on the button titled Settings under the Tabs section.
You should now be looking at the Tabbed Browsing Settings window. Here you will notice a number of options centered on how IE8 handles tabbed browsing, a feature first encountered in IE7 and carried into IE8.
About half way down in this window, locate a section with the heading When a Pop-up is Encountered. Here you will notice three options.
Let Internet Explorer Decide How Pop-ups Should Open – This option gives IE8 complete control over how pop-ups behave in the browser. Except under rare conditions, IE8 will allow pop-ups to behave as the website’s designers intended. Pop-ups intended to appear over the webpage will do just that and pop-ups intended to appear under the browser (sometimes called pop-unders) will also do just that. This is the default setting for pop-up behaviors in IE8.
Always Open Pop-ups in a New Window – This option forces pop-ups to appear in a new window. This is a good option to choose if you often find yourself with many tabbed windows open in one instance of IE8. This way you don’t have to go hunting for the tab in which the pop-up appeared.
Always Open Pop-ups in a New Tab – This option forces pop-ups to appear as a new webpage in a new tab. This is great if you hate pop-ups that interrupt your browsing and you rarely have more than a few tabbed windows open in IE8. You can avoid having the pop-up annoy you in a new window by placing the pop-up in a new tab for viewing or closing later.
Along with a way to block pop-ups Internet explorer 8 includes built in options to control how pop-ups behave in the browser. Not all pop-ups are from annoying advertisers; some help increase the usability of a webpage such as those found at shopping and download sites.
Using these options, you can choose how pop-ups behave in Internet Explorer 8 and create a more customized web browsing experience.
» Filed Under Internet Explorer Tips
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Hello Computer Guy,
Thank you for sharing this Pop-up Blocker tip in IE. Changing how pop-ups behave is just one of many ways users can customize their IE browsing experience. Next time you write a tip about customizing IE, we’d love to have you share it with us at http://www.twitter.com/IE or http://www.facebook.com/internetexplorer.
Keep up the great IE tips!
Chees,
Cassandra
IE Outreach Team
Along with all options you mentioned, is there any option to open the pop-ups in the same window..