Best Chrome Extensions for Blocking Websites
Best Chrome Extensions for Blocking Websites
Get the most effective website blocking extensions that are difficult to bypass, even for adults.
If you're looking for effective ways to block websites on Chrome, one option you could consider is to use a website blocking chrome extension. There is no shortage of website blocking browsing extensions out there that claim to be effective. However, finding extensions that are useful if you're self-managing your own devices and need an approach that's more difficult to disable can be difficult.
In this post, we'll focus on features that you should prioritize if you're an adult trying to block unwanted content and websites and prevent the extension from being bypassed.
I'll also go into a few of our more advanced recommendations if you're trying to enforce a browsing extension and prevent it from being deleted or disabled.
Choosing an Effective Website Blocker Chrome Extension
When using a website blocker chrome extension, you'll inevitably run into some common issues. By prioritizing these features from the start, or patching some of the common loopholes, you can ensure that the extension is more reliable and effective.
Compatibility with Incognito Windows
The biggest problem that most website blocking plugins for Chrome is that they don't initially work when an Incognito Window is used. In most web browsers, the private browsing window disables extensions during a private browsing session.
You'll have to manually go into the extension's settings and toggle on InPrivate or Incognito window access.
This must be done manually and an extension can't automatically force itself to work in incognito mode. This opens up a loophole, however: What's to stop you from disabling this permission?
One workaround to consider is completely disabling incognito mode and private browsing windows instead. You could also consider using a cross-browser blocking solution, like a DNS Content Policy , that will block websites even if incognito mode is used.
Preventing Unsupported Browsers from being Downloaded
Browser extensions will typically work in other web browsers like Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Brave Browser, and Safari.
However, they need to be set up on each browser individually. If you download a new browser, this could mean you are able to access websites you intended to block.
Unfortunately, a browser extension can't prevent you from downloading or accessing an unsupported browser. Instead, you'll need to use an application blocker for Windows or Mac to restrict other web browsers.
Similar to incognito mode, you could consider adding a fall-through website blocking layer using a DNS Content Policy that works regardless of the browser you are using
Preventing a Website Blocker Extension from being Disabled
It's usually straightforward to disable or completely uninstall a browser extension, which is a major problem if you are trying to block yourself from visiting certain websites.
It's possible to enforce a browser extension so that the option to disable or uninstall it is protected.
The browser extension itself won't have this protectice ability due to extension limitations. We discuss this in more detail in our browser extension enforcement guide .
Recommended Website Blocking Extensions
When using the above criteria to assess extensions, we found a few website blocking extensions that we recommend to our own customers. These website blocking extension approach bypass prevention fairly effectively and provide a good bit of flexibility for targeting the types of websites you want to bloch.
You can combine these extensions with our browser extension enforcement techniques for an even more effective setup.
- Cold Turkey Blocker provides a website blocking chrome extension that connects with a desktop application. This gives the extension more bypass prevention capabilities, like closing the browser after 60 seconds if the chrome extension is disabled.
- The Plucky Chrome extension also comes with a desktop application that can be used to protect the extension.
Using a Cross Browser Website Blocking Solution
Instead of soley depending on a browser extension to block websites, we recommend adding an additional blocking layer that works across all browsers.
For example, you can configure a DNS Content Policy to block websites based on category or keyword.
This will work regardless of the browser you are using and is a great base website blocking layer that can supplement a website blocker browser extension. If you disable the website blocker extension, you'll have some peace of mind that websites are still blocked.