How to block websites using host file

What is the Hosts File in Windows? Start Blocking Websites Today. Click for Transcript. Here are the full instructions.

Then, select the schedule type. Internet On will allow internet access to all websites that are not on the URL Block List Custom allowed list will only allow access to specific websites.

Next, set your desired schedule frequency. Daily will enable the schedule every day during the specified time period. Weekly will enable the schedule only on specific days of the week.

Monthly will enable the schedule only on specific months. See you next time! Learn More. Dale Strickland Dale Strickland is the Digital Marketing Manager for CurrentWare, a global provider of user activity monitoring, web filtering, and device control software.

Related posts. Read more. Not recommended. It forces you to decentralize the management of your network. The centralized console of a web filter makes managing multiple devices simple and efficient. Web access permissions can only be done on a per-device basis. Changes to the file also affects all users on the device. Unique web access permissions can be adjusted for each device, user, or workgroup.

Using the hosts file block all websites except approved ones requires you to manually find the IP addresses of the websites you would like to allow, add them to the file, and direct all other traffic to a null route.

Not Supported. You need to specify each and every variation of a URL you would like to block. A web filter allows you to block all URLs within a domain with one wildcard entry.

OneDrive Windows 7 and 8. Copy and Paste Between Android and Windows. Protect Windows 10 From Internet Explorer. Mozilla Fights Double Standard. Connect to a Hidden Wi-Fi Network. Change the Size of the Touch Keyboard. Reader Favorites Take Screenshot on Windows. Mount an ISO image in Windows.

Boot Into Safe Mode. Where to Download Windows Legally. Find Your Lost Product Keys. Clean Install Windows 10 the Easy Way. The Best Tech Newsletter Anywhere Join , subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles.

How-To Geek is where you turn when you want experts to explain technology. Since we launched in , our articles have been read more than 1 billion times. Want to know more? Create a second line like the one above, but use www. Open the command prompt and run ping facebook. Now open your web browser and go to facebook. It might still load! You should now see an error page. Maliciously editing the hosts file used to be a common attack by hackers. Now, web browsers check carefully for certificates to prevent this.

But, you can still try. Another way to not see an error page is to install and set up a web server on your computer and have the hosts file point to that. You can use the same technique but paste in the URLs of various malware and tracking ad sites. There is a pre — made hosts file of malware and ad sites that you can copy and paste into your hosts file.

Moreover, this method may turn out to be cumbersome if you have a long list. Host files let you override Domain Names and allows you to redirect traffic from your computer to a specific IP address. Editing these host files can be dangerous and can cause some apps or websites to not load up at all, especially in Windows That's why Windows 10 doesn't allow you to tinker with these files directly.

You'd have to grant the appropriate permission first. Let's see how to get this done. Step 2: Choose Properties and tap on the Users tab. Once in, select Users and click on Edit.

Step 4: Now open the Hosts file with Notepad, and hit Enter to add a new line after localhost. Type the following address followed by a space and the address of the website you want to block. If it's Facebook, it would be something like, " For multiple websites, enter a new line and then add the address. Having done that, save the file. Now, go back to the browser of your choice and try to connect to the sites which you just blocked.

You will see the 'Site can't be reached' message. This is rather foolproof method where a non-Administrator user profile can not make any changes.