--- title: Popup Maker Debug Mode description: "Popup Maker has its own debug mode to help you troubleshoot problems with your popups. This guide shows you two out of three ways to turn on debug mode and goes over the [debug info](#debug-mode-console-details) you'll get. ### NEW and RECOMMENDED!…" url: "https://wppopupmaker.com/docs/problem-solving/popup-maker-debug-mode/" updated: "2026-02-02" category: "Common Questions & Issues / Problem Solving" --- # Popup Maker Debug Mode Popup Maker has its own debug mode to help you troubleshoot problems with your popups. This guide shows you two out of three ways to turn on debug mode and goes over the [debug info](#debug-mode-console-details) you'll get. ### NEW and RECOMMENDED! The third and newest way to debug your popups is using [the Popup Maker Debug Tools Chrome extension](https://wppopupmaker.com/docs/problem-solving/a-beginners-guide-popup-maker-debug-tools-chrome-extension/). Now, there are 3 ways to turn on Popup Maker Debug Mode: 1. **Popup Maker settings:** Clicking the checkbox for the **Enable Debug Mode** setting under **Popup Maker** > **Settings** > **Misc**. 2. **Query parameter**: Adding a debug query string parameter to the end of a web page URL. 3. **Popup Maker Debug Tools Chrome extension**: Read our beginner's guide to [learn how to install and use our new Chrome extension](https://wppopupmaker.com/docs/problem-solving/a-beginners-guide-popup-maker-debug-tools-chrome-extension/)! We'll cover the first two ways in this help doc. Let's go! ## Using the Enable Debug Mode Setting Follow these steps to turn on the debug mode via the Popup Maker plugin settings. 1. From your [WP Admin area](https://wppopupmaker.com/docs/getting-started/popup-maker-glossary-of-terms/#admin), go to **Popup Maker** > **Settings**. ![file IgM7tAl4CD](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/559c68b9e4b03e788eda1692/images/643395e84cd1ab01bbe8bb98/file-IgM7tAl4CD.jpg) 2. Click  **Misc**. ![file BU06CIJCPa](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/559c68b9e4b03e788eda1692/images/643396141274e915f2f93108/file-BU06CIJCPa.jpg) 3. Click **Enable Debug Mode**. Make sure the checkbox is checked. ![Enable Debug Mode checkbox](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/559c68b9e4b03e788eda1692/images/64369fad7133de139103e43a/file-PBEA8YIYn4.jpg) 4. Click  **Save**. ![file sBsAF2Zu8B](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/559c68b9e4b03e788eda1692/images/643396781274e915f2f9310a/file-sBsAF2Zu8B.jpg) 5. Hover over your website's name in the top toolbar and click **Visit Site**. ![file I4qAhzVlpM](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/559c68b9e4b03e788eda1692/images/6436a0b77133de139103e43b/file-I4qAhzVlpM.jpg) 6. After your homepage loads, open your [browser's DevTools console](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/devtools/open/). In the **console**, while debug mode is on, you'll see the **Popup Maker** banner. If the page has popups, you'll see them listed under the **Popups Initializing** banner heading by their [popup ID](https://wppopupmaker.com/docs/manage-features-or-options/find-the-popup-id/) and *slug* (the hyphenated version of your popup's name, e.g., my-cool-popup). ![file Bgk4Kbcu5D](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/559c68b9e4b03e788eda1692/images/6436a3377133de139103e43e/file-Bgk4Kbcu5D.png) ### Missing a popup? If there's a popup missing from the list, it means that the popup was \***not**\* loaded on the page. You might've forgotten to publish the popup or there's a targeting condition that's stopping it from loading on the page. If you're having trouble getting your popup to load or display on a post or page, head over to our [Troubleshooting Your First Popup guide](https://wppopupmaker.com/docs/problem-solving/troubleshooting-your-first-popup/). Jump down to learn more about the [info you get in the console](#debug-mode-console-details) while in debug mode. ## Using the Debug Query Parameter You can also turn on the debug mode on a page using the `pum_debug` query parameter. Add `?pum_debug=true` to the end of the page's URL in the address bar and hit return. Here's an example of a URL with the debug query parameter on the end. Replace the *mywaycool.site/blog* with your URL. ``` https://mywaycool.site/blog/?pum_debug=true ``` Here's a clip showing how the query parameter works. ![file 0FAAJ36UOZ](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/559c68b9e4b03e788eda1692/images/643682bbad20e8714a50d50d/file-0FAAJ36UOZ.gif) ## Debug Mode Console Details ### Popup Settings When you expand a popup entry under the **Popups Initializing** heading, you'll see the triggers and device settings you defined for the popup. Expanding a trigger shows you the settings you have for the trigger. For example, in the screen capture below, popup #534 (hello-world-popup) has an [Auto Open](https://wppopupmaker.com/docs/getting-started/a-beginners-guide-to-popup-triggers/#time-delay) and [Click Open](https://wppopupmaker.com/docs/getting-started/a-beginners-guide-to-popup-triggers/#click-open) trigger. The **Auto Open** trigger has no [cookies](https://wppopupmaker.com/docs/getting-started/popup-maker-glossary-of-terms/#cookies) and will launch automatically after 0.5 seconds (i.e. 500 milliseconds). The **Click Open** trigger has no cookie, but it has 3 [CSS selectors](https://wppopupmaker.com/docs/getting-started/a-beginners-guide-to-popup-triggers/#extra-css-selectors). This popup can display on all devices. ![file jQsjwM7eSB](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/559c68b9e4b03e788eda1692/images/6436a6a437fd073d73d6c5c2/file-jQsjwM7eSB.png) ### Popup Events When a popup launches, a banner heading for it shows up in the console. Under the heading is a list of [Popup Maker JavaScript API events](https://github.com/PopupMaker/Popup-Maker/wiki/Popup-Maker-JavaScript-&-jQuery-API#events) the popup fired as it launched. The event at the top of the list is the first event that fired. The event at the bottom is the last event. ![file 8Qr6Whldyp](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/559c68b9e4b03e788eda1692/images/6436a6e9ad20e8714a50d532/file-8Qr6Whldyp.png)