How to Block Websites on your Windows Computer

How to block websites by editing the Windows Hosts file .

The location of the windows host file depends on your operating system’s version .

For Windows XP, Vista , Windows 7 and Windows 8 : C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

For Windows 2000 :  C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Follow these steps to block websites with this method . For this method we will take Facebook as an example .

1. Browse the location of the Windows host file
2. Open the hosts file using the notepad or any text editor .
3. Find the line  “127.0.0.1 localhost”
4. Add a line “127.0.0.2 www.facebook.com” under the “127.0.0.1 localhost” as shown below in the screenshot .

1. Since this method blocks the exact url address you entered in your hosts file . you also need to add another line incase somebody enters facebook.com without the www “ 127.0.0.3 Facebook” . take a look at the screenshot below for reference .
2. If you want to block more website then you need to add 1 to the internal ip ( 127.0.0.1 ) and specify the website URL address right next to it with a space . Lets add YouTube to the list of blocked websites . For that we will take “127.0.0.4YouTube” and add it to the hosts file .

1. Save and replace the hosts file in the etc folder without any extension .
2. No open command prompt by pressing Windows + R key on the keyboard . type “ cmd.exe “without the quotes  in the run window and press enter .

1. In the command prompt type “ ipconfig /flushdns “ and press enter . Now we have successfully blocked facebook and youtube access from your computer .

1. Reopen any web browser and enter facebook’s url address to confirm . Now the websites specified in the hosts files are blocked .

If you want to unblock the websites again , simply delete the entries you made earlier and save the hosts file .

But if your childrens are tech savvy they can easily edit the hosts file and unblock the blocked sites . Lets check another method which should not be accessible by your tech savvy childrens  . Further using this method of blocking websites lets you implement the block on multiple devices connecting through your router , which means your childrens cannot access the blocked sites on their cellphones and laptops too .