How to Block Websites on Chrome: 7 Methods Compared

Chrome has no “block this site” button, so you have to add one. An extension takes a minute. Chrome’s URLBlocklist policy, the hosts file, a DNS filter or Family Link take longer, but nobody can switch them off from inside the browser.

Choose based on who the block is for and how easily they could undo it. An extension holds on a good day. A block that needs an admin password still holds on a bad one. Every method below also has a gap, such as Incognito, Chrome’s Secure DNS or signing out of Chrome, and each section explains how to close it.

Which method fits your situation?

Method	Effort	Covers	Incognito	Who can undo it
Extension	Low	Chrome only	Only if allowed	Anyone at the keyboard, in seconds
URLBlocklist policy	Medium	Chrome only	Yes	Someone with admin rights
Hosts file	Medium	All browsers on that computer	Yes	Someone with admin rights
DNS filter on the device	Medium	All browsers on that device	Yes	Admin rights, or Chrome’s Secure DNS setting
Router filter or DNS	Medium	Every device on your Wi-Fi	Yes	Router login; mobile data or a VPN gets around it
Family Link	Low	Chrome while signed in to the child’s account	Turned off	Signing out of Chrome on a computer or iPhone
Site settings (JavaScript)	Low	One site, in Chrome	No	Anyone, in seconds

The methods differ most in where the block sits. The further it is from the browser, the more it covers and the more effort it takes to remove.

Fastest: block sites with a Chrome extension

To install one, open the Chrome Web Store, open the extension’s page, click Add to Chrome and then Add extension. Pin it from the puzzle-piece menu so it’s easy to find, then add sites in the extension’s own settings.

Three extensions are still listed and updated, even though Google has removed Manifest V2 extensions from the store:

• LeechBlock NG: free, open source, no account. It offers up to 30 block sets, time limits, a lockdown mode, a delay before a site opens, and a password or access code to change settings. The store lists about 100,000 users (updated 12 October 2026). See how it compares in our LeechBlock alternatives page.
• BlockSite: blocklists and schedules. The store header shows 1,000,000+ users, version 7.1.1, updated 26 July 2026. Some features, such as unlimited blocking and scheduled sessions, come with the paid plan, which was $39.99 for lifetime access on BlockSite’s pricing page in October 2026. More on it in our BlockSite comparison.
• StayFocusd: gives you a daily time allowance per site instead of a hard block. Once the time is used up, the site stays blocked until the next day.
• uBlacklist: hides chosen sites from Google search results. It’s useful if your habit starts with a search.

Turn on Incognito, or the block has a hole

Extensions don’t run in Incognito by default. Go to chrome://extensions, click Details on your blocker and turn on Allow in Incognito.

Even then, an extension is the easiest block to remove. Uninstalling it from chrome://extensions takes two clicks, and it does nothing in Safari or Firefox. If that’s how your blocks usually end, use one of the methods below. Our ranking of website blockers covers the stricter apps.

Without an extension: Chrome’s URLBlocklist policy

Chrome reads policies set by the operating system. Schools and companies use them, but you can set them on your own machine. A site on the URLBlocklist doesn’t load, and there’s no setting in Chrome to turn the block off. Removing it needs admin rights on the computer. Google’s documentation allows up to 1,000 URLs, and URLAllowlist handles exceptions.

Windows

1. Press Win + R, type regedit and press Enter (admin rights needed).
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome. Create the Google and Chrome keys if they don’t exist (right-click › New › Key).
3. Inside Chrome, create a key named URLBlocklist.
4. Inside it, add one String Value per site, named 1, 2, 3 and so on, with the domain as the data: reddit.com, x.com, facebook.com.
5. Restart Chrome.

If you prefer Group Policy, install Chrome’s administrative templates and use Administrative Templates › Google › Google Chrome › Block access to a list of URLs.

Mac

The reliable route is a configuration profile (managed preferences) that sets URLBlocklist for com.google.Chrome, as Google’s admin guide describes. This is the normal setup on a company Mac managed with MDM.

The defaults write com.google.Chrome URLBlocklist command found in many guides isn’t a dependable block. Chromium’s Mac guide says policies set with defaults apply only at the recommended level and are meant for testing. Adding sudo without a path writes to root’s preferences rather than yours. On a personal Mac without a profile, the hosts file or a blocking app is simpler. Our guide to blocking websites on Mac compares them.

Linux

Create /etc/opt/chrome/policies/managed/blocklist.json with root rights:

{
  "URLBlocklist": ["reddit.com", "x.com", "facebook.com"]
}

Check that it took effect

Open chrome://policy, click Reload policies and look for URLBlocklist in the list. If it’s missing, Chrome isn’t reading your setting. One more catch: Twitter now lives at x.com, so an old twitter.com entry no longer blocks it.

For every browser on one computer: the hosts file

The hosts file points domain names to addresses before any DNS lookup. If you point a site to 127.0.0.1, it fails to load in Chrome, Safari, Firefox and every other app on that computer. Editing it needs admin rights.

It has no wildcards, so add both the bare domain and the www version:

127.0.0.1    reddit.com
127.0.0.1    www.reddit.com
127.0.0.1    x.com
127.0.0.1    www.x.com

Windows: search for Notepad, right-click it and choose Run as administrator. Open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (switch the file filter to All Files), add the lines and save. Then run ipconfig /flushdns in an administrator Command Prompt.

Mac and Linux: run sudo nano /etc/hosts, add the lines, save with Control + O and exit with Control + X. On a Mac, run sudo dscacheutil -flushcache. Restart Chrome so it drops any address it already cached.

The hosts file has no schedules and no categories, and anyone with the admin password can delete the lines. Chromebooks don’t give you access to it, so use DNS filtering or Family Link there instead.

For categories and every app: DNS filtering

A filtering DNS service refuses to look up blocked domains, so the site fails in every browser and app that uses it. Most let you block whole categories (adult, gambling, social media) instead of listing domains one by one.

• NextDNS: custom domain and category blocking with a dashboard. Free up to 300,000 queries a month. Past the limit it keeps working but stops blocking, so a busy household may need the paid plan.
• CleanBrowsing: free preset filters, no account. Family: 185.228.168.168 and 185.228.169.168. Adult: 185.228.168.10 and 185.228.169.11. Security: 185.228.168.9 and 185.228.169.9.
• OpenDNS: FamilyShield is free with no sign-up and blocks adult content (208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123). OpenDNS Home is also free, with custom filtering, and needs an account.

Where to enter the addresses

• Mac: System Settings › Network › Wi-Fi › Details › DNS. Remove the old entries with − and add the new ones with +.
• Windows 11: Settings › Network & internet › Wi-Fi (or Ethernet) › Hardware properties, then Edit next to DNS server assignment and switch to Manual. Labels can differ slightly between builds.
• Android: Settings › Network & internet › Private DNS › Private DNS provider hostname. NextDNS expects the form your-id.dns.nextdns.io. Copy the exact hostname from the Setup tab of your NextDNS account.

Close the Secure DNS gap

Chrome has its own Use secure DNS setting under Settings › Privacy and security › Security. If someone picks a custom provider there, Chrome stops using the DNS filter you set on the device. Cisco’s FamilyShield documentation also lists browser DNS settings, DNS over HTTPS and VPNs as ways around DNS filtering.

To close the gap, set Chrome’s DnsOverHttpsMode policy to off, the same way you set URLBlocklist above (see the Chrome policy list). On Android, Google says Secure DNS isn’t available on managed devices or when parental controls are on.

For every device at home: block at the router

A router filter covers phones, tablets, consoles and guest devices without installing anything on them.

1. Find the router’s address. On Windows, run ipconfig and read Default Gateway. On Mac, go to System Settings › Network › Wi-Fi › Details › TCP/IP and read Router.
2. Type that address (often 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1) into the browser and log in. If you never changed the login, it’s usually on a sticker on the router.
3. Look for Parental Controls, Access Control, URL Filter or Website Blocking. The name depends on the brand.
4. Add the domains and save. If there’s no URL filter, put a filtering DNS service’s addresses in the router’s DNS fields under WAN or Internet settings.

Change the router’s admin password, or the block lasts only until someone looks up the default one. Phones on mobile data, VPNs and Chrome’s Secure DNS with a custom provider all bypass the router, so lock Secure DNS on the computers as described above.

For a child: Family Link’s Chrome controls

Family Link applies Chrome rules to a supervised Google account. In the Family Link app, choose your child, then Controls › Google Chrome and Web › Manage sites. Add entries under Approved sites or Blocked sites. The main setting offers three modes: Allow all sites, Try to block explicit sites, and Only allow approved sites.

A domain rule covers subdomains and other country endings. A website rule matches one exact address, so include www. when you need it. Incognito is turned off for supervised accounts on every platform.

The gap: the rules apply only while the child is signed in to Chrome. On Android and Chromebooks the account is tied to the device. On Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and iPad, a child can sign out of Chrome or switch profiles, and other browsers aren’t managed at all. Pair Family Link with a router DNS filter, and on iPhone add Apple’s Screen Time web filtering.

Chrome’s built-in settings: JavaScript and SafeSearch

You can’t block a site from Chrome’s own settings, but there are two weaker options.

Turn off JavaScript for a site. Go to More › Settings › Privacy and security › Site settings › JavaScript and add the site to the list that isn’t allowed to use it. For a single site, you can also click the icon left of the address and open Site settings. Most feeds and videos stop working, but the page still loads and the setting takes seconds to reverse. Treat it as a speed bump.

Filter search results. At google.com/safesearch, choose Filter, Blur or Off. Admins can lock SafeSearch for a network by mapping Google’s domains to forcesafesearch.google.com. Chrome also has a SafeSearch policy, listed in the Chrome policy list.

On a Mac and keep switching blocks off?

If you’re blocking yourself and every method above ends with you undoing it at 11 p.m., a browser with blocking built in is another option. Browwwser is a Chromium-based browser for macOS 12 or later. A blocked site doesn’t load: Browwwser shows a plain “site is blocked” page, with no countdown and no “continue anyway” button. Because blocking is part of the browser rather than an add-on, there’s no extension to disable. Our built-in website blocker comparison shows how it stacks up against Chrome’s policy and Screen Time.

Lock mode freezes the blocklist behind a recovery password you choose, with no unlock button and no timer. Scheduled blocking covers recurring windows such as work hours (handy for a Reddit-at-work habit). Presets block social media, news, video or shopping in one click. It also closes the macOS apps you add to the list, such as Discord or Steam, while blocking is active. Chrome bookmarks, passwords, history and extensions import in one click.

The limits: it’s macOS only, and it costs $99 a year or $199 once after a 7-day free trial, with a 14-day money-back guarantee (pricing). It blocks sites only inside Browwwser. Its Other Browsers preset can close Chrome and Safari while blocking is on; to block sites in them instead, use another method, such as the hosts file.

Whatever you choose, two layers beat one. A DNS filter covers categories on every device, and a browser-level block (a policy, Family Link or a blocking browser) catches the specific sites you go back to.

Frequently asked questions

Can I block websites on Chrome without an extension?

Yes. Chrome's URLBlocklist policy blocks sites inside Chrome without any extension. The hosts file and DNS filtering block sites in every browser on the device, and a router filter covers the whole network.

Is blacklisting a website the same as blocking it?

Yes. Blacklisting, blocklisting and blocking all mean stopping a specific site from loading. Chrome's own policy calls it URLBlocklist.

Will blocked sites still show up in Google search results?

Yes. These methods stop a site from loading, but they don't remove it from search results. To hide it, add -site:example.com to your search or use the uBlacklist extension.

Can my child get around website blocks in Chrome?

Often, yes. Extensions can be removed, and on a computer or iPhone a child can sign out of Chrome to escape Family Link rules. A router DNS filter plus admin-only accounts is much harder to get around, though mobile data or a VPN still bypasses the router.

How do I block websites in Chrome on a phone?

On Android, use Family Link's Chrome controls or set Private DNS to a filtering provider's hostname. On iPhone, use Apple's Screen Time web filtering for the child's device, and add Family Link if they use Chrome.

How do I unblock a site I blocked?

Undo the method you used. Remove the site in the extension's settings, delete the URLBlocklist entry or policy file and restart Chrome, or delete the matching lines from the hosts file and flush the DNS cache.