How to stop websites opening new tabs on your iPhone

Some sites open a new tab almost every time you touch the screen. Here's what helps, roughly in order of effort.

1. Check Safari's pop-up setting

Open Settings, tap Apps, then Safari, and make sure Block Pop-ups is on. It stops windows a page opens without you tapping. It won't stop ones triggered by your tap, which is what most aggressive sites rely on.

2. Add a content blocker

Blockers like AdGuard, 1Blocker or Wipr remove most banner ads and many ad scripts, so there's less on the page to open tabs in the first place. Enable it under Settings > Apps > Safari > Extensions.

3. Don't tap the first thing you see

On some sites the first tap anywhere is captured by an invisible layer. If a tab opens, close it and go back. The second tap often reaches the player. It's annoying, and it's exactly how those layers are built to work.

4. Use a browser that blocks the behaviour, not just the address

A dedicated browser can refuse any new window that didn't come from a real tap on a link on the same site, block scripted redirects, and remove empty layers over a video. Cinema Browser does this, and it saves the sites you use so they open full screen.

When a site still misbehaves

Report it. In Cinema Browser that's in the menu at the top of every page, and the report shows you exactly what gets sent. Each report helps us fix that site for everyone.