You’re staring at the screen again. You meant to check one email, but somehow you’ve spent forty minutes scrolling through a subreddit about vintage fountain pens or watching a cat play the piano. It happens. Digital distractions are designed to be sticky, and sometimes the only way to get your brain back is to cut the cord entirely. But honestly, "blocking" isn't just one thing. It's a spectrum. Depending on whether you're trying to save your own productivity or keep a kid away from the darker corners of the web, the "how" changes drastically.
The Browser Level: Quick and Dirty
If you just need to stop yourself from visiting a specific gossip site during work hours, start small. Most people overcomplicate this. You don't need a degree in network engineering to stop Chrome from loading a URL.
Browser extensions are the easiest entry point. StayFocusd and BlockSite are the heavy hitters here. They work by intercepting the request before the page loads. You type in the URL, hit save, and the site is "gone." Kind of. The problem? It’s too easy to cheat. If you’re the one who set the password, you’re the one who can break it.
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I’ve seen people use Chrome's built-in "Site Settings" to revoke permissions, but that’s not a true block. It just stops the site from using your camera or showing notifications. To truly block a website at the browser level, you’re looking at extensions that offer "nuclear options"—modes where you literally cannot disable the block until a timer runs out.
Why browser blocks fail
They are fragile. You open Incognito mode? The block is usually gone. You download Firefox? The block doesn't exist there. If you are serious about this, you have to move up the chain to the operating system or the network.
Using the Hosts File: The Old School Ninja Move
This is the method for people who want a permanent, system-wide solution without downloading extra software. Every computer has a "hosts" file. It’s basically a local phone book that tells your computer which IP address belongs to which domain name.
When you want to block a website using this method, you are essentially lying to your computer. You tell it that "facebook.com" lives at the address 127.0.0.1. That address is a "loopback"—it points right back to your own machine. Your computer tries to find the site on itself, fails, and gives up.
- On Windows, you’ll find this at
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. - On a Mac, you open the Terminal and type
sudo nano /etc/hosts.
It feels a bit "Matrix," but it’s incredibly effective because it works across every browser you have installed. No extension to disable. No "Incognito" workaround. You just have to be comfortable with a text editor and have admin rights. Just be careful; one wrong character in this file can mess with your internet connectivity.
Screen Time and Digital Wellbeing
Apple and Google finally realized we are all addicted to our phones. Their solution? Integrated blocking.
On an iPhone or Mac, Screen Time is surprisingly robust. Under "Content & Privacy Restrictions," you can limit adult websites or specific URLs. What most people miss is the "Always Allowed" list. If you’re trying to go on a digital detox, it’s often better to block everything and only allow five or six essential sites.
Android’s Digital Wellbeing and Family Link do similar things. If you’re a parent, Family Link is basically the gold standard for free tools. You can see what they’re looking at and shut it down remotely. It’s a bit Big Brother, sure, but it’s effective.
The Router: The Ultimate "Kill Switch"
If you want to block a website for every single device in your house—the Xbox, the tablets, your smart fridge—you do it at the router level.
Log in to your router’s admin panel (usually something like 192.168.1.1). Look for "Parental Controls" or "Access Control." Most modern routers from Asus, Netgear, or TP-Link have a simple interface where you can blacklist keywords or specific domains.
The beauty of this? It’s device-agnostic.
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The downside? If your kid is smart enough to use a VPN, they’ll sail right past this block. VPNs encrypt the traffic, so the router can't see which site is being requested. It’s a constant arms race.
DNS Filtering: The Professional Grade Choice
If you want something more sophisticated than a router block but easier than editing system files, use a DNS filter. OpenDNS (owned by Cisco) and NextDNS are the big names here.
Think of DNS as the GPS of the internet. By changing your DNS settings to point to a filtered provider, you can block entire categories of sites—like "Gambling," "Social Media," or "Phishing"—with one click.
NextDNS is particularly cool because it gives you a dashboard. You can see exactly how many times your devices tried to ping a blocked site. It’s eye-opening. You realize just how many trackers and "junk" sites your computer tries to talk to every minute. Setting this up usually involves changing a couple of numbers in your Wi-Fi settings, and it covers everything on that network.
Common Myths About Blocking
People think "Incognito" or "Private Browsing" is a way to get around blocks. That’s only true for browser extensions. If you’ve blocked a site at the Hosts file or Router level, Incognito won’t save you.
Another misconception is that blocking a site will speed up your internet. Sometimes, yes, because you aren't loading heavy scripts from a distraction-filled site. But generally, the "blocking" mechanism itself adds a tiny, almost imperceptible delay as the request is checked against your blacklist.
When Blocking Isn't Enough
Sometimes the problem isn't the website. It's the habit.
Research from experts like Nir Eyal, author of Indistractable, suggests that we often turn to these sites because of internal triggers—boredom, stress, or anxiety. Blocking the site is just treating the symptom. You block Reddit, and suddenly you’re spending two hours on Wikipedia. You’ve moved the distraction, not solved the impulse.
If you’re blocking for productivity, consider "Whitelisting" instead of "Blacklisting."
Instead of trying to block the infinite void of the internet, block everything except what you need for work. It’s a much more aggressive stance, but for deep work, it’s the only thing that really functions.
Practical Steps to Take Right Now
Stop overthinking it. Pick the level of "friction" you need.
- For minor distractions: Install a browser extension like Cold Turkey (Windows/Mac). It’s much harder to quit than basic Chrome extensions.
- For household safety: Switch your router’s DNS to CleanBrowsing or OpenDNS FamilyShield. It takes five minutes and protects everyone.
- For serious self-control: Edit your hosts file. It’s the most "permanent" feeling solution that doesn't cost a dime.
- For mobile: Use the built-in Screen Time (iOS) or Digital Wellbeing (Android) and have a friend or partner set the passcode so you can't override it in a moment of weakness.
Blocking is about creating a "choice architecture" where the right thing to do is the easiest thing to do. If you have to enter a 20-digit password just to check Twitter, you’ll probably find something better to do with your time.