how to ban websites on mac

How to Ban Websites on Mac

To ban websites on a Mac, you can use the built-in parental controls feature or modify the hosts file. Here are the steps for each method:

  1. Using Parental Controls:
  2. Open "System Preferences" on your Mac.
  3. Click on "Screen Time" or "Parental Controls" (depending on your macOS version).
  4. Click on the user account for which you want to ban websites.
  5. Go to the "Content & Privacy" or "Web" tab.
  6. Click on "Limit Adult Websites" or "Try to limit access to adult websites".
  7. Click on the "Customize..." button.
  8. Under "Never allow these websites", click on the "+" button and add the websites you want to ban.

  9. Click on "OK" or "Apply" to save the changes.

  10. Modifying the Hosts File:

  11. Open the "Terminal" application on your Mac.
  12. Type sudo nano /etc/hosts and press Enter.
  13. Enter your administrator password when prompted.
  14. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the bottom of the file.
  15. Add a new line for each website you want to ban in the following format: 127.0.0.1 website.com.
  16. Press Ctrl+O to save the file, then press Ctrl+X to exit the editor.
  17. Flush the DNS cache by typing sudo dscacheutil -flushcache in the Terminal and pressing Enter.

Please note that modifying the hosts file requires administrative privileges and will affect all user accounts on the Mac.