How to Stop Norton Pop-Ups

Lee Stanton June 16, 2021

Norton AntiVirus is a software program created to protect your computer from different viruses and malicious programs. However, the program can produce pop-up windows that usually advertise different Norton products or alerts and can be very annoying. If you’d like to learn how to stop these Norton pop-ups, keep reading this article for important information and solutions.

What Is Norton?

Norton is anti-malware software designed to keep your devices safe and protect them from viruses/hackers, or any other potential threats. It’s been on the market since 1991, and it’s available in different versions. Norton is available for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS, which means you can use it on any device, including mobile phones. You can get it by purchasing a subscription and downloading and installing it on your device.

Pop-Ups

Pop-ups are a kind of advertising on the internet. They usually appear in the form of a window that suddenly appears (or “pops up”) and contains information about a product or a service. These advertisements are often annoying since they appear without you requesting them, but they can also contain viruses that can damage your device. So most people decide to set up a pop-up blocker or disable pop-ups to prevent this from happening.

Norton Pop-Up Notifications

Norton software will send you pop-up notifications about performing scans and tasks, inform you about your previous activity, or make special offers. These notifications can be annoying because you have to wait for them to disappear. If you’d like to disable these notifications, make sure you check out the instructions below.

Silent Option

You can choose to switch off Norton notifications for a day and this option is called “Silent Mode.” This option is quick, but it isn’t a permanent solution since this option will be disabled automatically.

Here is how you can turn it on:

Open Norton (yellow icon with a checkmark).
Tap “Settings.”
The “Silent Mode” checkbox will be at the right. Make sure you check it.

30-Day Report

Norton will send a report every 30 days to inform you about the actions and tasks performed during this period. If you don’t want to receive this notification, you can follow these steps:

Open Norton.
Tap “Administrative Settings.” You will see the “30-day report” row.
Switch off the “Report Card” toggle button.

You will still be able to view the report card manually whenever you want. This option will be available in the main window, but only when Norton performs certain tasks on your computer.

Task Notifications

Norton automatically performs tasks in the background, and by default, it will notify you about this. However, if you don’t want to receive these notifications, you can choose to switch them off:

Open Norton.
Tap “Administrative settings.”
Tap “Norton task notification.”
Turn it off.
Tap “Apply.”

Special Offers

Norton will automatically send you notifications about any special offers for different Norton products, add-ons, etc. This option is set by default, but you can turn it off. If you want to disable this, follow the steps below:

Open Norton.
Tap “Administrative settings.”
Scroll down to “Special offers.”
Turn it off.
Tap “Apply.”

Safe Downloads

Norton will notify you whether a file you download from the internet is safe to use. If you frequently download, this notification can get annoying. You can choose to switch it off and set Norton to notify you only when you download a file that’s not safe.

Open Norton.
Tap “Settings.”
Tap “Firewall.”
Tap “Intrusion and Browser Protection.”
Find “Download Insight Notifications.”
Set it to “Risks Only.”

By doing this, you’ve set your Norton to inform you only when there’s a potential threat in your downloaded files.

Anti-Spam

Norton has the anti-spam option that works with email clients. This includes the “Welcome Screen” option and “Feedback.” If you want to disable these options while keeping your Norton running, follow these steps:

Open Norton.
Tap “Settings.”
Tap “AntiSpam.”
Tap “Client Integration.”
Find “Welcome Screen” and “Feedback.”
Turn them off.

“Norton Subscription Has Expired Today” Pop-Up

This pop-up alert warns you that the subscription for your Norton software has expired, and you need to renew it. But beware: this is a scam message not sent by the official Norton website. If you click the “Renew now” button, it will take you to the official website. However, this message is considered a scam because by clicking on it, your device might get infected with different viruses, or your privacy might be jeopardized.

If this happens to you, it’s recommended to ignore this message and leave the site. However, if you’re prevented from closing the window, use the Task Manager to close your browser. Here is how you can do this:

Right-click on the Start menu.
Tap “Task Manager.”
Select your browser.
Right-click on it and tap “End task.”

When you reopen your browser, make sure you don’t restore your previous session. That session will still contain the scam message, so the pop-up will show up again if you restore it.

Norton Browser Extensions

When you download Norton software, it will automatically install browser extensions. Norton filters out the “unsafe” pages with these extensions and presents only the “safe” ones. This can cause pop-up notifications, and if you’d like to disable Norton extensions in your browser, follow the steps below.

Google Chrome

Open Google Chrome.
Click the three dots button (“Customize and control Google Chrome”) at the top right corner.
Tap “More tools.”
Tap “Extensions.”
Find “Norton.”
Turn off the toggle button.

Mozilla Firefox

Open Mozilla Firefox.
Tap the “Open Menu” icon at the top right corner.
Tap “Add-ons and Themes.”
Tap “Extensions.”
Check the “Enabled” section for “Norton.”
Click “Disable.”

Microsoft Edge

Open Microsoft Edge.
Click the three dots button (“Settings and more”) at the top right corner.
Tap “Extensions.”
Under “Installed Extensions,” locate “Norton.”
Move the toggle button to turn it off.

Safari

Open Safari.
Tap “Safari.”
Tap “Preferences.”
Tap “Extensions.”
Find “Norton.”
Click “Disable.”

Setting Up a Pop-Up Blocker

Although Norton protects your device from viruses, it doesn’t prevent pop-up notifications in your browser since these are set in the browser by default.

If you’d like to learn how to set up a pop-up blocker in different browsers, check out the instructions below.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Open Internet Explorer.
Tap the “Settings” icon at the top right corner.
Tap “Internet Options.”
Under the “Privacy” tab, tap “Turn on Pop-up Blocker.”
Tap “Settings” to set up the blocker.
Under “Pop-up Blocker Settings” select the option you want.
Tap “Close.”
Tap “Apply.”
Tap “Ok.”

Now you’ve set a pop-up blocker for Internet Explorer. So from now on, you won’t be receiving any pop-up ads.

Microsoft Edge

Open Microsoft Edge.
Tap the three dots icon (“Settings and more”) at the top right corner.
Tap “Settings.”
Tap “Cookies and site permissions.”
Tap “Pop-ups and redirects.”
Make sure the toggle button is set to “Off.”

You can also block specific websites with this option if you’d like.

Mozilla Firefox

Open Firefox.
Tap the “Open Application Menu” icon at the top right corner.
Tap “Options.”
Tap “Privacy and security.”
Scroll down to “Permissions.”
Make sure to select “Block pop-up windows.”

If you’d like to add exceptions (websites that will not be blocked), you can do that as well.

That’s it! You’ve managed to block pop-up ads in your Mozilla Firefox.

Google Chrome

Open Google Chrome.
Click the three dots icon (“Customize and control Google Chrome”) at the top right corner.
Tap “Settings.”
Tap “Privacy and security.”
Tap “Site settings.”
Tap “Pop-ups and redirects.”
Make sure they are blocked (recommended).

You can also decide to block only specific websites. Pop-up ads will now be blocked in your Google Chrome.

Google Chrome (Android)

You can also choose to block pop-up ads on your Android device.

Open Google Chrome.
Tap the three dots icon at the top right corner.
Tap “Settings.”
Under “Advanced” tap “Site settings.”
Tap “Notifications.”
Make sure the toggle button is set to “Off.”

Safari

Open Safari.
Tap “Safari” on the menu bar.
Tap “Preferences.”
Under the “Security” tab, make sure that “Block pop-up windows” is checked.

You will no longer see pop-up ads in your Safari browser.

Norton Pros & Cons

As a well-established anti-malware software, Norton has good and bad sides. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Pros

Virus detection – This is the most important aspect of any anti-virus software. Norton has great virus detection abilities. Most Norton users are satisfied with how it functions, and the program is getting better and better with different versions.
Updates – Since Norton is one of the most popular programs, it’s often updated, thus keeping your computer safe from the latest threats.
Easy to use – Norton’s interface is very user-friendly, which represents one of its best characteristics. It’s easy to navigate through the software, and it’s self-intuitive.

Cons

RAM usage – Since Norton is constantly running on your device, it will take up a lot of memory. Since it takes up a large amount of RAM, it can cause other programs and apps to work slowly.
Price – You need to purchase a subscription to be able to use Norton software. Keeping in mind there are other free anti-virus programs, the subscription fee might be a deal-breaker for some.
Uninstallation – If you ever decide to uninstall your Norton software, you will have a difficult time. Even when you delete it, you could find traces of the software on your computer, so it’s not easy to completely remove it.

Disabling Norton Pop-Ups: Explained

Now you’ve learned how to turn off Norton pop-ups. If you want to keep your computer protected from viruses but not receive unnecessary notifications, make sure you follow the steps from our guide, and you’ll have no problems.

Have you ever used Norton software? Tell us in the comment section below.