Short answer: On iPad, open Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn it on, then go to App Store, Media, Web, & Games > Web Content and choose Limit Adult Websites. Add any site it misses under Never Allow. Then set a Screen Time passcode that someone else keeps, because a passcode you know yourself is easy to undo.
Version note: The menu names below follow Apple's iPad User Guide for iPadOS 18 and iPadOS 26, checked on 21 Oct 2026. On iPadOS 27, Apple's page for your own iPad still starts at Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions but does not list the web content steps, and built-in apps and features sit under Other Features, so check those screens on your iPad. Other iPadOS 27 differences are flagged below. The web steps are the same ones Apple documents for iPhone, which our guide to how to block porn on iPhone covers: https://mamoriblocker.com/guides/block-porn-on-iphone/
Apple's tool for this is Screen Time, and it is built into the iPad. Its Content & Privacy Restrictions section includes a web filter called Limit Adult Websites, a list where you add sites you want blocked yourself, and settings for apps and purchases.
Apple's iPad guide lists this path under "Block websites" and says you can block specific websites by URL.
No list catches every site, and new ones appear all the time. Apple lets you add your own.
Whenever a site slips through, come back and add it. A common approach is to let the built-in list do the broad work and use your own list for the exceptions.
Without a passcode, anyone using the iPad can go back into Content & Privacy Restrictions and switch the filter off. Apple says a Screen Time passcode must be entered before the Screen Time settings you chose can be changed, and that it is not the same as the code you use to unlock the iPad.
On iPadOS 18 and iPadOS 26, Apple's steps for your own iPad are:
On iPadOS 27, Apple's page gives the route as Settings > Screen Time > Manage Screen Time > Lock Screen Time Settings.
Two choices are worth thinking through:
The steps above are for an adult setting limits on their own iPad. For a child's iPad, Apple's Family Sharing setup is the base layer.
With Family Sharing, the family organizer, or a parent or guardian, can manage a child's Screen Time from their own device. On iPadOS 26, Apple says to open Settings, tap Screen Time, scroll down and select the child below Family. Apple also says Web Content limits are turned on by default when a device is set up for a child under 18 (the age varies by country or region).
For the passcode, Apple says that if you use Family Sharing to manage a child's Apple Account, the organizer or a parent/guardian needs to set the child's Screen Time passcode on their own device, not the child's device. On iPadOS 26 the path is: select the child, scroll down, tap Manage Screen Time, then tap Lock Screen Time Settings.
Apple's current parental controls page, which covers iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, describes a newer route: open Settings, tap Family, tap your child's name, tap Apps & Websites, tap Restrictions, then tap Filtering under Websites. You can choose Limit Adult Websites or Ask to Browse (to use Ask to Browse, set it to Approved Websites Only). Apple says Limit Adult Websites is on by default for children under 18.
Apple's iPad pages say you can block websites by URL. The pages we read do not say which browsers Limit Adult Websites applies to. Apple's parental controls page says Ask to Browse works in "Safari and other supported browser apps". Do not assume; open each browser you have installed and test a site you added to Never Allow.
To make a workaround harder, Apple says iTunes & App Store Purchases (under Content & Privacy Restrictions) lets you choose restrictions for installing or deleting apps and in-app purchases. Apple also says Allowed Apps & Features lets you turn off built-in apps or features, which hides them from the Home Screen until you turn them back on. With a passcode someone else holds, those settings are harder to undo on impulse.
Search results are a separate gap: https://mamoriblocker.com/guides/how-to-turn-on-safesearch/
Does Screen Time block porn in every browser on iPad?
Apple's iPad guide says you can block websites by URL and does not list which browsers apply. Apple's parental controls page mentions "Safari and other supported browser apps" for Ask to Browse. Test the browsers you have installed.
Can I use the same steps on iPhone?
Yes. Apple's iPhone User Guide uses the same Content & Privacy Restrictions menus for iOS 18 and iOS 26, and our iPhone guide linked above covers them.
What if I forget the Screen Time passcode?
Apple says that if you set up Screen Time Passcode Recovery, you can use your Apple Account to reset the passcode. If you set Screen Time up for a child through Family Sharing on your own device, Apple says you can reset the passcode there with your device passcode, Touch ID or Face ID.
Everything above works without any app. Mamori is a newer app for iPhone and iPad that adds a second layer. On iPad it uses Apple's Screen Time web content filter together with its own blocklist of 2.5M+ adult sites, and it forces SafeSearch on Google, Bing and other search engines. Its list is also built to cover Japanese adult sites (JAV, hentai, doujin), including performer names and coded titles. There is no account to create and no tracking.
The difference from Screen Time alone is the lock. Before you can switch Mamori off, you pass a cooldown timer, a random phrase, or a PIN or passphrase that a trusted person can hold. While protection is on, it uses Screen Time restrictions to protect against uninstalling. By design, when protection is off, everything is off and Mamori can be uninstalled normally: the friction is the lock you chose in advance, not a trap.
Honest limits: Mamori has no accountability reports, it does not replace support from people or a professional, and it is built for adults blocking for themselves, so for a child's iPad use Screen Time and Family Sharing as the base layer. There is a 7-day free trial on the monthly and annual plans, plus a one-time lifetime option.
Last checked 21 Oct 2026. This guide is general information, not medical advice.