Block Apps
How to Block Apps on Mac
Prevent apps from being opened, disable app internet connections, and schedule access to apps on Mac.
If you use a content filter on a Mac computer, you might need to block certain apps in order to prevent the filter from being bypassed. Furthermore, many of our customers want to restrict access to certain apps to specific times of day. In this guide, we'll go through the most effective ways to block apps on Mac and hopefully give you some ideas that you can use to improve your blocking system.
You have a few options to consider if you’re a Mac user:
- Set a time limit for how long an app can be used daily.
- Prevent an app from being opened always.
- Disable the internet associated with an app to disable the Mac app and the browser version of the app.
- Block based on a schedule to restrict when an app can be used.
- Restrict the app store or websites where apps can be downloaded.
Of these options, the two most effective ways to block an app is with either an application blocker or device management. However, we’ll take a look at each option in more detail.
Set Low Application Time Limits with Screen Time
The simplest way to block an app on a Mac is to use Screen Time . Screen Time settings have the extra benefit of syncing across your devices, so this is great if have other devices that work within the Apple Ecosystem.
However, Screen Time does have its limitations. It’s not perfect, and it’s relatively easy to undo your restrictions later on (especially on Mac).
For other apps, you won’t be able to completely disable them with Screen Time. What you can do instead is set a very low App Limit.
In Screen Time, go to App Limits and click the plus icon next:
From here, you can search for an app (in this case, safari). Select it, then set a time limit of 1 minute:
Prevent Apps from Being Opened
Application blockers are another relatively easy way to block apps. There are two options that we highly recommend, Cold Turkey and Freedom Blocker.
First, you will need to create a block:
Within this new block, choose Applications:
From here you will have a few options. For example, you could block a specific application, one at a time:
Clicking the Add application button will open a menu where you can choose a specific app:
Once you've chosen an app, select Open near the bottom:
You can block an entire folder filled with applications instead by choosing this option instead:
Once you’ve selected the app and made your changes, be sure to lock your block as well:
Disable the Internet Connection for an App with a DNS Content Policy
Many applications on your Mac need an internet connection in order to function properly. If this is the case, you also have the option to block the Mac application using your DNS Content Policy .
You won’t be able to stop the app from being opened on your Mac (if it is already installed), but you can prevent it from functioning properly. Depending what type it is, you might be able to block the website used to download the software in the first place or optionally limit the app store.
Create a Block Rule to Disable a Application
To disable an app's connection to the internet, you can create a block rule for either the website, app, or entire category of app:
Start by looking in the Apps column under your Block Rule, or search for it at the top of the menu (for example, looking for any app with "chat" in the name):
Tech Lockdown can help you block dozens of apps, but if you don’t see it listed, you may be able to add the domain instead. For example, youtube.com instead of the YouTube app:
Note, you can also block keywords contained within the domain name of a website as well, we have a separate guide dedicated to explaining how to block websites with keywords, if you're interested.
Block the Website Use to Download the App
Another option to consider is to block the website you would download the application from. We’ll take a simple example like Firefox:
Say I didn’t want to have the ability to even download the Firefox browser; I can prevent this by blocking the website Firefox uses to let me download the browser (in this case, it's "www.mozilla.org"):
This blocks access to the webpage used to download any version of Firefox, but just keep in mind that it blocks everything on Mozilla’s website.
Block a App on a Schedule
If you want to selectively block an app at certain times of the day, you could use a scheduled rule:
On the Tech Lockdown dashboard, you can create a scheduled block rule, which means that if the app you want to block is unable to access the internet until your schedule disables that rule:
By default, all block rules should have no schedule set (which means that they will always be enabled):
You can change it so that way it applies to specific times on specific days of the week:
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best way to disable the Safari browser?
This can get complicated, so I'd recommend checking out our blocking Safari guide for more information.
Will Screen Time let me completely block an app?
Unfortunately, not completely. Screen Time lets you set a low App Limit but you can't block the app entirely.
Can I Block Utility Apps like Activity Monitory on Mac?
Yes. You can do this with Cold Turkey.
Check under the Utilities folder. In this example, I can add Activity Monitor to a block: