YouTube is a very popular social media website and is a very good source of information. But there may be some situations when you need to block YouTube On Windows 10 Laptops and PC.
If your kids are using YouTube too much or even if you are wasting too much time on YouTube then you can easily block it on your Windows 10 PC and laptop.
Blocking YouTube on Windows computers is very easy, next I am going to share the easiest steps on how to do it.
Author’s Tip:
If you want to block youtube or any other app on your kid’s PC with better controls i.e. limit usage, block at specific times, monitor your kid’s activity then you can use parental control software. I have written a separate article on such software that you can find here.
How To Block YouTube On Windows 10 PC and Laptop
1. Use The Host File To Completely Block YouTue On Laptop/PC [Windows 10]
Host file is a powerful method to block YouTube on Windows PC. In this method, you can not allow a time limit to use or specific channels to open. While in other methods that I will later explain in this article, you can allow some specific channels to open. Also, you can set a time limit to open the YouTube app.
If you want to block YouTube on your Windows 10 system completely then follow these steps –
Step 1: Go to the search bar and open “Notepad”
Step 2: Now choose the option to run Notepad as administrator.
Step 3: After this click anywhere in the Notepad and press “Ctrl+O” at once and navigate to the following path-
Local Disk(C) > Windows > System32 > drivers >etc.
In this folder, you might not find any files so you need to change the extension from .txt to “All files” as shown in the image below-
In the image above just click “All files” and some files will appear as shown in the image below-
Step 4: Here double click on the file named “hosts”
Step 5: Now a new file will open. At the end of this file enter the following codes-
127.0.0.1 youtube.com
127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com
Step 6: Click Ctrl+S to save the file.
That is all, now YouTube is blocked in all browsers of your Windows 10 computer and laptop.
Later, if you want to enable access to YouTube you can open the “hosts” file using the steps mentioned above and remove the 2 lines of code that you have just added.
2. Use A YouTube Blocker Extension:
The easiest way to block YouTube On a Windows 10 PC is to use a YouTube Blocker Extension. You can find these extensions on both Chrome and Mozilla.
How Block YouTube Using Chrome Extension:
Step 1: Open the “YouTube Blocker Extension” using the link below-
Step 2: Click “Add To Chrome”.
Step 3: Now the YouTube Blocker extension is added to your browser, you can use this extension by clicking on it.
Note: After the extension is enabled you can open “youtube.com” but when you click on any video or channel they will be blocked. So, if you are able to open youtube.com after enabling this extension don’t panic. It doesn’t block “youtube.com”, but it blocks the channels and videos and that is the goal.
Step 4: Now the extension is enabled on my browser and it will not open any channel on YouTube. See the test results below-
That’s it all, the channels of YouTube are blocked on my Windows 10 Laptop.
Advanced Tip:
You should also block YouTube videos in the “Incognito mode” too. For that, you need to enable this extension in the incognito block.
How to enable YouTube Blocker Extension in Incognito Mode-
Step 1: Click on the 3 dots at the top right corner of your Chrome browser.
Step 2: Go to settings. Here a new page will appear in a new tab.
Step 3: On the left side you will see a scroller. Scroll down and you will find an option for “Extensions”. Click on it.
Step 4: Now you will see the extensions page of Chrome. Here find the extensions and click the “Details” button.
Step 5: Now a new page will appear. Here you will find an option to “Allow in incognito mode”. Click on the radio button in front of this option.
That is all, now no one can access YouTube videos in incognito mode too.
Other Features Of The Extension:
Password Protection: You can set a password for the extension so no one can make changes in the extension i.e. delete or add allowed channels.
Add daily time limit on YouTube- In this app, you can easily add a time limit for weekdays and weekends.
The drawback of Using the YouTube Ad Blocker App-
If someone deletes or disables the extension from chrome settings then this method will not work.
Note: This extension is also available on the Opera browser.
How To Block YouTube On Windows 10 PC/Laptop Using Firefox Add-On
If your computer has a firefox browser then you can block YouTube in that too. Similar to Chrome, Firefox has extensions but these are called call add-ons. The best extension to block YouTube on Firefox is BlockTube by amitbl.
Step 1: Open the Firefox Add-On using the link below-
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/blocktube/
Step 2: Click “Add to Firefox” and a pop-up will appear where you need to click “Add”. After this one more pop-up will appear on the top-right corner of your screen. In this pop-up checkmark the box “Allow this add-on in the private window”.
If you allow this add-on in the private window then no one will be able to access YouTube Videos in the private browser too.
3. How To Block YouTube APP On Windows 10 Laptop/PC Using Built-in Family Saftey Option
You can completely block the YouTube app on Windows 10 PC using the built-in Family Saftey Option.
Follow these steps to apply this method-
Step 1: Click the “Windows + I” buttons at once to open the Settings menu.
Step 2: Now click on the “Accounts” option.
Step 3: After this, a new page will appear, here click the “Family & other users” option.
Step 4: Now enter your kid’s account or make an account if it doesn’t exist.
Step 5: After this sign in to your administrator account to manage settings.
Step 6: Now click “Apps, games, media”.
Step 7: Now go to the “Limit apps, games, and media from the Store” option.
Here you can add YouTube to the block list. After this, no one will be able to access the YouTube app on your Windows 10 PC.
Conclusion:
These are the easiest steps to block YouTube on Windows 10 laptops and PC. There are some tools available in the market that provide better control of your kid’s PC. These tools can block any type of website and app on your kid’s PC.
I hope this article helped you a lot. If you have a better way to block YouTube on a PC and laptop then you can share using the comments section. If you like this article please share it with your friends on social media.
Priyanka Sharma is a technical content writer at SoftAppWorld. Her keen interest is in testing different kinds of software and writing reviews about them. Her goal is to help people with software reviews and how-to guides. In her free time, she likes to create different kinds of sketches and designs. You can find her on Twitter