How to Block YouTube on Mac?

Why do you want to block YouTube?

When it comes to entertainment and education, YouTube is a choice website for many. However, the website's videos are a distraction for some people. Your children can end up procrastinating on doing their assignments if they keep on browsing YouTube. It gets worse if your kids can access inappropriate content on the platform. Some people may also want to block YouTube to stop addiction.

The YouTube app for Mac isn't just a potential problem for kids. It can be for adults too. For employers, this website can keep employees from doing their work. Therefore, blocking YouTube can help you increase your staff's productivity.

You may also want to block YouTube on your Mac to keep yourself from getting into trouble with your boss. If you're a student, blocking the website can help you concentrate on your studies better. As a parent, you want to check your YouTube video consumption. This will give you time to appropriately handle family matters.

The best solution for all of these issues is to learn how to block YouTube on Mac. If you aim to protect your children from accessing inappropriate content, then there's no need for blocking the entire website. Just restrict access to certain videos. There are several ways of keeping yourself, your children, or employees from accessing YouTube, whether partially or fully.

How to block the YouTube app for Mac?

There are currently four main ways to effectively block YouTube on Mac:

• Enabling parental controls on Mac
• Using the hosts file to block websites
• Installing in-browser blockers
• Adjusting router settings

Enabling parental controls on Mac

Begin by setting up an account with personalized content blocking (or filtering) parental controls. Here are the steps on how to block YouTube on Mac.

1.Tap on the Apple logo. It is located on the screen's top-left corner.

2.From the dropdown menu, choose "System Preferences." This option is also available on your Dock or the Applications folder.

3.Click on the "Parental Controls" icon from the window that will pop up. You can also use the search bar in the System Preferences window to find the "Parental Controls" icon.

4.Enter the password to access the "Parental Controls." You may have to tap on the padlock icon on the screen's bottom-left corner to access this page.

5.Enter the name and age of the person who will be using the device you intend to block YouTube on.

6.Go to the left side of the screen and tap on the user account for the person you want to block YouTube.

7.Click on "Enable Parental Controls."

8.Tap on "Web" from the taskbar at the Parental Controls window's top.

9.Click on "Allow access to only these websites" and start entering the sites you want the user to access. Similarly, tap on the "Try to limit access to adult websites" before hitting the "Customize" button to block the sites you don't want the user to access.

10.Type the names of the websites (including that of YouTube) you want to block in the window that pops up.

11.Click on the "OK" button.

If the set account was for your kids or employees, ensure they can't access the Mac unless they have logged into that account. If you want to add further restrictions, such as blocking access to adult content through YouTube and other applications, tap on the Apps tab to adjust the settings the way you desire. You could also consider using the Screen Time feature to limit how long you, your kids or employees stay on the computer or access YouTube.

The downside of blocking YouTube using parental controls is that the settings only apply to Safari, Apple's browser. It won't work for popular browsers like Chrome and Firefox. That's why you may want to explore the other three options.

Using the hosts file to block websites

This method is very effective when it comes to setting up parental controls on your Mac. With it, you have more control over which websites to block. Unfortunately, the method is so complex that a parent with limited technical skills cannot apply it. Moreover, the success rate of blocking the YouTube app for Mac is not 100%. Here's how to block YouTube on Mac using the hosts file.

1.Go to Applications → Utilities → Terminal.

2.In Terminal, type the code sudo /bin/cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts-original and press Enter.

3.Type the administrator password and press Enter.

4.Type the code sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts to access the hosts file in TextEdit mode. You could also open the file with the command sudo nano -e /etc/hosts in the main Terminal window.

5.Skipping the existing text (do not delete or edit it), click at the bottom of the document to place the cursor on a fresh line. Sometimes, the addition of new text to the file may not work. If this is the case, type your text above the existing one.

6.Type the local IP address (127.0.0.1).

7.Hit the space bar before typing the YouTube URL without including its HTTPS address. Do not copy-paste the URL from another place.

8.If you wish to block other websites, press Enter to start typing on a fresh line. Repeat step 6-7 but this time typing the URL address of the desired website instead of that of YouTube.

9.When you're through entering the URLs of all the desired websites, close the TextEdit dialog box. Click on Save when the prompt appears on the screen. Press Ctrl + O if you're using the main Terminal window to save the changes. Close the file by pressing Ctrl + X.

10.Clear the cache by typing the command dscacheutil –flushcache into Terminal and pressing Enter. You could also achieve the same effect by restarting your Mac.

If YouTube is still accessible, then it could be that your browser is bypassing the hosts file for the site, accessing it via IPv6, or accessing a separate subdomain. To solve the last two problems, add extra lines to the TextEdit dialog box as shown below:

• 0.0.1 youtube.com (do not include www.)
• 0.0.1 m.youtube.com (to block YouTube's mobile version)

Installing in-browser blockers

Several modern browsers, such as Chrome and Firefox, permit administrators to install add-ons to change the behavior of the browser. This is the easiest way to block YouTube. However, users (those you don't want to access YouTube) can easily figure out how to change the settings to default. Here are the steps for blocking the YouTube app for Mac using in-browser blockers on a Google Chrome browser.

1.Open a fresh tab or window and click on the Customize and control Google Chrome menu on the top right side of the screen.

2.From the dropdown menu, select More tools and go to Extensions.

3.Click on the Extensions tab to access the Open Chrome Web store button on the bottom left of the screen.

4.Type the words "website block" in the search bar of the Chrome Web store.

5.Take time to look through the options that will come up and choose the one that will you feel comfortable using.

6.After choosing the add-on you want, click on Add to Chrome to begin installing the plugin automatically.

7.Go to the menu on the top right side of the screen and find the add-on. Click on it to open its menu.

8.Choose YouTube and block by following the available on-screen instructions.

Adjusting router settings

This is an effective method for blocking YouTube on your router. All devices that use a wireless network cannot access the site. Here is how to block YouTube on Mac by adjusting router settings.

1.Go to the System Preferences → Network → Wi-Fi → Advanced → TCP/IP tab.

2.Locate Router on the list and copy the IP address under it, pasting it into the address bar of your browser(s).

3.Log in to the router using your username and password. Find the default password for your router's model if you have never accessed these settings.

4.Analyze the website blocking options in the router settings window and choose the ones that suit you.

Where FamiSafe comes in

While any of the above methods can be great when it comes to blocking access to YouTube on your Mac, your children will still access the site from their mobile devices. That's why you should look to FamiSafe, a leading parental control software that has tons of features that help protect your family. Some of these features include:

• Content filtering
• Website tracking
• Real-time tracking of your child's physical location
• Activity monitoring of what your kids are doing online.
• App blocking
• Remote control over all your devices

The good news is that FamiSafe is always improving its features. Soon, you will be blocking YouTube on your Mac using the app. Hopefully, this is going to be your best app when it comes to blocking websites that can be harmful to your kids on Mac.

Mastering how to block YouTube on Mac shouldn't be difficult. You can always try the different methods of blocking the YouTube app for Mac in case one of them fails. However, you need to get extra protection for your children. FamiSafe is a great option for mobile device safety. Install it today to enjoy its features.