You just want to get things done on your Mac, when bam: a pop up. It breaks your focus, gets in your way, and sometimes just plain confuses you. Why won't these pop ups go away?

You're not alone in asking this, but the only issue is that you might mean one of several things when you say "pop up". Let's go over some of the most common pop ups, and how to get rid of them.

If Ads Keep Popping Up When You Browse The Web

This is probably the most common thing people mean when they talk about pop-ups: windows with ads popping up over what you're trying to read. For most people, these annoyances are a relic of the past – but not for everyone. There are things you can do to avoid seeing pop up browser ads, but at this point the most common reason for seeing popups is visiting sketchy sites. If you're trying to watch TV shows on pirated sites, or searching for free Mac software, you're going to see popups like this.

If you're seeing popup windows on other sites, though – reputable ones, that didn't show pop-ups before – you might have a problem. There are ways you can tell if your Mac has a virus, and pop ups on sites that otherwise don't have them are usually a sign of adware. Or perhaps you've enabled pop-ups on your Mac!

Happily there are easy fixes out there. The free program Adware Medic removes most Mac adware out there, so run it if you're seeing pop-up ads for Viagra when you read the New York Times.

iTunes or iPhoto Pops Up When You Plug In Your Phone

Plugging in your iPhone can cause a couple of popups. On many Macs, both iTunes and iPhoto will immediately open. This can be annoying, but is also preventable.

First let's look at iTunes, a program many Mac users have completely replaced with Spotify and would rather not ever see. Open iTunes, head to preferences, then click Devices. Make sure to check Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically.

This should prevent iTunes from launching when you plug in your iDevice, but go ahead and test it. If iTunes still launches, check the settings for the devices itself within iTunes: click the iPhone icon below the Next button, then uncheck the Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected button (you shouldn't need to do this after taking the first step, but sometimes it's necessary).

Next, let's stop iPhoto from launching. To do this, open iPhoto. Click iPhoto in the menubar, then Preferences. Head to the Connecting Camera Opens option, then select No Application.

Of course, you might actually want iPhoto to open when you plug actual cameras in – just not your iPhone. If that's the case, open the Application called"Image Capture" and set the preferences for that specific device there. You can turn your iPhone off while keeping other cameras enabled.

If Notifications Keep Popping Up

My co-workers like to waste my time, and when they do I see notifications.

These popups, introduced by Apple in Mountain Lion can be very useful for staying up-to-the minute. They can also be a huge distraction.

If you want to turn them off temporarily, all you need to do is click the Notification Button at top right corner of the screen (or two-finger swipe leftwards from the edge of your Macbook trackpad), then scroll up. You'll see a Do Not Disturb button:

But maybe turning everything off isn't what you want: maybe you want to stop specific notifications from showing up. For example: you might have, without realizing it, given particular sites the right to show notifications for their new posts.

Or maybe you're not sure why Facebook notifications are showing up on your computer. Whatever it is you don't want to see, you can disable it under Notifications in System Preferences. Click the Apple logo at top-right, then click Preferences. Click the Notifications icon, and you'll see the following menu:

From here you can turn off individual programs. Just click the None style for apps you'd rather not see.

If there are notifications you absolutely do not want to miss, set those programs as "Alerts". These notifications don't go away until you open the program in question.

If You're Being Warned That You Have A Virus

If you're seeing pop ups that claim you have a virus, and ask you for money, you might have serious problems. More than a few Mac viruses disguise themselves as anti-malware; others ask you for money to get access to your data.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIhxWm7lrpA[/embed]

If you've got a problem like this, you need to remove some malware from your Mac.

Do You Still Have Popups?

This should cover most pop ups seen by Mac users, but it won't be everything. For example: apps like Mac Keeper have a bad habit of installing themselves without you realizing it, and then asking for money – in those cases, removing the specific app in question should do the trick.

If you've run into this, or any other sort of pop up, please: let me know in the comments below. I'll keep up with comments here and try to help you out. I'm looking forward to it!