How to Turn Website Blocking On or Off

Blocker Web allows you to temporarily turn website blocking on or off without deleting the websites saved in your block list.

This is useful when you want to pause blocking for a while and then quickly enable it again later.

Turn Website Blocking On

See also: Why a blocked website may still open Article

To enable website blocking:

1. Open Blocker Web.
2. Select Blocked Websites from the menu on the left.
3. Find the website-blocking switch near the top of the page.
4. Select the switch so the status changes to ON.

When blocking is enabled, Blocker Web activates all the websites currently saved in your block list.

The page will also show the number of websites that are currently being blocked.

Turn Website Blocking Off

To temporarily disable website blocking:

1. Open the Blocked Websites section.
2. Select the website-blocking switch.
3. Make sure the status changes to OFF.

When blocking is turned off, the websites remain visible in your list, but Blocker Web temporarily disables the blocking entries.

You do not need to add the websites again when you are ready to resume blocking.

What Happens to My Saved Websites?

See also: How to use Popular Website Presets Article

Turning blocking off does not remove your websites.

Blocker Web keeps the following information saved:

• Website domain
• Date the website was added
• Reason for blocking it

When you turn blocking back on, the same websites will be blocked again.

To permanently delete a website, you must select it in the list and use the Remove button.

Does the Switch Affect Every Website?

Yes. The main website-blocking switch controls all websites in your Blocker Web list.

You cannot use this switch to temporarily allow only one selected website while keeping the others blocked.

To allow a single website, you would need to remove it from the list and add it again later.

How Blocker Web Temporarily Disables Websites

See also: Adding Blocklist Sources in Blocker Web Article

Blocker Web uses the Windows hosts file to manage individual website blocks.

When website blocking is turned off, Blocker Web temporarily disables the entries it manages instead of deleting them completely.

When blocking is turned back on, those entries are activated again.

This allows Blocker Web to remember your block list between sessions.

Why Does Blocker Web Refresh the DNS Cache?

Whenever website blocking is switched on or off, Blocker Web attempts to refresh the Windows DNS cache.

Windows and web browsers can temporarily remember where websites are located. Refreshing the cache helps the new blocking status take effect more quickly.

You may briefly see a Windows permission prompt while this happens.

Test the New Blocking Status

See also: How to Control Blocker Web Using a Remote Text File Article

After changing the switch, open your browser and test one of the websites in your list.

When blocking is ON, the website should not load normally.

When blocking is OFF, the website should become accessible again.

If the result does not change immediately:

1. Close all browser windows.
2. Reopen your browser.
3. Refresh the website.
4. Try opening the website in a private or incognito window.

Previously loaded pages may continue to display cached content for a short time.

What If the Switch Changes but the Website Still Loads?

First, check that the website is still present in your blocked websites list.

You should also check that:

• The blocking status displays ON
• The correct website domain has been added
• Blocker Web is running with administrator permission
• Your security software is not preventing access to the Windows hosts file

Try closing Blocker Web completely and reopening it using Run as administrator.

Some websites use several different domains. Blocking the main domain may not block every related page, service, image, or video hosted on another domain.

What If a Website Remains Blocked After Turning Blocking Off?

Close and reopen your browser after turning blocking off.

You can also try restarting the computer if the browser or Windows is still using old DNS information.

Check that Internet Lock is not enabled. Internet Lock is separate from the blocked website list and can continue blocking web traffic even when normal website blocking is set to OFF.

If the problem continues, you can use the hosts-file recovery tools in the Settings section.

Does Blocker Web Need to Stay Open?

Standard website blocking is applied through the Windows hosts file, so the blocked entries can remain active after the main Blocker Web window has been minimised.

However, Blocker Web should remain running when using features such as:

• The custom blocked website page
• Remote Lockdown
• Shared Folder Lockdown

You can minimise Blocker Web to the Windows system tray instead of closing it completely.