How To Block Websites On Chrome

Whether you’re a parent, a leader in an organization, or you just want to be more productive, there are many ways to block websites on Chrome. These methods include using extensions, editing the hosts file, changing router settings, and blocking on Google WorkSpace. But before blocking the important websites it is vital to have the necessary access to certain portals or you must be the administrator.

Table of Contents

Editing Hosts File

You can simply block one or multiple websites at once by editing your Hosts file. This is a type of file inside the %windir%\system32\drivers\etc folder. It’s helpful in mapping the hostname to the static IP addresses. Then, your browser will continue with the site as per the commands in the Hosts file and won’t pass through the DNS server.

Although it sounds complicated, it’s straightforward to block websites in this manner. All we need to do is add the IP and the domain data inside the Hosts file and then save it.

Note: You can only make changes to the Hosts file with the Administrator’s permission.

We need to open the file in a Text Editor, like Notepad. So, search for Notepad from the search bar.
From the search results, right-click on it and select the Run as Administrator option. Click Yes to allow permission.
When the Notepad opens, click on File > Open or press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + O.
In the File Explorer window, type this pathway %windir%\system32\drivers\etc in the address bar. Press Enter.
You won’t see any files right now. In the File format box, click and change to All Files. This is because this method doesn’t support .txt documents.
Select and open the Hosts file at the top. Now, it will open in the Notepad app.
Now, check the bottom of the text and you’ll find the localhost name details here. Just below it is where you need to add your IP.
You won’t need to add the # symbol as it only signifies a comment. Directly copy or type your IP as in 127.0.0.1 and enter the same amount of spaces as the localhost data above to avoid any errors. Then, add your desired website. For example, we’re experimenting with twitter.com.
Again, type other static IP addresses, such as www.twitter.com, m.twitter.com. This is because they all are slightly different.
Finally, click on File > Save or press Ctrl + S to save changes to the file.
Reload your browser and check if the website is blocked properly.

When following this method, you may find that it’s not working properly or the website is blocked only on other browsers and not on Chrome. This can be the case due to accumulated DNS cache data and cookies.

First, try flushing the DNS cache by entering this URL on the Chrome browser chrome://net-internals/#dns. On the webpage that opens, type your specific domains in the text field and then press Enter. Then, click on Clear Host Cache.

If you’re still having issues with it, you can check Chrome’s settings. Unlike other browsers, Chrome stores and uses its cookies to load website data. In such cases, the Hosts file may not help. So, we’ll need to block cookies for the website as well.

Using Extensions

If you don’t have much time, the simplest method to block websites is by using certain extensions from the Chrome Web Store. For instance, a popular extension is BlockSite. Simply add it to your browser by following these steps:

Visit the Chrome Web Store and enter the keyword “BlockSite” in the search bar.
Open the extension and then click on the Add to Chrome option.
Then, select the Add Extension option again.
BlockSite extension will now automatically open and then you can choose to block any website of your choice.

Similarly, you can also find the website-blocking feature on productivity-related extensions, like Forest or Calm for Chrome. While using these extensions, you can manually select to block certain websites during the time you want to focus.

On your phone, there are different ways to block websites on Android and iPhone. On Android, you can choose to download the BlockSite app. On an iPhone, you won’t need to use third-party apps. You can instead directly block sites from the settings.

Go to Settings and then select Screen Time.
Navigate to Content Restrictions.
Scroll down and select Web Content.
Tap on Limit Adult Websites.
Below the Never Allow section, hit on Add Website and type the website URL of your choice.
The set website will now not load on your Chrome app.

Using Google WorkSpace

If you’re an admin or even a Super admin of an organization in Google WorkSpace, you get privileges to block certain websites. So, your team won’t have access tosuch sites unless they’re removed from the list. You can alter and block up to 1000 websites.

Log in to Google Admin Console with the URL: admin.google.com
Make sure you’re using the administrator account.
On the homepage, navigate to Devices > Chrome.
Go to Settings > Users & Browsers.
Select the top Organizational Unit option to make sure this setting is effective on all users and relevant browsers.
Navigate to the URL Blocking section and then add the URLs of specific websites. These will now display in the Blocked URLs list. Later, you can also check out this list by going to Users & browsers > URL blocklist.
Click on Save.

Through Router Settings

Blocking websites by configuring your router settings depends on whether your router allows it and if you have access to its admin page. If you do, there are simple steps to block certain URLs directly from the settings.

If you don’t know what your router’s IP address is, you can check it using the command prompt. On the search bar, type cmd and open Command Prompt.
Type ipconfig. Press Enter.
You’ll notice a lot of data. Among them, you can find the IP address beside the Default Gateway option.
Then, open Chrome and paste Default gateway address in the browser’s address bar.
After that, log in to your router’s homepage.
Look for Blocking or Security-related settings. In our case, we’re going to the Advanced tab and then selecting URL Block. Depending on the router’s brand, there might be a difference in the context menu. If you have similar settings, make sure to enable URL Blocking Capability. Click on Apply Changes.
Then, enter the URL of the website you want to block in the Keyword section. Here, we’re adding www.facebook.com as an example. Once you’ve added the websites of your choice, you’ll see them in the table below.
Now, you can save changes and exit the page.