The ability to block specific websites is something everyone should know how to do, as it can increase your security and help protect kids when they’re using your device, or their own.
There are a few different ways to do this, but it’s usually done on a per-device basis. That can get tiresome if you need to block sites on all the phones and computers in your home. But in most cases you’ll be blocking sites so your kids can’t access them, in which case it shouldn’t be too arduous.
We’ll show you how to use the Block Site extension for Google Chrome which will prevent access to the sites you pick, and they won’t appear within Google searches. Obviously this only blocks the site in Chrome, so it will still be accessible from other web browsers.
If you’re happy to spend money, proper parental control software. can make the process a lot easier (and do a lot more).
Can I block a website on my router?
Probably, yes. It’s possible to block websites on many home routers.
The disadvantage of this method is that the site will be blocked for any device which connects to the internet via the router, but that might be what you want anyway.
Precisely how to block a site via your router will vary from brand to brand, but here’s how to block sites on a BT Home Hub, on a Netgear router and on an Asus router.
However, if you have a different router, just browse to it’s user interface and look for a content filter setting or similar – typically under the Firewall section. It should be as simple as typing in the address of a website and hitting the Save or Apply button. Here’s what it looks like on the Asus RT-AC66U:
How to block a website on Chrome
Our favourite tool for this is Block Site, which is free and syncs the list of blocked websites to Android phones as well.
- Go to the Chrome webstore and find Block Site.
- Click the ‘Add to Chrome’ button at the top right of the page
- You will be asked to confirm your choice. Hit ‘Ok’ and the extension will be installed
- You’ll now find a Block Site icon at the top right of your browser
- Click this icon to access the ‘Block this site’ option. Click this to block the site you’re currently browsing
- Alternatively, if you don’t wish to visit the site, click ‘Edit block sites list’ and enter the URL of the site
Here’s what it looks like in Chrome:
Clicking on ‘Edit block sites list’ will open up the below page, where you can add or remove websites to your block list
On the left side of the page you will see a settings option. Clicking this will bring up a few choices, including adding password access to blocked pages. Upon clicking these check boxes, you will be prompted to enter a password
You can add as many sites as you would like to this list, and the password protection means the list can only be altered by you.