John Chow dot Com Free WordPress Installation - Start Your Blog Today!
 

How To Get Out of a Rick Roll

written by John Chow on April 1, 2008

Free Video Watch It Now

If you’ve been on the Internet for any length of time, then eventually you will be Rick Rolled. I’ve been Rick Rolled more times than I can remember. As a matter of fact, I Rick Rolled myself when making the Free PPC Secrets post.

The question many people have when they get Rick Rolled is how the hell do you get out of it? To answer that question, I put together this little video to show how to safely get out of a Rick Roll in just a few seconds.

Now that you know how to get out of a Rick Roll, why not test it out? :twisted:

Did you enjoy this post? Get John Chow Dot Com updates via email...

Stay up to date with all of John Chow’s tips for making money online and blog posts by subscribing via email. Your email will be kept private and never shared with anyone.

{ 57 comments }

Shawn Knight April 1, 2008 at 3:47 pm

Project: Unroll the Rick Roll! :twisted:

Terra Andersen April 1, 2008 at 6:47 pm

:mrgreen: – Thanks for telling me this NOW! *=P~

king kong April 1, 2008 at 8:49 pm

i like Chinese food, any recommendations!

investorblogger April 6, 2008 at 7:35 am

Check his dot com pho’s … in Fine Dining :???:

Hustle Strategy April 2, 2008 at 4:44 am

I can’t count the number of f’ John Chow pages I saw pop up yesterday. Lots of people got rolled for the first time…

John Cow April 1, 2008 at 3:47 pm

There is an easier way, this firefox plugin will make sure you will never get rickrolled again!

David April 1, 2008 at 4:05 pm

You do realize that anyone with half a brain won’t click on that link, right?

And… that april fools is over at 12 noon??

Syed Balkhi April 2, 2008 at 1:48 pm

looks like someone clicked it lol

Jeff Kee April 1, 2008 at 3:49 pm

Even better – do the Ctrl-W or Apple-Tab, and you can start the “closing” process even faster than waiting for the window to stop moving. Once it stops, use the enter key technique to rip through all the javascript pop-up windows with the prompts.

PropertyIreland April 1, 2008 at 3:52 pm

you seem to be enjoying your mac john…
looks like you have been converted, have you?

David April 1, 2008 at 3:56 pm

I think that he has… and unfortunately I find myself looking at apple.ca way to much these days… :???:

igizmore April 1, 2008 at 3:53 pm

for a second there i thought that this video was gonna be a rick roll joke by itself … that would have been as cool as john cola :P , any way a better solution here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU

JGirl4You April 1, 2008 at 8:30 pm

OMG Rick Rolled :(

Wes Mahler April 1, 2008 at 4:00 pm

Lol, but u can still do the same thing on windows. ctrl-alt-delete.

But still, another reason to buy a mac.

David April 1, 2008 at 4:43 pm

ctrl-alt-delete wouldn’t work if it was in a tab, and you didn’t want to close all your tabs.

Rekzai April 1, 2008 at 10:12 pm

You’re still closing all your tabs if you’re doing it john’s way.

Steven April 3, 2008 at 7:36 am

Not if you’re just holding down the enter/return button.

Terry Tay April 1, 2008 at 4:01 pm

I would just pull an “Elvis Presley”.

Translation: Elvis Presley would shoot his Television sets if either Robert Goulet or Mel Torme appeared on the screen. :razz:

At least getting Rick Rolled isn’t a regular occurance because that could get expensive. :lol:
~Terry

Iantrepreneur April 1, 2008 at 4:08 pm

I just hold down the enter key and its done!

igizmore April 1, 2008 at 4:15 pm

john i doubt your mac can handle this link though : http://pimpmycrapblog.blogspot.com/

John Chow April 1, 2008 at 5:10 pm

Right click and quit worked on that too. Better luck next time. :twisted:

Hustle Strategy April 2, 2008 at 4:48 am

right click/mac, i am confused…

Jamie Harrop April 1, 2008 at 4:32 pm

Of course, rather than spend several thousand dollars on a Mac, you can just use a real (and free) browser (*cough* Opera *cough*) and never have these problems. :D

Hannah April 1, 2008 at 4:47 pm

Opera has way too many issues, I can’t stand using it.

Hannah April 1, 2008 at 4:45 pm

Hopefully this post will help you gain back some of that readership that you apparently lost since your last post…

Sha April 1, 2008 at 4:46 pm

I think the funniest thing about this are the people that got pissed after going to the fake site because of the rick roll.

It goes to show how many people were actually hoping that they could get inside tips just like that *snaps a finger* without having to do that much work. Of course they’re not going to admit this, but it’s painfully obvious.

Not their fault that you fell for it. Hook, line & sinker. Suck it up.

Red tablet April 5, 2008 at 1:44 pm

Painfully obvious, huh? Go shoot yourself, asshole. Expectations were low, but there are free ‘inside tips’ out there, as you call them. It is just that they are not ‘inside’. Secrets are few. Idiot. If you find it funny, you are not worthy of life.

Affiliate Confession April 1, 2008 at 4:52 pm

Hey John, is that a picture of your next car on the desktop of the MAC?

Syed Balkhi April 2, 2008 at 1:51 pm

heh maybe … My desktop picture is my future car … sadly you can’t see it :p

Rob April 1, 2008 at 5:06 pm

When this video popped up I just waited for it to finish, I was laughing to hard to stop it.

Internet marketing April 1, 2008 at 5:26 pm

Much easier to do: Command + Q on the Mac to exit.

Internet Apprentice April 1, 2008 at 5:28 pm

I think the moral of this story is to just stay away from certain sites on April 1st. At least I learned how to get out of a Rick Roll, which I’m sure will come in handy in the future (unfortunately :shock: )!

Start Blogging April 1, 2008 at 6:05 pm

It’s still really annoying.

Wade April 1, 2008 at 6:14 pm

Yes, buy a mac, just so you don’t get rick rolled :D Another tip: throw your PC out the window. Much faster than John shows in his video!!

Michael Kwan April 1, 2008 at 6:34 pm

I think I posted this tutorial (as text) in the comments of the previous post. Anyways, the trouble with your Mac method, as I understand it, is that it will close the browser, rather than just the tab that the Rick Astley video is in, no?

Simon Lau April 1, 2008 at 6:54 pm

thats exactly what I was doing…on a mac isn’t that the same as going to task manager and force killing it?

Carl April 1, 2008 at 7:34 pm

Vista tip for John:

Control + Alt + Delete

Pass bar Exam April 1, 2008 at 7:38 pm

Now I know what Rick Rolled means. :razz:

man, I have just got to get a Mac. Wanna help me?

:wink:

Gabriel April 1, 2008 at 7:54 pm

It was frustrating at first, but the second time, it seems cool and fun… dude, you can’t do anything, unless kill your browser session :evil: :evil:

Mixed Drink World April 1, 2008 at 8:21 pm

Hey John , what camera are you using for your videos??

John Chow April 1, 2008 at 9:46 pm

That video was made using the Canada SD 870 IS

Mixed Drink World April 1, 2008 at 10:00 pm

thx for the reply , Is this your video camera of choice for all your video blog posts or is this just your latest new toy. If you could choose one camera for all your video blog posts what would it be?

Mayank Rocks April 2, 2008 at 6:21 am

Wow!
That is awesome :shock:

Richard April 1, 2008 at 8:43 pm

Hey John, I see that you have a brand new layout, this one is just as good as the previous one.

If you get a chance, I’d love it if you stopped by my blog:
http://hedgeagainstspeculation.com I would be honored if you left a comment.

Best of luck to you.

Blogging Experiment April 2, 2008 at 11:30 am

A brand new layout? Have you been living under a rock for the past several months?

iPhone in Canada April 1, 2008 at 8:50 pm

Why would you want to get OUT of a Rick Roll? The video is freakn awesome!!! :razz:

Crystal April 1, 2008 at 8:59 pm

Damn it! I clicked on that link, ugh.

Jeremy Palmer April 1, 2008 at 11:12 pm

Question – How do you know when your April Fools Joke has backfired?

Answer – When you have to make a new post explaining how to fix the problem caused by the previous post.

Mayank Rocks April 2, 2008 at 6:19 am

lol lol lol

John Chow April 2, 2008 at 7:04 am

Question – How do you know when your April Fools Joke worked?
Answer – When you can follow up with more related content.
This is only part 2 of the series BTW. :twisted:

Syed Balkhi April 2, 2008 at 1:53 pm

I will be eagerly waiting for Part 3 in my mail :)

Charles April 2, 2008 at 4:06 am

I just hit [ENTER] then [BACKSPACE] [b]immediately[/b] afterwards.

That gets you out of it with all your tabs intact!

Lineage Adena April 2, 2008 at 10:13 am

I was wondering what all the fuss was about.

I use opera and there is no moving pop ups of rick roll, it’s just another page which can be closed without an issue.

Problem solved, use opera. :)

Robert April 2, 2008 at 10:28 am

How do we know that video isn’t a Rick Roll?

Fitness Site April 2, 2008 at 11:18 am

thats irritating man :evil:

we are fooled again. why 2 fool posts :mrgreen:

Enigma April 5, 2008 at 1:36 pm

That is NOT a rickroll. Real men do youtube rickrolls. Yours was just lame.

Not John Chow April 11, 2008 at 1:03 pm

So many sad bloggers. Makes me want to cry. Or maybe laugh harder?