How to Completely Block Intrusive Pop-ups in Microsoft Edge

You are reading an article on Microsoft Edge when suddenly a pop-up appears demanding you subscribe to a newsletter. You close it, and a video starts autoplaying in the corner. Then, a fake system alert pops up in the bottom right corner of your screen.

Edge is a great browser, but out of the box, its default pop-up blocker is surprisingly weak. Here are the precise steps I take on every new PC to lock Edge down and block all intrusive garbage.

1. Turn Edge’s Pop-up Blocker to “Strict”

Edge uses a “Balanced” tracking prevention mode by default, which allows a lot of “acceptable” ads to slip through.

1. Click the three dots (…) in the top right of Edge and select Settings.
2. On the left menu, click Privacy, search, and services.
3. Under Tracking prevention, ensure it is turned ON, and change the bubble from Balanced to Strict.
4. Note: Strict mode blocks the majority of trackers and malicious pop-ups, though it might break some older, poorly-coded websites.

2. Block Website Notifications (The Fake “Viruses”)

The most common “pop-ups” people complain about aren’t actually pop-up windows; they are Windows Desktop Notifications that a website tricked them into allowing.

1. Go back to the Edge Settings menu.
2. Click on Cookies and site permissions on the left.
3. Scroll down to the All permissions list and click on Notifications.
4. Toggle Ask before sending to OFF. This stops websites from ever asking to send you notifications again.
5. Look under the Allow list at the bottom. If you see any weird websites here, click the three dots next to them and select Remove.

3. Use uBlock Origin (The Ultimate Fix)

No built-in browser blocker is perfect. If you want a completely clean web experience, you need a dedicated extension.

1. Open Edge and go to the Edge Add-ons store.
2. Search for exactly: uBlock Origin (Look for the one by Raymond Hill, not the knock-offs).
3. Click Get and Add Extension.

You don’t need to configure anything. Once installed, it will automatically block 99% of pop-ups, video ads, and tracking scripts silently in the background.

FAQ

Why did a pop-up still get through?

If you have followed all these steps and are still getting random pop-ups opening in new tabs when you aren’t even browsing, your computer has adware installed at the system level. You need to run a scan with Malwarebytes to remove the infection from Windows itself.