How To Block A Website On PC, Mac, Browser And Mobile Phones

Different people will have different reasons for blocking a website on their computer. Sensitive content, viruses and malware or may be some sites may steal your data that is too confidential or private. You may be intelligent enough to know which website you do not have to open, but what if your computer is being used by some other person at home or office? For all such instances, it will better if you block websites that are not healthy enough to surf.

There are many ways to block a website on a PC, Mac or your mobile phone. We have some options to block a website on specific browsers, your full operating system or may be blocking it on the router so nobody can access those sites from your internet connection. So, this feature will tell you how to block a website on a PC, Mac, Internet browsers and Mobile phones.

Blocking access to a website on one machine can be easy, if only you block it on your complete operating system. So, all the Internet browsers would not be able to open that blocked website if this following method is used.

For Windows

This method will work with all the Windows versions, we tested it on XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10. The internet works by converting IP address to a particular name like Google.com gets translated from 8.8.8.8 (for example) this conversion system is called the DNS. So, you use some DNS server for opening any website, our computer has something that's similar called a HOSTS file that store such data locally. By modifying it, you can disable access to any site in a matter of few seconds.

1. With an administrator account open the location / folder : C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\

2. Open the file named 'hosts' in a notepad, the last lines in the host file will look like :
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

3. If you are unable to open the host file, then right-click on file names as hosts and select properties. On Security tab, you need to select administrator account and click Edit.

4. When a pop-ups, go on selecting the account again and check the 'full control' option. Click > Yes and then click OK on all pop-ups.

5. At bottom of the file, adding any addresses of a website will block it. To elaborate you need to add a new line at the end of the file that contains 127.0.0.1 and then the web address of the site you want to block, now opening that website will redirect to your local computer.

6. To block a website like for example - Yahoo.com add
127.0.0.1 www.yahoo.com
& to block google.com add
127.0.0.1 www.google.com

you can add more sites, each in a new line and the sites will be blocked on every browser on your Windows PC.

7. Add all those websites you want to block and repeat this step until you are done.

8. Now close the hosts file and click Save. Reboot your computer for the changes to take effect and you'll find that all those websites are now blocked.

9. By closing the hosts file and saving it will not block the sites, you need to reboot your machine and after the reboot all of those sites will be blocked.

For Mac

Learn how to block website on a Mac (OS X)

1. Open terminal window with administrator account privileges, here the path if you can't find it : /Applications/Utilities/Terminal

2. Write
sudo nano /etc/hosts
press enter
you may need to enter login id or password when prompted.

3. This will open nano editor and in that your file /etc/hosts. And now like in Windows we will write similar line with format:
127.0.0.1 www.websitetoblock.com

Each blocked website should be in a new line. Then press CTRL+X then Y and then enter to save all changes.

4. Now key in the command sudo dscacheutil -flushcache and press Enter or restart your machine to make sure the websites are blocked.

5. Write command :
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
and press Enter to remove cache. You can also reboot your Mac and now try opening sites that you have listed in /etc/hosts file. You will be redirected to local machine and none of the sites from the list will open.

Blocking a website on a Browser

Its a very easy method and don't require opening any new system file.

On Mozilla Firefox, install BlockSite (addon) to block any website.

1. After installing the addon, press ctrl+shift+a, and then click on Extensions on the left side. After this you need to click on Options after BlockSite. You will get a pop-up where you will have a Add button. There you can write the web address of a website that you want to block. Similarly use this step to block all the websites on Mozilla Firefox.

2. This list can be protected via adding a password in BlockSite addon and prevent other from editing or changing this list. You will find this option to add password in the options menu.

Same addon can be used for Google Chrome.

For Internet Explorer you have another easy to block websites.

1. After opening Internet Explorer, open Tool (alt+x) > Internet options. You will get a security tab and the click on a red icon that represents restricted sites. Then click on the sites button below that red icon.

2. You will now be presented with a pop-up where you can type in websites addresses one by one to block them from opening in Internet Explorer. No need to restart your system for any of these browser techniques and addons.

Blocking sites on your mobile phones and tablet

For iOS

Apple devices has inbuilt parental control and with their tool you can block websites easily.

1. Open Settings > General > Restrictions.

2. Tap and enabled restrictions. It will ask you to set a passcode. Make this passcode different from the passcode you unlock your phone with.

3. After putting in the passcode, scroll down and open Websites by tapping it. Here you will have two options, one is to limit adult content or allow access to websites that you specify.

4. In the option specific websites only you will see a very few sites that are allowed that includes Discovery Kids and Disney type sites, here you can add more sites by tapping on 'add a website'

5. If you choose the other option of Limit adult content then Apple will block those websites that are objectionable to them. You can always whitelist and blacklist sites as per your need by tapping on Never Allow.

6. When you open a blocked website you will get a message telling you its restricted and if you tap Allow Website it will prompt you the restrictions passcode.

For Android

On Android you need to edit hosts file and it will require a file manager and text editor. We recommend using ES File Explorer as it will do things for you. It allow you to open and edit a file just like an file manager and text editor. Follow the steps below.

1. Firstly, install the ES File Explorer and open it, you will see a "/" sign, tap on it. Then tap on system > etc.

2. Here you will see the hosts file and by tapping it will give a pop up menu where you need to tap on text. Now you will be able to see the ES Note Editor.

3. The three dots button on the top right will enable you to edit the File.

4. By adding sites and local host ip you can now block any site.
In a new line type :
127.0.0.1 www.websitetobeblocked.com

here the website address will be blocked and you can add as many sites as much you want.

5. Restart your Android

If you feel this method is hard, than you can install another app called anti-virus app like Trend Micro that will allow you to block any website

For Windows Phone

You can surf internet on a browser called AVG Family Safety browser and by default all such websites with malwares, viruses and explicit content are been blocked. You can customize the list of sites by purchasing the licence code and creating an account for AVG Family Safety Browser.

On your network / Wi-Fi network

If you a Wi-Fi device at your house, then it is easier to block websites. Most routers will have different ways to block sites but the basics are same, and you need to be careful otherwise your internet connection can get de-activated. If this happens, then you should immediately call the ISP for help.

1. Open the router's settings page which can be located at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1 according to your router make and model. After entering this IP and pressing enter you will be prompted with username and password. The most common ones are username: admin, password: password or
username: root, password: 1234

2. In router settings, you will find an option called Access Management > Filter. In this filter menu, you will get option to block a URL by filling in the name of the website you want to block.

3. Most routers allow you to add 16 websites and can allow you to up to 256 sites.

This also varies according to your router type, make and model.

All these methods will give you a definite solution and now you can surf internet worry free. Do tell us if you have any other method that can block a website on any such devices.