How to block websites on Chrome: every method that works

Chrome on a computer has no built-in setting to block a website, so the quickest way is a site-blocking extension: add one from the Chrome Web Store, then add the site to its list. For a child, use Google Family Link, and to block a site in every browser, use your computer’s hosts file or a filtering DNS service.

Updated November 2, 2026

Which method to use

  • Blocking a distraction for yourself: a site-blocking extension (method 1).
  • A child’s account: Family Link (method 2).
  • A work or school computer: Chrome policy, set by an administrator (method 3).
  • Every browser on one computer: the hosts file (method 4).
  • Every device on your Wi-Fi: DNS filtering (method 5).

1. Use a site-blocking extension

  1. Open the Chrome Web Store and search for a site blocker. Two well-known ones are BlockSite (free, with a paid Premium plan) and LeechBlock NG (free).
  2. Click Add to Chrome, then Add extension.
  3. Open the extension from the puzzle-piece icon in Chrome’s toolbar, and add the site you want to block.

Extensions don’t run in Incognito windows unless you let them. Click the three dots in Chrome, then Extensions, then Manage extensions. Click Details on the blocker and turn on Allow in Incognito.

Most blockers can also block on a schedule or after a daily time limit, and some lock their settings with a password. Anyone at the computer can still switch an extension off, so it’s a speed bump, not a lock. A blocker also sees every site you visit, so read the privacy section of its store listing first.

2. Use Family Link for a child’s account

If your child’s Google Account is supervised with Family Link:

  1. Open the Family Link app and select your child.
  2. Tap Controls, then Google Chrome and Web.
  3. Choose Allow all sites, Try to block explicit sites or Only allow approved sites.
  4. To block one site, go to Manage sites, open the blocked sites list, tap Add a website, and enter it.

It applies in Chrome wherever your child is signed in with that account, on Android, Chromebooks, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and iPad, and Incognito is off for them. On a computer or iPhone it doesn’t cover other browsers, and Google notes a child can get around it by signing out of Chrome or switching profiles.

3. Use Chrome policy on a managed computer

Companies and schools block sites with Chrome’s URLBlocklist policy: in the Google Admin console, it’s under Devices, Chrome, Settings, Content, then URL Blocking, and in Windows Group Policy it’s Block access to a list of URLs. To see the policies on your Chrome, open chrome://policy. If you’re not the administrator, ask your IT team.

4. Block it for the whole computer

The hosts file (Windows and Mac)

The hosts file blocks a site in every browser on the computer, with nothing to install.

  • Windows: open Notepad as an administrator (right-click it and choose Run as administrator), then open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.
  • Mac: open Terminal, type sudo nano /etc/hosts, and enter your password.

Add a line for each address, like 0.0.0.0 example.com and 0.0.0.0 www.example.com, then save and restart Chrome. It only blocks the exact names you list, so include the www. version and any other addresses the site uses. To unblock, delete the lines.

Screen Time (Mac)

In System Settings, click Screen Time, then Content & Privacy, and turn it on. Open App Store, Media, Web, & Games, choose Limit Adult Websites, click Customize, and add the site to the Restricted list.

Apple lists this setting under Safari, and many people report that Chrome ignores it. Test it in Chrome before you rely on it, and if the site still loads, use the hosts file.

Microsoft Family Safety (Windows)

Family Safety can block websites for a child in your Microsoft family group, but its filters only work in Microsoft Edge. With Filter inappropriate websites and searches on, other browsers, Chrome included, are blocked, and if you unblock one, the filter may not work in it. So it keeps a child in Edge rather than blocking sites in Chrome.

5. Block it for every device with DNS

Every website visit starts with a DNS lookup, and some DNS services filter what they’ll look up. Set one 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: 1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3 block malware and adult content.
  • OpenDNS FamilyShield: 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123 block adult content.
  • NextDNS lets you block any site you choose, as well as whole categories.

Many routers also have parental controls or a site blocklist of their own.

One catch: Chrome has its own Use secure DNS setting, under Settings, Privacy and security, then Security. If it’s set to a custom provider, Chrome skips your network’s DNS, and your filter with it, so keep it on your current service provider.

Chrome on Android and iPhone

Chrome on phones doesn’t run extensions, so the options are different.

  • Android: for a child, use Family Link. For yourself, Digital Wellbeing can put a daily timer on a site: in your phone’s Settings, open Digital Wellbeing (or Digital Wellbeing & parental controls), tap Chrome in the chart, then tap Set site timer next to the site. It limits the site rather than blocking it outright.
  • iPhone: in Settings, open Screen Time, then Content & Privacy Restrictions, and turn them on. In the web content setting, choose Limit Adult Websites and add the site to the list that’s never allowed. This has been reported to work in Chrome as well as Safari, but check the site really is blocked in Chrome.

When you don’t want to block the whole site

Often the site isn’t the problem, just part of it: politics on X, true crime on YouTube, one subreddit. Blocking the whole site throws out what you went there for, and it’s tempting to unblock it the first time you need something from it. For YouTube, see how to block YouTube on a computer, which covers hiding parts of it too, and for Reddit, how to block a subreddit.

Keep the site, lose what you don’t want

Remedy is a Chrome extension that filters sites instead of blocking them. Tell it what you don’t want, with categories like Political or Rage-bait, or in your own words (“no golf”, “nothing about the election”), and it removes those posts, comments and videos as you scroll, on X, Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, TikTok and any other site you add.

Remedy doesn’t block whole websites or limit your time, so if you want a site gone completely, use one of the methods above. It works on a computer, in Chrome.

Add Remedy to ChromeYour first day is free, no account needed. Plans from $4.92 a month. On a computer, in Chrome.

Questions

Does Chrome have a built-in website blocker?

Not for an adult using their own computer. Chrome only blocks sites for a child supervised with Family Link, or when an administrator manages Chrome. Everyone else needs an extension or a setting outside Chrome.

How do I block a website on Chrome without an extension?

Add it to your computer’s hosts file, which blocks it in every browser. For a child, use Family Link. On a work or school computer, your administrator can add it to Chrome’s URL blocklist.

Do blocked sites still open in Incognito?

A blocking extension only works in Incognito if you turn on Allow in Incognito for it. The hosts file and DNS filters work in Incognito too, and Family Link turns Incognito off for a supervised child.

How do I unblock a website on Chrome?

Undo it wherever you blocked it: remove the site from the extension’s list, delete its lines from the hosts file, or remove it from the blocked sites in Family Link.