How to Block Websites on Android – How-To Geek

Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek

To block websites on Android, install a third-party app like BlockSite, or use Mozilla Firefox as your browser and get a website-blocking add-on. Switching to a custom DNS server will also block a wide swath of time-wasting and inappropriate websites at once for all Android browsers.

Do you want to block a specific site so it wont distract you when youre working? Or maybe you want to restrict access to inappropriate sites? You can block websites on Android either with or without a dedicated app, and well show you how to do both.

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An easy way to block a website on your Android phone is by using a free site-blocking app. One such app is BlockSite (free but ad-supported), which lets you restrict access to your specified websites at the specified schedule in your web browsers.

Once youve blocked a site with this app, that site isnt accessible in any of your web browsers. Later, you can unblock a site if you want.

To use this method, download and install the free BlockSite app on your phone. Then, launch the app, go through the welcome screens, and give the app all the permissions it needs.

When you reach the apps main screen, select Blocklist followed by the + (plus) button.

On the Add Sites/Apps screen, at the top, tap the text field and type the URL (web link) to the site you want to block. For example, to block wikipedia.org , type wikipedia.org in the text field and then choose the site on the list. You can add multiple sites here to block them on your phone.

Once youve specified the sites, in the apps top-right corner, tap Done.

Select Done in the prompt.

Youve successfully specified the sites you want to block, but your sites arent blocked yet. This is because you need to set up a schedule for when the block comes into effect.

To do that, on the apps main screen, tap Schedule.

Select the days and times when youd like your specified sites to remain blocked. To block them indefinitely, choose Full Week and All Day Long options.

Then, next to Select All, toggle on the option.

And thats all there is to it. Your specified sites are now inaccessible in your phones web browsers. If you try to access one of those sites, youll see a message from BlockSite instead of the actual site content.

If you dont wish to use a third-party app to block sites on your Android phone, you can either restrict website access inside Mozilla Firefox or put a blanket ban on adult sites using custom DNS servers.

If you use Firefox as your primary web browser, a free add-on will restrict access to specific sites in your browser. Note that using this method only blocks your sites in Firefox; your other web browsers will continue to have access to your blocked sites.

To use this method, launch Firefox on your phone. Then, tap the three dots in the top-right corner and choose Add-Ons.

On the Add-Ons page, next to the LeechBlock NG add-on, tap the + (plus) option.

In the open prompts bottom-right corner, tap Add.

When the add-on is installed, select Okay, Got It.

Access Firefoxs Add-Ons page by tapping the three dots in the browsers top-right corner and choosing Add-Ons.

Then, tap LeechBlock NG.

Select Settings.

Tap the large text field and enter the site URLs you want to block. Specify the schedule for when these sites should remain blocked.

Then, scroll down the page and tap Save Options & Close.

And thats it.

From now on, when you try to access a restricted site, Firefox wont load the site for you.

RELATED: How to Block Facebook (or Any Distracting Website)

If youre looking to put a blanket ban on websites containing adult content, pirated media, and malware on your Android phone, use OpenDNS free FamilyShield DNS servers. These servers ensure your phone doesnt load those kinds of websites on your local network.

To begin, launch the Settings app on your Android phone. The exact steps to perform the following process vary by phone model.

In Settings, navigate to Connections > Wi-Fi.

Next to the Wi-Fi network youre connected to, tap the gear icon.

On the screen that opens, tap View More. Then, select the IP Settings option and choose Static.

In the DNS 1 field, enter the following:

Tap the DNS 2 field and enter the following.

At the bottom, tap Save to save your changes.

Your custom DNS servers will now block access to adult websites and other unsafe content on your Android phone.

While youre at it, you may want to learn how to block or limit apps and calls on your Android device to increase your productivity. Its easy to do both of these on your phone.

RELATED: How to Set App Time Limits and Block Apps on Android

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How to Block Websites on Android - How-To Geek