A website is a collection of related network web resources such as web pages and multimedia content which are typically identified with a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Sometimes, you might need to block certain websites, for example, to configure the computer for office use or restrict some websites for your home use. Therefore, in this article, we will teach you how to block websites on Windows 10.
How to block Websites from Opening on Windows 10?
When it comes to blocking sites on Windows 10, there are numerous ways of doing that. Mostly, you can search them through browsers, so you can block them on the browser that is being used. Also, our systems have a hosts file which you can use to block any site you want by editing it and putting the web address in it. We will discuss all the possible methods about how to block sites in different browsers or by using your system hosts file.
Method 1: Blocking Websites through Hosts File
In this method, we will be editing the hosts file in our system directory and putting the website’s address in the file to block them. Make sure you have permission to access the host file and always open it as administrator on the notepad for editing. Follow the steps below:
- Open your “Notepad” as an administrator. Press Windows + S, type “notepad” in the dialogue box, right-click on the application and select Run as administrator.
- Now click “File” and then “Open”
- Then, go to the following address:
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts
- Locate the “hosts” file and open it
- Now scroll down to the bottom and click on the line after the last item
Note: You can create a space between the last line and the one you typing, just to be safe. - Here you need to type your localhost IP and URL/Address for websites:
127.0.0.1 www.facebook.com
Note: Use tab for the space between IP and address. The IP will remain the same for every web address you add because it is your localhost IP, but only the website URL will be changing each time
- And select File, then Save
- Now try, the website will be blocked
Note: You may need to restart your PC for it to work.
Method 2: Blocking Websites in Firefox
Firefox has some add-ons which allow you to block websites by adding the URL in them. You can get these Add-ons for free, and it has a lot of features, like a password for unblocking the sites, work mode, and block by words. To add the Add-ons, follow the steps below:
- Open Mozilla Firefox
- Click on the “Settings Bar” on the top right corner
- Select Add-ons (Shortcut – Ctrl + Shift + A)
- Now search for “Block Site” in the search box
- Open the one that has more users and click “Add to Firefox”
- Then you add any web address in it and that will block it for Firefox
- You can also add Password to your settings by selecting it on left-side panel, this will protect the blocked sites, so no one can unblock sites back.
Method 3: Blocking Website in Chrome
Please click here to view the method on how to block a website in Chrome.
Method 4: Blocking Websites in Edge
Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer has an option for blocking the site, and it’s available in the Internet properties. You can restrict sites by this feature available in the security tab of properties and add a site to it manually by their URL. To block sites in Edge follow the steps below:
- Open Run by pressing (Window + R) buttons on a keyboard
- Now type “inetcpl.cpl” in the text box, and press Enter
- A window will pop up for Internet Properties, then Select Security tab in the properties
- Now select the “Restricted Sites” Zone and click on “Sites”
- Here you can add any website that you want to block and press Add, and then you can close and save it.
