How to block a website on any device or browser

How to block a website on various devices

For safe browsing, you can block websites either by using your browser or your device’s settings. For now, let’s focus on the latter. Here are the ways to block specific websites on your device, regardless of the browser you use.

How to block a website on Windows

If you’re wondering how to block websites on Windows, you need to follow these steps:

1. Go to “File Explorer” and find the “C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc” directory. There, look for the hosts file.
2. Right-click on the hosts file and open it with an appropriate text editor (such as Notepad). Make sure you have administrative privileges.
3. To block a specific website, add “127.0.0.1” to the end of the file, type in the URL of the site you want to block, and press “Enter.”
4. Save the changes to the hosts file and close the text editor.
5. Finally, flush the DNS cache by opening Command Prompt with administrative privileges and entering the command “ipconfig /flushdns.” The changes should take place immediately after you complete this step.

How to block a website on Mac

For Mac users, the process of blocking websites is similar to Windows. All you need to do is:

1. Open the Terminal app on your Mac (“Applications” > “Utilities” folder or press “Command” + “Space” and type “Terminal” in the “Spotlight” menu).
2. Once in the Terminal window, type the “sudo nano /etc/hosts” command and press “Return.” Then enter your administrator password.
3. Navigate to the bottom (use arrow keys). To block a specific website, type “127.0.0.1” then enter the URL you want to block next to the inputted line, and press “Return.”
4. Press “Command” + O and then “Command” + X to save changes and exit the nano text editor.
5. In the “Terminal” window, type the command “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache” and press “Return.” This will flush the DNS and enable the changes immediately.

How to block a website on Android

If you’re not sure how to block websites on Android, it has to do with parental permissions available in the phone’s settings. Here’s how to find them and block unwanted websites from an Android phone:

1. Navigate to your Android’s “Settings” menu.
2. Tap “Digital wellbeing & parental controls.”
3. Find “Parental controls” and tap “Setup parental controls.”
4. Tap “Content restrictions.” This section will allow you to edit site restrictions.
5. Tap “Google Chrome.”
6. Tap “Try to block explicit sites” and then tap on “blocked sites.”
7. Tap “Add a website.”
8. Type in the URL you want to block and tap “Add.” The blocked site should appear in the “blocked sites” section.

How to block a website on iPhone

Blocking unwanted websites on the iPhone is also a piece of cake. All you have to do is:

1. Go to your iPhone’s settings.
2. Find “Screen time” at the bottom of the settings menu.
3. Tap “Content & privacy restrictions” and turn them on.
4. In the same menu, find “Store, web, Siri & game center content.” Tap on it and select “Web content.”
5. In “Web content,” enable the restrictions you want to enforce, for example “Limit adult websites” or “Only approved websites.” “Limit adult websites” option blocks access to adult content, while “Only approved websites” allows manually adding websites to the list of unwanted websites.

6. If you choose “Limit adult websites,” tap on “Add website” under the “Never allow” section, and enter the URL you want to block. Once you’ve finished, tap “Done.”

7. If you choose “Only approved websites,” tap on “Add website” under the “Never allow” section, and enter the URL you want to block. Once you’ve finished, tap “Done.”

How to block a website on iPad

Blocking a website on an iPad is the same as blocking the website on an iPhone. To block unwanted websites on your tablet:

1. Open the “Settings” app, and then find “Screen time.”
2. Find “Content & privacy restrictions” and enter your passcode.
3. Tap “Store, web, Siri & game center content.”
4. Tap “Web content,” then tap “Limit adult websites” or “Only approved websites.”
5. If you choose the adult website blocking, tap on “Add website” under the “Never allow” section, and enter the URL you want to block. Once you’ve finished, tap “Done.”
6. If you choose “Only approved websites,” tap on “Add website” under the “Never allow” section, and enter the URL you want to block. Once you’ve finished, tap “Done.”

How to block a website on different browsers

You have at least three ways of blocking unwanted websites on your browser, depending on which one you use. You can either use your browser’s URL blocker (if you’re using a browser such as Microsoft Edge), download a browser extension, or use a third-party app.

How to block a website on Google Chrome

Excuse us, did we say “three ways”? Well, actually, there are even more ways to block websites on Google Chrome. But let’s focus on the most popular one — blocking websites using Chrome browser extensions. This is by far the quickest and easiest way to block unwanted websites on Chrome. All you have to do is:

1. Go to the Chrome browser web store.
2. Find an extension that blocks websites (for an easier search, you can just type “website block” in the search bar).
3. Find the extension that best suits your needs and download it by clicking “Add to Chrome.”
4. After installing, click on the extension in your browser toolbar and open it.
5. Follow the extension’s instructions (type in URLs or similar) to block unwanted websites.

You can also use Google Family Link or your router to block unwanted websites on the Chrome browser. Blocking websites via your router also blocks them for all devices that connect to it, regardless of the browser you’re using.

How to block a website on Safari

The easiest way to block websites on Safari is by using the browser’s built-in restriction settings. All you have to do is:

1. Find the Apple icon in the top-left corner of your screen and select “System settings” from the dropdown menu.
2. Find “Screen time,” on the left side of the window, click on it, and toggle the switch on.
3. After toggling the “Screen time” switch, proceed by finding “Content & privacy” in the same window and switching it on.
4. Click on “Content restrictions” and find “Access to web content.” Upon clicking on it, select “Limit adult websites.”
5. Then, click the “Customize” button, and under the “Restricted” section, click the “+” button. Type in the URLs you want to block and click “Done” once finished.
6. To implement all changes, click “Done” once more.

How to block a website on Mozilla Firefox

While you can use browser extensions and hosts file modifications (see the “How to block websites on Windows/Mac” sections above) to block websites on the Mozilla Firefox browser, you can also try the browser’s built-in tool for website blocking. Here’s how:

1. In the Firefox settings menu, navigate to the “Privacy & security” panel.
2. Find the “Cookies and site data” section.
3. Click “Manage exceptions” and type the URL of the website you want blocked.
4. Once you finish typing the URL, click “Block” to add it to the blocked website list. After you’re done, click “Save changes” at the bottom right corner to finalize the process.

How to block a website on Opera

To block websites on Opera, you can use add-ons or hosts file configuration (see the “How to block websites on Windows/Mac” sections above), or you can set up filters that will block access to certain websites. Website filtering is more of an indirect way to block unwanted websites, and can be achieved by doing the following:

1. Go to “Settings” (or “Preferences” on macOS).
2. Click on “Privacy & security.”
3. Enable “Block ads and surf the web up to three times faster” feature.
4. Click on “Manage lists” and then “Custom lists” to add custom filter lists that block specific websites. Then type in the websites you want to block, and save changes by clicking “Add.”

How to block a website on Microsoft Edge

To block a website on Microsoft Edge, you can use a built-in browser tool that works by following these steps:

1. Open the browser’s settings and find “Family safety.”
2. The page will navigate you to Microsoft’s “Family safety” suite. There, click on the three little dots in your child’s Microsoft account.
3. Click on “Edge.”
4. Scroll down until you see the “Blocked sites” option.
5. Type in the URL of the website you want to block and click “+” to add it to the list.

Remember, you must be logged in to your Windows account to be able to access your content restriction settings.

FAQ

Why would I need to block a website?

You may need to block a website for various reasons: to maintain your privacy from specific websites that use tracking URLs, to safeguard yourself from malicious websites, or just to avoid distracting webpages. If you’re a parent, disabling websites with explicit content can help you feel more relaxed about keeping your kids safe online.

Regardless of reason, website blocking can be a useful tool ensuring internet safety for teens and children or providing a safer browsing experience for anyone who might be afraid of accidentally wandering into dangerous websites. In addition, alongside other online safety tips for seniors, website blocking can provide an additional layer of cybersecurity for elder internet users.

How do I permanently block a website?

To permanently block a website, you can modify the hosts file, use parental control software (built in to most browsers), or use your router or even DNS filtering services. Each of these solutions can help you permanently block websites on your device.

Can I unblock a website I previously blocked?

Yes, you can unblock previously blocked websites by using the same tools you used to block them. Unblocking websites works on every type of website blocker, including browser extensions, DNS filters, and routers.