Mamori / Guides

How to Block Websites and Adult Content on a Mac (Screen Time and Safari)

Updated

On this page
  1. What Apple gives you on a Mac
  2. Step 1: Turn on Screen Time and Content & Privacy
  3. Step 2: Turn on Limit Adult Websites
  4. Step 3: Block a specific website
  5. Another option: a time limit on one site
  6. Step 4: Set a Screen Time passcode, and decide who holds it
  7. Safari, other browsers and private windows
  8. What the built-in setup does not do
  9. FAQ
  10. Where Mamori fits

Short answer: The built-in Apple way to restrict sites in Safari is Screen Time. On a Mac, open System Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy > App Store, Media, Web, & Games, choose Limit Adult Websites under Safari, then use Customize to add the sites you want blocked. Add a Screen Time passcode that someone else keeps: in our view, a setting you can undo yourself is easy to undo on impulse.

Version note: The menu names below follow Apple's Mac User Guide pages for macOS 15 and macOS 26, checked on 27 Oct 2026. On macOS 27, Apple's page for your own Mac ("Block features or content with Screen Time on Mac") starts at System Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions but does not list the web content steps, so check those screens on your own Mac if you have updated.

What Apple gives you on a Mac

The tool is Screen Time, built into macOS. Apple's page "Set up content and privacy restrictions in Screen Time on Mac" says you can use it to choose what can be viewed, downloaded and purchased online, "from watching movies and browsing the web to playing games". The part that matters here is the web setting, which Apple lists under the heading Safari.

Apple describes three levels of access to web content:

  • Unrestricted Access: any website can be accessed.
  • Limit Adult Websites: "Automatically limits access to many adult websites." Apple's wording is "many", not all, so treat it as a broad first layer.
  • Allowed Websites Only: only allowed websites can be accessed. In our view this is mostly relevant to a child's account.

Step 1: Turn on Screen Time and Content & Privacy

  1. Open the System Settings app on your Mac.
  2. Click Screen Time in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
  3. If Screen Time is not on yet, click App & Website Activity, then click Turn On App & Website Activity.
  4. Click Content & Privacy and turn it on if it is not on already.

In a Family Sharing group, Apple says a Family Member pop-up menu appears. Choose yourself, or the family member you are setting up.

Step 2: Turn on Limit Adult Websites

  1. In Content & Privacy, click App Store, Media, Web, & Games.
  2. Under Safari, choose Limit Adult Websites.
  3. Click Customize to add your own sites.

Step 3: Block a specific website

This is the answer to "how do I block one website on Safari". With Limit Adult Websites chosen and Customize open, Apple's steps are:

  1. To specify restricted websites, click below the Restricted list, enter the website URL, then click Done.
  2. To remove a restricted website, select it and click below the list it is in.
  3. To change a URL, select the website, click below the list, edit the URL, then click Done.

The same screen has an Allowed list, for sites you want to stay reachable. No list catches every site, and new ones appear all the time. A common approach is to let the built-in list do the broad work and use your own Restricted list for the sites it misses.

Another option: a time limit on one site

Apple's page "Set time limits for apps and websites in Screen Time on Mac" lets you include a website in an app limit: click App Limits, then Add Limit, and look under the Websites category. Apple says Block at end of limit blocks "the app" when the limit expires, so test it on a website before you rely on it. In our view, the Restricted list above is the clearer tool for a site you never want to open.

Step 4: Set a Screen Time passcode, and decide who holds it

Apple's Mac page for setting up Screen Time lists Lock Screen Time Settings among the options you turn on after scrolling down in Screen Time settings. Apple says it will "require a passcode to access Screen Time settings and allow additional time when limits expire". Look for it in the same Screen Time screen on your Mac.

Apple's separate iPhone and iPad page adds two points that are worth knowing. The Screen Time passcode "isn't the same as the passcode you use to unlock your device", and it must be entered before you can change any Screen Time settings. Apple also says that if you use Family Sharing to manage a child's Apple Account, the organizer or a parent/guardian sets the child's passcode on their own device, not the child's.

Two choices are worth thinking through:

  • Who knows the code. In our view, a passcode you chose and know is a speed bump and little more. If a partner, friend or family member types it in without you looking and keeps it, you get a pause between wanting to change something and being able to. Our guide to finding an accountability partner covers how to ask: How to Find a Porn Accountability Partner (and Make It Work).
  • Your Mac account type. Apple's Mac page says that if the family member has an administrator account, you are prompted to convert it to a standard account. The page does not say more than that. In our view, it is worth checking which account type you use and who else has an administrator account on the Mac.

Safari, other browsers and private windows

  • Other browsers. Apple's Mac page puts the web setting under Safari. The pages we read do not say whether other browsers on the Mac follow it. Do not assume: open each browser you have and test a site you added to the Restricted list.
  • Private windows. Apple's Safari page for private browsing says that "Webpages you visit and your AutoFill information aren't saved", and does not mention Screen Time. Whether Limit Adult Websites applies in a private window is not documented on the pages we read, so open a private window and test.
  • Search results. Search results are a separate gap, covered here: How to Turn On SafeSearch on Google, Bing and YouTube.

What the built-in setup does not do

FAQ

Can I block a website in Safari without Screen Time?

The Apple Mac pages we read do not list a block-list setting inside Safari itself, and Apple's route for restricting a site in Safari goes through Screen Time. Router-level or DNS filters are a different route; see the links above.

Does Limit Adult Websites work on macOS 27?

Apple's macOS 27 page for your own Mac does not list the web content steps, so we cannot confirm the exact menu names there. Apple's parental controls page, which covers iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, describes newer controls for a child's device (Apps & Websites, with Limit Adult Websites or Ask to Browse) and says Limit Adult Websites is on by default for children under 18. Check the screens on your own Mac.

What if I forget the Screen Time passcode?

Apple's iPhone and iPad page says that if you set up Screen Time Passcode Recovery, you can use your Apple Account to reset the passcode, and that without it you will not be able to remove or reset the passcode and Apple will not be able to provide that information. The Mac pages we read do not describe recovery, so note the passcode somewhere safe or give it to the person who holds it.

Where Mamori fits

Everything above works without any app. Mamori is a newer app for iPhone, iPad and Android. It is not a Mac app, so it does not protect your Mac, and nothing in this guide changes that.

Where it may help is the phone in your pocket, which the Mac steps do not touch. Mamori blocks 2.5M+ adult sites across the whole phone, not just one browser. On iPhone and iPad it uses Apple's Screen Time web content filter together with its own blocklist, forces SafeSearch on Google, Bing and other search engines, and has a lock you set up in advance: a cooldown timer, a random phrase, or a PIN or passphrase that a trusted person can hold. Its list is built to also cover Japanese adult sites (JAV, hentai, doujin), including performer names and coded titles.

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 device use Screen Time as the base layer. There is a 7-day free trial on the monthly and annual plans, plus a one-time lifetime option.

Related guides

How to Block Websites on Chrome (Windows, Mac and Chromebook)Chrome has no built-in switch to block a site you choose. Here is what Google, Apple and Microsoft do offer on Windows, Mac and Chromebook, and the gaps. How to Block Websites on iPhone: Screen Time Steps for Any SiteHow to block websites on iPhone and iPad with Screen Time: block one site, limit adult websites, set a passcode someone else holds, and what it misses. Private Browsing, Incognito and Porn Blockers: What Gets Around WhatDoes private browsing or Incognito get around a porn blocker? What Apple and Google say, what their pages leave out, and a quick test for your own phone.

Sources

Last checked 27 Oct 2026. This guide is general information, not medical advice.