How to block YouTube on a computer (in Chrome)

Chrome has no setting that blocks a website, so to block YouTube on a computer you need a site-blocking extension, parental controls, or a block on the whole computer or network. Here’s how each works, and how to block just the parts of YouTube you don’t want, if you’d rather keep the rest.

Updated November 2, 2026

Why Chrome can’t do it on its own

Chrome’s site settings control what a site is allowed to do, like send notifications or use your location. They don’t stop it loading. The built-in blocking Chrome has is for accounts someone else manages: a child’s account in Family Link, or a work or school computer whose administrator blocks sites by policy. Our guide to blocking websites on Chrome covers this in more detail.

1. A site-blocking extension (the quickest, for yourself)

The Chrome Web Store has plenty of free site blockers. Install one, add youtube.com to its list, and Chrome shows a block page instead of YouTube. Some add schedules or a password.

The catch: you can switch an extension off in a few clicks, extensions don’t run in Incognito unless you allow them to, and the block doesn’t follow you to another browser.

2. Family Link, for a child’s account

If your child has a Google Account supervised with Family Link:

  1. Open the Family Link app and select your child.
  2. Tap Controls, then Google Chrome and Web.
  3. Under Manage sites, open the blocked sites list and tap Add a website.
  4. Enter youtube. Google’s help says a name on its own blocks the whole domain, while www.youtube.com blocks only that exact address.

On a Windows or Mac computer, this only holds while your child is signed in to Chrome. Google warns they can sign out, switch to another Chrome profile, or use another browser, and Family Link’s Chrome settings won’t apply there.

3. Screen Time on a Mac, family settings on Windows

Mac: open System Settings, then Screen Time, and find the website restrictions (under Apps & Websites, then Restrictions, in recent versions of macOS, and under Content & Privacy in older ones). Choose Limit Adult Websites, click Customize, and add youtube.com to the restricted list. Set a Screen Time passcode, or anyone can undo it. Apple’s help doesn’t say which browsers this covers, so check that YouTube is blocked in Chrome afterward.

Windows: Microsoft Family Safety can block sites for a member of your Microsoft family group, but its web filters only work in Microsoft Edge. With them on, Microsoft blocks other browsers instead, so it ends up blocking Chrome, not YouTube in Chrome.

4. The hosts file, DNS or your router

  • Hosts file: adding youtube.com and www.youtube.com to your computer’s hosts file, pointed at 0.0.0.0, blocks them in every browser on that computer. It takes administrator rights, and anyone with those rights can undo it.
  • DNS filter or router: many routers and DNS filtering services can block a domain for every device on your Wi-Fi. A phone on mobile data isn’t covered.

Before you block all of YouTube

Most people don’t want to lose YouTube completely. They want the tutorials, the music and the channels they chose, without the rabbit hole. YouTube’s own tools help a little: Not interested works one video at a time, Don’t recommend channel keeps a channel off Home (see how to block a YouTube channel), and the app has a Shorts feed limit. None of them can take out a whole topic.

Block the parts, keep the rest

Remedy is a Chrome extension that filters YouTube as you browse. Tell it, in your own words, what you’re done seeing, like “no true crime”, “no reaction videos” or “nothing from” a channel you name, and it removes those videos from your Home page, search results, the sidebar and Shorts, and filters the comments too.

It doesn’t block YouTube itself or limit your time on it: if you want YouTube gone, use one of the options above. It works on a computer, in Chrome, and on X, Reddit, Instagram and other sites too.

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

Questions

Can you block YouTube in Chrome without an extension?

Not with a Chrome setting. Without an extension, you can block it with Family Link for a child’s account, Screen Time on a Mac, your computer’s hosts file, or a DNS or router filter.

How do I block YouTube in Chrome for my child?

In the Family Link app, open your child’s Controls, then Google Chrome and Web, and add youtube to their blocked sites. On a Windows or Mac computer it only applies while they’re signed in to Chrome with that account.

Does blocking YouTube in Chrome block the YouTube app?

No. A block in Chrome only covers Chrome. Phones, tablets and TVs need their own parental controls.