The short answer: open Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Content Restrictions → Web Content, choose Limit Adult Websites, then under Never Allow tap Add Website and type the address. It takes about thirty seconds and it is free.
(On some iOS versions the Web Content option sits one level deeper, under App Store, Media, Web & Games. If you cannot find it, that is where to look.)
That handles the simple case. The rest of this article is about the cases that are not simple — because every method of blocking a website on iPhone leaves a specific gap, and knowing which gap you are living with is the difference between a block that works and one that quietly does nothing.
Method 1: Block specific sites with Screen Time
Best for: a short list of named sites you already know you want gone.
- Settings → Screen Time. If it is off, turn it on.
- Content & Privacy Restrictions → toggle it on.
- Content Restrictions → Web Content.
- Select Limit Adult Websites.
- Under Never Allow, tap Add Website and enter the address.
A few things worth knowing. You do not need https:// — the domain is enough. Add both the bare domain and the www version if you want to be thorough, and remember that many sites have a mobile subdomain that counts as a separate address. And Limit Adult Websites also switches on Apple's own automatic filter, which is usually welcome but will occasionally block something innocuous.
What this misses: apps. Blocking instagram.com does nothing to the Instagram app. If the site you are blocking also has an app on your phone, you have closed one door in a building with two entrances.
Method 2: Allowed Websites Only — the allowlist
Best for: a study or work device, or a genuinely serious attempt at focus.
Same path, but choose Allowed Websites Only. iOS replaces the whole web with a short list of approved sites, pre-populated with a handful of child-friendly ones you can delete. Add what you need via Add Website.
This inverts the problem, and the inversion is the point. A blocklist requires you to predict every site that will tempt you, and you will not. An allowlist requires you to name the ten you actually need. That is a list you can write.
What this misses: it is aggressive enough that most people turn it off within a week. It also breaks links from email and messages, which is either the feature or the dealbreaker depending on your situation. Use it for a defined period — exam season, a deadline — rather than as a permanent setting.
Method 3: DNS filtering
Best for: covering every browser and every app at once, including ones you have not thought of.
Screen Time works at the app and browser level. DNS filtering works one layer lower: it intercepts the phone's attempt to look up an address at all. Set a filtering DNS provider in Settings → Wi-Fi → (i) → Configure DNS, or install a provider's configuration profile so it applies on mobile data too.
Because it operates below the app, it catches the in-app browsers that Screen Time misses — the one inside your email client, the one that opens when you tap a link in a social app.
What this misses: it is all-or-nothing per domain, and it cannot distinguish "the news site's homepage" from "the one article a colleague sent you." It is also the easiest to disable, since switching networks or removing a profile takes seconds.
Method 4: Focus modes
Best for: time-boxing rather than permanent blocking.
Settings → Focus lets you build a mode that allows only chosen apps and silences the rest, and schedule it. It does not block websites directly, but for most people the honest problem is not "this website exists" — it is "I open it at 9:40 without deciding to." A schedule addresses the reaching; a blocklist only addresses the arriving.
What this misses: Focus is a request, not a wall. It is one swipe to dismiss, which makes it excellent for a habit you are mildly fighting and useless for one you are seriously fighting.
Which method for which problem
| Your situation | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Two or three specific sites | Screen Time → Never Allow | Fastest, no side effects |
| "I need this device to be boring for a month" | Allowed Websites Only | Inverts the list you have to predict |
| The site also has an app | Screen Time web block plus an App Limit | Two doors, two locks |
| Links opening inside other apps | DNS filtering | Works below the app layer |
| You open it out of habit, not intent | Focus schedule | Targets the reaching, not the site |
| A child's device | Screen Time with a passcode you keep | The passcode is the whole mechanism |
The three gaps everyone hits
In-app browsers. When you tap a link inside a messaging or social app, it often opens in that app's own embedded browser. Depending on the app and the iOS version, Screen Time's web rules may not apply there. This is the single most common reason people conclude that "blocking doesn't work on iPhone." DNS filtering is the reliable answer.
Feeds are not websites. Blocking youtube.com does not touch the YouTube app, and blocking neither touches the short-form video feed embedded in three other apps you have. If your actual problem is a format rather than a site, address it app by app.
The passcode you set for yourself. Screen Time can use a separate four-digit passcode. If you set it and remember it, you can undo any restriction in ten seconds — which means, in practice, that you have built a speed bump rather than a barrier. That is not worthless: the ten seconds is often enough to notice what you are doing and stop. But be honest about which one you have built. If you want a real barrier, have someone else set the passcode, or use a tool designed so that turning it off takes deliberate effort.
That last gap is why blocking tools exist at all, ours included — not because Screen Time is bad, but because it is designed to be reversible by the person it restricts, and sometimes that is exactly the wrong property.
Frequently asked questions
How do I block a website on iPhone without an app? Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Content Restrictions → Web Content → Limit Adult Websites → Never Allow → Add Website. Built in, free, no download.
Does blocking a website in Screen Time cover Chrome and Firefox? Generally yes — third-party browsers on iOS have historically been required to use Apple's web engine, so the same restrictions apply. Embedded browsers inside other apps are the unreliable case.
How do I unblock a site I blocked? Same path, then swipe left on the entry under Never Allow and delete it. If you cannot get in, you need the Screen Time passcode — which is separate from your device passcode.
Can I block a website only during certain hours? Not directly through the Web Content list, which is on-or-off. Use Downtime or a Focus schedule for time-based control, or a blocking app that supports schedules.
Why does the site still load sometimes?
Three usual causes: a different subdomain that is not on your list (m. or mobile.), a cached page, or an in-app browser that is not covered. Add the variants, force-quit the app, and check whether the link opened outside Safari.
What is the most reliable method overall? DNS filtering catches the most traffic; Screen Time is the easiest to set up; an allowlist is the hardest to work around. Most people who succeed use two together — typically Screen Time plus a schedule — rather than searching for one perfect setting.
Reference: Apple Support — Block apps, app downloads, websites and purchases on iPhone. Menu labels shift slightly between iOS versions; the path above holds for current releases.