Free porn blockers that actually work

You don't need to pay to block porn. Every phone and computer has free tools. Here they are, device by device, plus the one thing that makes any blocker work.

iPhone and iPad

Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Web Content > Limit Adult Websites. Full steps.

Android

Private DNS set to family.cloudflare-dns.com. Full steps.

Chrome, Windows and Mac

• Whole computer: set your DNS to Cloudflare for Families (1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3) in your network settings, or in your router to cover every device at home.
• Google SafeSearch: Settings > SafeSearch > Filter.
• Mac: System Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy > Limit Adult Websites.

The one thing that makes a blocker work

Every free blocker can be undone by the person who set it up. So make undoing it slow: someone else holds the passcode, extra browsers are gone, the phone sleeps outside the bedroom. Urges rise, peak and fall like a wave. In one study, smokers taught to watch the urge instead of fighting it smoked less over the next week.^[1]

When a paid blocker is worth it

Pay for a blocker when it adds what free tools can't: being hard to switch off in a weak moment, and help when the urge hits. That's what Quit90 does: switching the blocker off means typing a long promise word for word, and the Panic Button is free.

Questions