How to Block Adult Websites on your Window PC.
As with so many other good things, one of the bad things about the Internet is the widespread availability of adult websites. More often than not, these NSFW sites (not suitable for the job) can easily distort the mind of a child and have serious consequences in the long run. Not to mention Trojans, viruses, and other malware from these dubious sites that can put your financial and personal identity at risk.
While you can always use a browser extension to block adult content on a specific browser, they can be easily bypassed with a proxy or other web browser. To help you with that, here are some of the best ways to block adult sites on Windows with and without using any software. Let’s start.
Also Read:Â Â how to completely block adult sites on my phone
1. Windows Parental Control
The easiest way to block adult sites, or even any time-wasting sites (like Instagram and Reddit), is to use the native Parental Controls in Windows 10. However, keep in mind that you’ll need a Microsoft account (not a local account) to do this. entry) and create different users for yourself or your kids.
First, create a local user for your child.
To do this, go to Settings Accounts Family & other people. Select Add Family Member and create new users for your child. Remember that you need to add your child’s email address here, so make sure you have it close at hand.
After that, go to Windows 10 family settings and sign in to directly manage your kids’ accounts.
Once logged in, you will see a dashboard that allows you to set time limits, block sites, filter content, and more. Here we are interested in blocking websites, so click on “Browse the web” and select “Block inappropriate Web sites”. This will block adult content in Edge and Internet Explorer, and you can further customize it to prevent the child from launching the Chrome or Firefox browser. However, this is far from ideal, your kids can always use proxy sites or install a new browser to get around this.
2. Block adult content using OpenDNS
The fastest, most efficient, and easiest way to properly block and filter content is to use the OpenDNS service. OpenDNS is a public DNS service that can intercept, filter, or block content based on your settings. If you don’t know, DNS translates a human-readable web address like google.com into a machine-readable IP address like 192.168.0.125. In this case, we’ll use OpenDNS to block NSFW content, however there are other DNS providers like Clean Browsing that do a similar job. The steps will be the same.
So, to get started with OpenDNS, go to the official website and sign up for a free account.
When you finish registering, OpenDNS will provide you with the IP addresses of its DNS service. We need to use these IP addresses on our system or router to start using OpenDNS.
Luckily, OpenDNS has specific instructions on how to change the DNS address on your computer or router. Just click on the appropriate option displayed just below the IP addresses.
Home routers: If your home has a router, select this option. You will be taken to a page where you will find instructions for your specific router.
Computer Workstations and Laptops: This option provides instructions on how to change the DNS address on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. I will show you how to easily change DNS address in Windows, just follow the instructions below.
Smart Devices: This option shows instructions for other smart devices such as smartphones, PlayStation, Xbox, Apple TV, etc.
OpenDNS configuration
To configure filtering, click the Control Panel link on the top navigation bar. On the next page, go to the “Settings” tab. Typically, your current IP address has already been added to the fields. Just click the Add Network button.
You will be prompted for a friendly name to easily recognize the network. So, enter a name and click the “Finish” button If you are using a dynamic IP, select the Yes, this is dynamic checkbox, and then click the OpeDNS Updated for Windows link to download the OpenDNS software.
That’s it, you’ve added the network. Install OpenDNS Updater and log into your account so that it can automatically update the IP address with OpenDNS if you have a dynamic IP address (an IP address that changes every time you turn on the Internet).
After creating the network, click on the IP address to configure it.
Now select the “Custom” button, select the “Pornography” checkbox, and then click on the “Apply” button to save your changes. That’s all there is to it.
Add OpenDNS to Windows
Setting up DNS is pretty easy with DNS Jumper, a free portable software for quickly changing DNS settings in Windows. To get started download DNS Jumper, extract the folder and run the EXE file.
Now select “USA – OpenDNS” from the dropdown menu and click the “Apply DNS” button.
From now on, all adult websites will be blocked according to your settings. You can also block other categories of content, such as adult themes, nudity, etc., if needed using OpenDNS.
Also Read:Â Â 4 best ways to block websites on Android 2020
3. Block adult content using a program
If you don’t want to mess with your DNS settings, the second easiest way is to use a software called Qustodio. The free version of the software allows you to track, filter and block one user on one system. The program is very easy to use and in order to use it you first need to register for the service.
So, go to the official website, enter your name, email address, new password and click the “Get Started Free” button. We are going to use this email address and password to log into Qustodio on our computer.
RELATED: 5 Best Parental Control Apps for Android
On the next page, click the Add My First User button.
Now enter your child’s details such as name, year of birth, gender, and click the “Save” button.
Here on this page, click the “Protect this device” button.
The above action will download the Qustodio software. Install the software like any other Windows software.
Once the installation is complete, open Qustodio, select the “I already have a Qustodio account” radio button, and then click Next. On the next screen, log in using your registered email address and password.
Here enter the name of the device, select the Hide Qustodio on this device check box and click Next.
Since we have already created a user earlier, click the “Select this user” button.
That’s all there is to it. You are done with the setup. Click the Go to My Family Portal button.
The above action will open the online configuration page. Sign in to your account to manage your Qustodio settings. The dashboard displays which account is online, as well as a summary of the activity of that child account.
By default, Qustodio blocks all inappropriate content like pornography, gambling, violence, etc. To change block parameters, go to the “Rules” page.
As you can see, some website categories are limited by default.
If you want to further restrict the category of a website, click on the category name and then select the Block Website Category option and you’re done.
That’s all there is to it. From now on, all adult content will be blocked by the software. If a user tries to access any adult site, they will automatically be redirected to Google. In case you’re wondering, even on Google and other major search engines, Safe Search is enabled and blocked from filtering explicit content.
4. Banning adults using the hosts file
Alternatively, you can use the windows hosts file to block websites. This method is especially useful if you know which websites to block. Although you can edit the hosts file using Notepad, we are going to use a free software called BlueLifeHosts Editor to edit the hosts file. This makes it easy and safe to add and remove websites from the hosts file.
BlueLifeHosts Editor is a free portable software that allows you to edit your hosts file correctly without any errors or syntax errors. So, download the software, extract it and run the EXE file.
Once opened, enter a web address in the box and click the “+” icon in the top navigation bar. Now click the “Save” button to save your changes.
This action will add the website to the hosts file and will be blocked.
If a user tries to access the website they just blocked, they will receive an error message like this.
If you ever want to go back, just delete the entry or uncheck the box and you’re done.
When using this method, keep in mind that anyone with administrator rights and know-how to access the hosts file can modify or delete entries.
Closing words
That’s all there is to it and it’s very easy to block adult sites. While these blockers are not 100% proof, they do the job. If you are trying to get rid of an addiction, I recommend that you do not use your computer in secluded areas or in your bedroom for several days. And check out a subreddit like NoFap.
Share your thoughts and experiences on using the above methods to block adults on Windows.
Also Read:Â How to Block Websites on Chrome Browser on Android
How to Block Adult Websites on your Window PC
Comment on “How to Block Adult Websites on your Window PC”