How To Block Porn Sites On Your Phone And PC: The Settings I Kept Undoing

You can block porn sites on your phone and PC in about 10 minutes, with settings you already have. I did it many times. And every time, I undid it.

Below are the exact settings for iPhone, Android, Chrome and Windows. Then the one thing that finally made them stick: 6 months, zero porn.

Why blocking porn sites never worked for me

Because I always knew how to undo it.

I set the passcode → I knew the passcode.
I blocked a site → I found another one.
I installed an extension → I disabled it in 2 clicks.

Every setting below works. On paper. The problem was never the setting. It was me in a weak moment, with the urge, and the key in my pocket.

So use these settings. But read the part after them before you trust them.

How to block porn sites on iPhone

The iPhone has a free adult website filter built in. Here's where it is:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Screen Time, then Content & Privacy Restrictions, and turn it on.
3. Tap Content Restrictions, then Web Content.
4. Choose Limit Adult Websites.

It works in Safari and in most apps that open web pages.

The trap: Screen Time asks you for a passcode. If you choose it, you know it. I did, and I typed it.

And on iPhone, there's no way around that. Apple doesn't let any app lock you out of your own phone with a delay you can't skip. What's left? Hand your passcode to someone, buy a box or a key that locks the phone, or live one tap away from the off switch. I've never seen any of those hold for long.

So I traded my iPhone for an Android. Hard to let go of. Best move I ever made.

How to block porn sites on Android

Android has no adult filter in its settings, but you can use a family DNS: a free service that refuses to load porn sites for every app on the phone.

1. Open Settings, then Network & internet (the name changes a bit between brands).
2. Tap Private DNS.
3. Choose Private DNS provider hostname and type: family-filter-dns.cleanbrowsing.org
4. Save.

The trap: the same menu lets you switch it back to "Automatic" in 10 seconds. I know, because that's the kind of 10 seconds I used to win against myself.

How to block porn sites on Chrome

Chrome alone can only clean up your Google searches, not block the sites themselves.

1. Go to Google's SafeSearch settings (search "SafeSearch settings" on Google).
2. Turn on Filter.

Explicit results disappear from Google. But if you type a porn site's address directly, it opens. And a private window or another browser skips your settings.

That's why Chrome extensions never held me either: I disabled them in 2 clicks.

How to block porn sites on your PC (Windows and Mac)

On a computer, the strongest free option is the same family DNS as on Android, set for the whole machine.

On Windows:

1. Open Settings, then Network & internet, then your connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet).
2. Next to DNS server assignment, click Edit and choose Manual.
3. Turn on IPv4 and type 185.228.168.168 and 185.228.169.168 (CleanBrowsing's family filter).
4. Save.

On a Mac: it's the same menu as the iPhone. System Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy, then limit adult websites.

The trap, again: you're the admin of your own computer. Anything you can set, you can unset.

How to block porn on your whole home Wi-Fi

Put the family DNS in your router, and every device on your Wi-Fi is filtered at once.

1. Open your router's settings page (the address is usually written on a sticker under the box, often 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1).
2. Find the DNS settings, often under "Internet" or "WAN".
3. Replace the DNS servers with 185.228.168.168 and 185.228.169.168.
4. Save and restart the router.

Good for a shared home. But it only works on your Wi-Fi: switch to mobile data, and the filter is gone.

The 5 ways people get around porn blockers

Every bypass is a door. Here they are, so you can close them before the urge finds them.

• Turning the setting off → the most common one. Solved only if you can't turn it off fast.
• Another browser or a private window → block at the level of the device, not one browser.
• Mobile data instead of Wi-Fi → a router filter doesn't follow you. The phone itself has to be locked.
• A VPN → it can skip your DNS filter. Your blocker has to block VPN apps too.
• The other device → the laptop, the tablet, the old phone in the drawer. Every screen counts.

I used the first two myself, again and again. Each time, I told myself it was "just this once".

Which method should you pick?

Use the free settings if you have nothing else tonight. But look at the last column. That's the one that decides if you're still clean next month.

The problem with every method above

All of them have the same hole: you can undo them faster than the urge goes away.

After years of setting and unsetting, I asked myself the dumbest question I could think of: what if I made it physically impossible for me to undo it?

Not a better filter. A lock I can't open on a bad night.

A setting is a promise to yourself. A lock is a promise you can't break.

So which lock can't you open on a bad night, and how do you set it so it holds for months? That's exactly what Step 2 gives you.

What actually worked: one lock on your phone and your PC

One blocker, on both devices, with a delay before it can be turned off. On a phone, that means Android: it's the only one that let me lock myself out, alone.

On my Android phone and my computer, apps, websites and videos are all covered. If I want to turn something off, I have to wait. And by the time the wait is over, I don't want to anymore.

Which tool, and which exact settings? That's the part that took me months, and it's what Step 2 of my method gives you.

Why both devices? Because one open device is all it takes. Lock the phone and leave the laptop open → you'll end up on the laptop.

It didn't work on the first try:

• The first version was too strict. I couldn't even use the apps I needed. I softened it. Then I softened it again. Then I relapsed.
• The next one was too loose. One back door. I found it.

The version that holds blocks porn everywhere and leaves me everything else: messages, Google, work. That's why I never feel the need to touch it.

If you want to understand why most blockers fail, I break it down in how I finally found a porn blocker I can't turn off. And if scrolling is your problem too, here's the best app blocker for Android, and the only test that matters.

What changed after 6 months

No porn. Not once in 6 months.

• No more anxiety attacks.
• My mornings start with a clear head.
• I work for hours on my computer without ending up somewhere I shouldn't.
• My morning erections came back. Porn had taken them. If that's your fear too, here's what porn-induced erectile dysfunction did to me.

The settings above are a good start. They just can't protect you from yourself in a weak moment. A lock can.

I spent months testing setups so you don't have to. Take mine, set it up once, and stop fighting every night.