How to block adult websites on Chrome (and turn on SafeSearch)

1. Turn on SafeSearch

SafeSearch hides explicit results in Google Search. It has three settings:

• Filter hides explicit results: images, text and links.
• Blur blurs explicit images, but explicit text and links can still show. This is the default for most adults.
• Off shows everything.

To change it, go to google.com/safesearch and choose Filter. You can also reach it from your profile picture at the top right of a Google results page. The page works the same in a phone’s browser.

If you see a lock icon, someone else controls the setting: a parent through Family Link, a school, or the administrator of the device or network. Filter is the default for children with Family Link accounts and for anyone Google thinks may be under 18. On a network you run, you can enforce it by pointing Google’s domains at forcesafesearch.google.com in your DNS.

SafeSearch only covers Google Search. It doesn’t stop anyone typing an address, using another search engine, or following a link, which is why you need one of the filters below as well.

2. Use a family DNS filter

A family DNS service refuses to look up adult sites, so they won’t load in Chrome or any other browser. Set it in your router and it covers every device on your Wi-Fi, or set it in one computer’s network settings.

• Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 for Families: use 1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3 to block malware and adult content. (1.1.1.2 and 1.0.0.2 block malware only.)
• OpenDNS FamilyShield: use 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123. It blocks adult content, with nothing to set up.
• NextDNS adds parental controls you can adjust, including your own list of blocked sites and enforced SafeSearch.

Check one thing in Chrome: go to Settings, Privacy and security, then Security, and look at Use secure DNS. If it’s set to a custom provider, Chrome bypasses your network’s DNS and your filter with it. Keep it on your current service provider.

3. Limit adult websites with Screen Time (Mac and iPhone)

On a Mac, open System Settings, then Screen Time, then Content & Privacy, and turn it on. Open App Store, Media, Web, & Games and choose Limit Adult Websites. Apple lists this under Safari, and people often report that Chrome ignores it, so test it in Chrome and add a DNS filter if adult sites still load.

On an iPhone, open Settings, then Screen Time, then Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn them on, and set web content to Limit Adult Websites. On iPhone it’s been reported to apply in Chrome as well as Safari.

4. For a child: Family Link

If your child has a Google Account supervised with Family Link, open the Family Link app, select your child, and go to Controls, then Google Chrome and Web. Choose Try to block explicit sites, or Only allow approved sites for younger children. SafeSearch defaults to Filter for them and only a parent can change it, Incognito is turned off, and you can block extra sites under Manage sites.

It works in Chrome wherever your child is signed in, on Android, Chromebooks, Windows, Mac and iPhone. It doesn’t cover other browsers on a computer or iPhone, so pair it with a DNS filter. On Windows, Microsoft Family Safety’s web filter only works in Microsoft Edge, and it blocks other browsers, Chrome included, while it’s on.

What site blocking can’t catch

Everything above works on search results and whole websites. Site filters usually let X, Reddit and Instagram through, since they aren’t adult sites, and the explicit posts in those feeds come with them. SafeSearch doesn’t apply inside them either.

Each platform has its own settings, and they’re worth turning on: see how to stop seeing NSFW posts on X and how to turn off NSFW on Reddit. But they only work on posts someone labeled as sensitive, and plenty aren’t.

Questions