Parents Guide to Blocking Facebook on a Child's Windows computer
Prevent a child from using Facebook on a Windows computer either permanently or temporarily
If you are trying to prevent your child from accessing Facebook on a Windows computer, you might have noticed that this process is not straightforward.
In this guide, we'll walk you through the Windows-specific instructions for blocking Facebook using approaches that work for parents managing a child's Windows device. We'll also go through strategies for permanent or temporary Facebook restriction.
Is it worth completely restricting your child from accessing Facebook on a Windows computer?
Here are a few of our top reasons why you might block Facebook, restricting your child from accessing it entirely on a Windows computer:
Inappropriate Facebook profiles can be difficult to filter out
Facebook profiles are often used to advertise adult content either subtly or blatantly. This can be a particular problem if you are trying to prevent your child from seeking out or accidentally finding adult content.
Facebook might suggest inappropriate content
Facebook might suggest images or videos that you'd rather prevent your child from seeing. Even if parental control preferences are adjusted to hide obvious explicit content, Facebook might still suggest content that can be a "stumbling block" for your child.
Connecting strangers
The Facebook feed includes posts and reels from strangers, not just friends and connections. It's possible for strangers on Facebook to private message your child.
Alternatives to completely blocking Facebook for your child on a Windows computer
Depending on your reasons for wanting to block Facebook for your child, you might find that there are alternative approaches to considerso that your child can still use Facebook on a Windows computer:
Increase transparency around Facebook use
Many of the issues surrounding Facebook can be addressed by increasing transparency around a child's use of it by using a screen monitoring app like LivingRoom for Families. With this approach, a child can have some additional freedom to use platforms that might be problematic without transparency.
Customize preferences for problematic Facebook features
It's possible to customize the Facebook account preferences to minimize the impact of some of the most problematic features of the app. For example, you can customize profile visibility, and content & communication preferences.
Schedule Facebook use
Another approach is to schedule when Facebook is blocked so that your child can still use it sometimes on a Windows computer. You can limit access to the app to specific times of the day where you are able to supervise their use of Facebook. For example, you might choose to only allow Facebook in the morning before school, but block it at night.
Here's how it works:
Add a new block rule
In the Tech Lockdown dashboard, go to the Content Policy section and add a new block rule with Facebook selected
Customize the schedule
Select a schedule if you want to only block Facebook on specific recurring days and times. Otherwise, leave the schedule blank to block Facebook 24/7.
Specify who the rule applies to
Select an audience if you want to only block Facebook from specific people. Otherwise, leave the audience blank to block Facebook from everyone.
Connect Devices
Go to the Devices section of the Tech Lockdown dashboard and follow the setup instructions to connect devices to the Content Policy
Optional: Lock your Tech Lockdown Profile
If you are self-restricting access to Facebook, you can lock your Tech Lockdown profile so that you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can unblock Facebook.
Block Facebook on a Windows computer using the hosts file
It's possible to block Facebook for free on Windows by using the hosts file to block a website.
Open Notepad as Administrator
Right-click on Notepad and select 'Run as administrator'
Find the hosts file
In notepad, click file > Open, then navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc
Open the hosts file
Select "all files" then open the hosts file
Add the Facebook hostname entries
Add the following entries to the bottom of the hosts file:
0.0.0.0 facebook.com
0.0.0.0 www.facebook.com
Save file
Save the file to the location where the hosts file was opened
After making this change, it could take a few minutes for the change to take effect. You can speed this up by flushing the DNS on Windows. To flush the DNS on Windows, open a command prompt as administrator and run the following command: ipconfig /flushdns
Open Command Prompt as Administrator
Right-click on Command Prompt and select 'Run as administrator'
Enter the flushdns command
In the Command Prompt window, enter the following command: ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /flushdns
Fun command
Press Enter to run the command
How do I prevent myself from editing the hosts file on Windows?
If you're using the hosts file to block yourself from Facebook on your own Windows, you might be wondering if there's a way to prevent yourself from simply editing the hosts file and removing the Facebook entries. There are a few options for doing this:
- Modifying the hosts file requires administrative privileges. You could switch to using an non-administrative account. This is the best option if you feel you have a serious addiction to Facebook and are willing to sacrifice significant autonomy when using your own Windows PC.
- Use a Windows program blocker that allows you to password protect specific files and programs.
- Use multiple blocking methods so that removing Facebook entries from the hosts file doesn't allow Facebook to work.