How to Block Websites on iPhone
Yes, you can block specific websites on iPhone for free. The part that fails is usually not the block itself but the setup around it: one hostname left open, one settings screen left unlocked, and the habit simply walks around the wall.
Short answer: Apple's built-in Screen Time can do this free, and the exact steps are below. If you want the same website block wrapped in a session and a streak, SproutGuard adds that on-device with no account.
First: the three ways a website block quietly fails
- You blocked the app, not the site. The habit just moves from the app to Safari.
- You blocked one address, not the route you actually use. Mobile domains and alternate hostnames still open.
- Screen Time settings are unlocked. The restriction gets removed in seconds the first bad evening.
If you close all three, the free built-in setup is good enough for a lot of people.
1. Turn on website restrictions
- Open Settings → Screen Time
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn it on
- Tap Content Restrictions → Web Content
- Choose Limit Adult Websites
That mode sounds narrower than it is. It is also the switch that exposes a manual block list for specific websites.
2. Add the websites under Never Allow
- Under Never Allow, tap Add Website
- Enter the exact site you want blocked, like
instagram.com,reddit.comoryoutube.com - If you use a mobile hostname too, add that as well, for example
m.youtube.com
The block is only as good as the domains you actually typed. If you keep reaching the site, check whether you blocked the address you use in practice rather than the one you think you use.
3. Lock Screen Time Settings
Go back to Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings and set a passcode you do not know reflexively. This is the step that turns a useful setup into a durable one.
Without this, the website block is advisory. You are asking the same distracted version of yourself who wants the site to also protect the settings screen. That arrangement rarely survives the week.
4. Test the exact loopholes you use
After setting the block, try the obvious escapes immediately:
- Type the site directly in Safari
- Open it from a saved bookmark
- Open a shared link from Messages or Mail
- Try the mobile hostname if the service has one
If one of those still works, fix it now rather than discovering it the next time you are tired and bored.
What this is good for — and what it is not
| Goal | Best built-in move |
|---|---|
| Block one distracting website | Web Content → Never Allow |
| Stop the site only at night | Combine the site block with Downtime |
| Stop the app and the site together | App Limit or Downtime + website block |
| You keep undoing the restriction | Passcode + extra friction like a session or streak |
Website blocking works best when paired with app blocking. If the app is the front door and Safari is the side door, closing only one is still leaving the building open.
When the built-in setup still is not enough
If you already did all of the above and still keep reversing it, the missing piece is usually not a stronger technical block. It is motivation structure. Apple's built-in tools restrict; they do not give you much reason not to back out.
That is where a blocker built on the same Screen Time framework can help: not by doing something magical Apple cannot, but by wrapping the same website block in a deliberate session and a streak you do not want to reset.
Built on Apple's Screen Time framework. No account, no server, nothing leaves your phone. App and website blocking + focus sessions + streaks, free on iOS.
Download free on iOS
