How to Fix Uncloseable Safari Popups on Apple Devices

Select Language:

If you’re facing annoying popups that take over Safari on your iOS device, you’re not alone. These popups can seem like friendly notices, such as winning an Amazon gift card or getting a warning about a virus, but they are actually scams designed to trick you. Many of these popups can’t be dismissed easily and keep showing up every time you visit a website, causing frustration.

Here’s how you can prevent and fix these popups effectively.

Preventing Popups

The best way to stop these annoying popups from appearing is to install an ad blocker on your iPhone or iPad. You’ll find several options in the App Store, and they all work well. Just pick the one that you feel most comfortable using.

If you do see a popup, don’t click on it or the “close” button inside it. Instead, tap in the address bar to enter a different website, or tap the overlapping squares icon in the bottom right corner to see all open tabs. Then close the tabs by tapping the “x” on each one. It’s important not to interact with the popup itself because these scams often run hidden scripts that keep the popup coming back.

Fixing Already Occurring Popups

If these popups are already showing up and won’t go away, you can try a few steps recommended by Apple. Here’s what to do:

Turn on Airplane Mode to disconnect from the internet and stop the popups from refreshing.
Open the Safari browser.
Tap the overlapping squares icon in the lower right corner to see all open tabs.
Close every open tab by tapping the “x” in the corner of each.
Once no tabs are open, press the Home button (or swipe up from the bottom if your device doesn’t have a Home button) and wait a moment.
Double-press the Home button (or swipe up twice quickly if using a newer device) to open the app switcher.
Swipe up on the Safari app to close it completely.
Return to Settings, scroll to Safari, and tap “Clear History and Website Data.”
Finally, turn off Airplane Mode to reconnect to the internet.

This process usually removes the invasive popups and stops them from coming back. If scammers come up with new tricks and these steps no longer work, leave a comment or message. I’ll stay on top of new solutions as this is an ongoing fight against online scams.