Snap.com is a company that’s set out to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. When your mouse moves over a link on a website that uses Snap’s “Snap Preview Anywhere” technology, a small pop-up appears over the link and shows you a preview of the location that link leads to. These pop-ups look like the one shown here.
So what’s the problem? Well, think about how long it takes you to click on a link and decide to either stay on the site that appears, or head off to another destination. Mere seconds. Now, do you really need to see a tiny, barely legible preview before you click that link? I don’t.
Fortunately, you can rid yourself of Snap Preview Anywhere by visiting the Snap F.A.Q. and clicking on the link that reads “Click here to disable Snap Preview Anywhere”. Once you click that link, a cookie will be set in your browser to prevent future Snap Preview Anywhere pop-ups.
The Snap F.A.Q. notes that “you must refresh the affected pages or clear your cache for these settings to take effect”. Here are instructions for clearing the cache in a variety of browsers:
- Internet Explorer 4, 5 and 6: Click Tools → Internet Options, go to the “General” tab, and click the “delete files” button under “Temporary Internet Files”.
- Internet Explorer 7: Click Tools → Internet Options, go to the “General” tab, and click the “delete files” button under “Browsing History”.
- FireFox: Click Tools → Clear Private Data. Make sure “Cookies” is not checked. Press the “Clear Private Data Now” button.
- Safari: Click Safari → Clear Cache…
If you ever clear out your cookies, no matter what browser you’re using, you’ll have to revisit the Snap F.A.Q. and click on their link again to reset that cookie.
Preview Websites with Tabs or New Windows Instead
If you’re wary of clicking on a link because you don’t want to leave the originating website, here’s a hint: open the link in a tab or a new window. You’ll preserve the originating website while still following through on the link. In FireFox or Internet Explorer 7, hold the CTRL key while clicking on the link (CMD click if you’re on a Mac). Safari users can open a link in a new window by holding CMD while they click.
Source: “Disable Snap Previews on web sites” by LifeHacker
