We’ve all been there. You’re sitting at your desk at work, fiddling with some spreadsheets or documents online when you get a sudden urge to take a peek at Facebook. A harmless mistake, sure. But you’re not feeling so productive once an hour rolls by, and you’ve gotten absolutely nothing done. That’s a problem.
And what about those kids of yours? Staying up all night perusing Facebook, YouTube, and whatever else certainly might not be conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
The good news is there are plenty of ways to block access to certain time-consuming or explicit websites, whether you want to restrict access altogether or only during specified hours of the day.
Method #1: Using parental controls
Both Windows and MacOS have built-in parental controls that you can use, making it easy to block what you don’t want to be accessible on your system. If you find that you want more features, we’ve outlined the best free parental control software here.
Parental Controls in Windows 10
Step 1: You must first set up a child account. To do so, go to the Windows 10 settings menu by searching for it, or clicking the cog icon in the Start menu.
Step 2: Click “Accounts.”
Step 3: Click on the “Family & other peopletab” and click the button labeled “Add a family member.”
Step 4: Click “Add a child” and enter the required information to set up your child’s profile.
Step 5: Go to your Microsoft account page. Select the “Web browsing” tab and check the box labeled “Only see websites on the allowed list.”
Step 6: Here, you will see sections for “Always allow these“ and “Always block these.” Enter URLs for any sites you want to block in the appropriate section, and click the “Block” button to the right.
Using parental controls in MacOS
Windows isn’t the only operating system that allows you to monitor your child’s activities online. You can use the Parental Controls feature in MacOS to block websites, which is particularly helpful if you want to keep your kids off of certain websites, without restricting the access of other users.
Step 1: Open “System Preferences” and click the button labeled “Parental Controls.”
Step 2: Your Mac will ask if you want to Create a new profile with parental controls, or add them to your current profile. Assuming you want to block websites for when your kids use the computer — while keeping them open for you — select “Create a new user account with parental controls.”
Step 3: If your current profile is password-protected, you will need to enter your password. Once you’ve created the profile, select it in Parental Controls and click the “Web” tab.
Step 4: If you’re feeling particularly draconian, you can also allow access to only specific websites. If not, simply click the “Customize” button.
In the resulting pop-up window, there will be a section to add websites that are always allowed, and a lower section for websites that are never allowed.
Step 5: To add a website that you want to block, click the addition sign under the “Never allow” heading, and enter the address of the site you want to block. Now, enter as many websites as you want to block, one per line.
Step 6: When you’re finished, click “OK” in the bottom-right corner.
Method #2: Altering host files
Block using Windows hosts file
Blocking specific websites in Windows is child’s play — and usually child-proof. It’s completely free, doesn’t require any additional software, and just takes a few quick alterations to the Windows hosts file on your computer. The hosts file, a plain text file your operating system utilizes for mapping IP addresses and hostnames, can be used to redirect a domain name back to the local computer, essentially blocking the desired website. It’s a great way to restrict users from seeing content you don’t want them to see, regardless the browser and the time of day.
Keep in mind, however, that you must have administrator privileges in order to change the file and it can be a little technical. You can always undo the change if need be, but the process is a little more hands-on than the Windows/MacOS parental controls.
Step 1: Using Windows Explorer,navigate through to the “hosts” file by going through: C: > Windows > System32 > drivers > etc.
Step 2: Double-click “hosts” and select Notepad when prompted to choose a program to open the file with. Alternatively, you can launch Notepad and navigate to the host file by choosing File > Open, and locating the file through that window.
Step 3: In Notepad, you will see several lines of text used for mapping purposes. Underneath the last line of text — it should say something regarding a local host — enter “127.0.0.1” and press the spacebar. Next, type the IP address of the website you want to block on the same line. For example, type “127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com” to block all traffic from the popular video-sharing site.
Step 4: Continue to add websites you wish to block in this manner, each beginning with”127.0.0.1.” followed by a space and the appropriate website. Make sure to only use “www” and avoid adding “http,” unless you want to render the entry invalid. Do not alter any other text in the hosts file.
Step 5: Once you’ve added the sites you want to block, click the “File” option in the upper-left corner, choose “Save” — do not change the name or save location — and ignore any warnings regarding editing the hosts file. Then, close Notepad when finished.
Step 6: Open your favorite browser and test the results! You should automatically get a blank page whenever you attempt to access any of the sites on your blocked list. You may have to restart your browser and wait several minutes for the changes to take effect.
Using MacOS hosts file
Blocking websites using MacOS works in a similar fashion to blocking them using Windows. The process is free, relatively quick, and requires altering your Mac’s hosts file to redirect a specified domain name. It’s a simple process that will prevent users from seeing content you deem block-worthy across browsers, but one that can be reversed if you want to grant access to the sites in the future.
Step 1: Launch Terminal by accessing the main applications folder, clicking “Utilities,” and selecting the program from the resulting list. You can also do so by searching for the program in Spotlight.
Step 2: Now it’s time to make a copy of the hosts file just in case something goes awry. Type “sudo /bin/cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts-original” on the Terminal command line to make a backup of the file in question. Hit “Enter” and type in your administrative password when prompted. It may appear as though the keystrokes aren’t being registered properly — i.e., your cursor won’t move — but rest assured that they are.
Step 3: Type “sudo nano /etc/hosts” and hit Enter on the Terminal command line to open up your hosts file in a nano box. Then, enter your administrative password when prompted.
Step 4: Once the hosts file is opened, you will see several lines of text used for mapping purposes. Underneath the last line of text — it should say something regarding a local host — enter “127.0.0.1” and press the spacebar. Next, type the IP address of the website you want to block on the same line. For example, type “127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com” to block all traffic from the popular video-sharing site.
Step 5: Continue to add websites you wish to block in this manner, each beginning with “127.0.0.1.” followed by a space and the appropriate website. Make sure to only use “www” and avoid adding “http”, unless you want to render the entry invalid, and do not alter any other text in the hosts file.
Step 6: When finished, hold down the “Control” key and press “O” to save the changes. Then, hold down the Control key and press “X” to exit the hosts file.
Step 7: Next, type “sudo dscacheutil -flushcache” and press Enter again to flush your existing cache and put the changes into effect. Alternatively, you can restart your computer.
Once you’re back up and running, open your favorite browser and test the results! You should automatically get a blank page whenever you attempt to access any of the sites on your blocked list.
Method #3: Using your router settings
Blocking all users, at all times, on all browsers can take some time using the above methods. Fortunately, your router doesn’t require any external software and is another fantastic tool that will grant you network-wide control over the blocking process. Although we cannot guarantee your router is capable of blocking specified websites, most routers are equipped with some sort of parental controls for restricting website access completely, during certain days of the week, or even during defined hours.
Step 1: Open your router’s web interface. Most routers can be accessed by entering “192.168.1.1” in your browser’s address bar and typing in a username and password. The defaults do vary from router to router, however, so be sure to check the instructional manual included with your router for the default IP address, username, and password. If unavailable, try looking up the router’s defaults at routerpasswords.com, or cirt.net.
Step 2: Navigate to the router security panel or tab that features the blocking controls. The security options are typically housed under something like “Access Restrictions” or “Content Filtering.”
Step 3: Once you’ve discovered the correct location, enter the websites you want to block and any other content restrictions you want to put in place. Save and apply the new settings when finished.
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