The transmission through thin gold films on optical quartz during laser blow‐off with 15 ns, 532 nm laser pulses has been measured. Dramatic changes in transmission mark the duration of the blow‐off event with laser fluences above the threshold for removal. The integrated laser fluence required to blow‐off the films is roughly independent of incident laser fluence, and is close to that expected to raise the temperature of the film to the boiling point at the film‐support interface.