How To Block A Website In Windows And On Your Android Device

Every once in a while you may stumble upon a website with the explicit content, or a website that seems to be spreading malware or viruses. If that happens, you’ll avoid that site in the future. But if others are using your device, especially your kids, you want to be sure they won’t access such sites. The best solution is to block a website, and we are going to show you how you can do that in Windows, and on your Android device.

See also: How to protect your privacy online

block a website

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How to block a website in Windows

If you want to restrict the access to the websites on your Windows PC, you can choose one of the methods we are going to share below.

Method 1

You should choose this method if you want to block websites on all the browsers installed on your computer. You must have administrator access. Follow these steps:

  • Go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\
  • When the folder opens, find “notes” and double-click on it.
  • The list of programs will show up, and from that list select Notepad.
  • The last two lines should like this:

#             127.0.0.1       localhost

#             ::1                   localhost

Now, you should add the websites you want to block:

  • Type this first 127.0.0.1
  • Right next to that, type the address of the site you want to block (like in the picture below, the example is youtube.com)

block a website

  • Keep in mind that you can add more than just one site.
  • When you are done, click on File located in the top left corner, and then click Save.

That’s it. If you open any browser, and type the address of the websites you put on the list, you will see a message the site is not available. If you are looking for a simpler way to block websites, take a look at the Method 2. With this one we just showed you, you can block a website in every browser, and that’s not the case with the second method where you need to block the sites for every browser separately.

Method 2

You can always block a website in a particular browser you are using.

If you are using Internet Explorer, open the browser, navigate to Tools > Internet Options. Choose Security tab, and then Restricted sites.

block a website

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In the empty field under the “Add this website to the zone”, type the address of the website you want to block, and then click Add.

block a website

winhelp2002.mvps.org

If you are using Mozilla or Chrome, you can rely on the add-on called BlockSite.

How to block a website on Android

As you know, there is an app for basically everything. You can download and install Trend Micro Mobile Security & Antivirus from the Google Play Store. So, how to block websites using Trend Micro app? Open the application, navigate to Options > Safe surfing. Next, go to Parental controls, and then hit set up an account. Once you create an account, one of the options you will see is Blocked List. Click on that option and press Add. You can add the websites you want to block.

The other app that may be pretty useful is Safe browser – The Web filter, also available in the Play Store. The app is monitoring millions of websites, and it blocks adult content sites, gambling sites, social networking sites, and so on.

You may also read: Best cheap tablets for 2015

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