Browsing the internet is an annoying experience nowadays. The worst part of it is when I just want to check a page or read an article, and I'm bombarded by several pop-ups before I can even read a word. Cookies, ads, and the biggest culprit: permission requests.

I can't stand how many pop-ups overtake my screen each time I open Chrome for Android asking to access my location or send me notifications. I never ever want any website to send me notifications.

But that's no longer a problem now that I found a way to eradicate all Chrome pop-ups, and now it's the first thing I set up on Chrome on my phone or any of my family members. It's stopped a lot of the spam from going their way.

The issue with Chrome pop-ups

They just don't stop

Each time I load up a new website, Chrome starts a series of pop-ups asking me to give the site access to my location, my microphone and camera, local network privileges, and permission to send me notifications. The answer is no, 99.99% of the time.

No site should know my location, and I surely don't need them to add to my notification clutter. I will use RSS apps or social media to follow the sites I'm interested in. Much better than getting a series of Chrome notifications all day long.

I tried disabling Chrome notifications, but that only stopped them from coming. It didn't stop the pop-up question itself— the annoying www.sport.fr wants to send you notifications (or other sites) that came back again and again and tested my patience.

The worst part is that Chrome can't remember my preference. I have to answer the same question on my phone, computer, and tablet. I have to answer it again if I buy a new phone. It's so silly and so annoying.

The reality is that this is also very incredibly annoying when it happens on my parents' phones. They either clicked Allow without knowing what they'd agreed to, which resulted in a deluge of notifications, or called me and asked me about each one of these.

There's a way to completely stop them

Peace of mind is a few toggles away

Turns out there's a way to completely eradicate the pop-ups. Not just stop the notification, but stop the permission request from ever showing up. It's simple, and I can't believe more people don't know more about it. Maybe it's because it's relatively hidden.

To do it, follow these steps.

  •                                 Tap the overflow **⋮**button on the top right in Chrome

  •                                 Go to **Settings**.

  •                                 Scroll down and find the **Site Settings**menu.

  •                                 In there, you will find a bunch of different permissions that sites request. The most important ones are on top for **Location**,**Camera**,**Microphone**, and**Notifications**. You can also scroll down to find the one for**Local network**, a new permission that many users are complaining about.

  •                                 Taking the **Notifications**menu as an example, you can do two things:- 
                                Either **Collapse all requests**to reduce the pop-ups and stop them from taking over your entire screen. You still get them, but you can ignore them or tap to act on them.

  •                                 Or, my favorite option: **Don't allow sites to send notifications**. This will completely stop all notification requests from popping up on your screen, from all sites, ever.

  •                                     Either

The latter choice is what I do on all my devices — mobile and desktop — and one of the first settings I change for my parents or any family member when I help them set up their Android phone. It's peace of mind.

You can do the same thing to eradicate all camera, microphone, local network, and location permissions. Just choose these options:

  •                                 **Don't allow sites to use your camera**or**microphone**option

  •                                 **Don't allow sites to access other devices on your local network**

  •                                 **Don't allow sites to see your location**.

The same option exists for many other kinds of requests and pop-ups, like access to NFC devices, Motion sensors, USB, serial port, clipboard, and more.

Just keep in mind that if you had granted permissions to some sites before doing this, you'll have to manually Remove that permission one by one from the site list below. Check the third screenshot above to see how to do it.

This isn't easy, but it's a necessary audit to do at least once to see if any sites know more than they should about you and revoke their unnecessary access.

I wish Chrome synced this setting across all my devices

Each time I install Chrome on a new phone or device, I have to remember to go into Site Settings and disable all of these permissions to stop the onslaught of pop-ups. If I don't, I start hating the internet more.

Chrome could solve this by making these preferences part of my user profile. All the choices I make for a specific type of permission request, and all the sites I approve or block, should be synchronized across all my devices. Choose once and forget.

Chrome could also push these settings forward by making them part of the onboarding process. The setting is quite hidden and most people will hate Chrome because of the pop-ups without knowing they can turn them all off.

I'm specifically thinking of the notification situation. My mother-in-law used to get over 20 Chrome notifications a day on her phone before I disabled the option for her. We're all drowning in notifications, no need to make the situation worse.