How to Block Inappropriate Websites for Kids

The short answer: You don't need fancy software to block the worst of the web. A free family DNS filter plus SafeSearch plus the controls already built into the phone will stop most of it — and the three together cover each other's gaps. Here's how each one works and the order I'd do them in.

Why filtering matters (the bit that changed my mind)

Here's what stopped me cold: kids don't have to go looking for trouble to find it. Pop-ups, autoplay suggestions and a mistyped search are enough. Common Sense Media found the average age a child first sees online pornography is 12 — and a lot of that first exposure is accidental, not searched for. My eight-year-old loves dinosaurs and Minecraft; he isn't hunting for adult content. But one wrong tap on a suggested video can take him somewhere I never intended.

Filtering is the seatbelt. It won't prevent every crash, but it dramatically lowers the odds, and it works quietly in the background without you policing every tap.

Step 1 — A free family DNS filter (the big one)

DNS is just the internet's address book: when a device asks "where is this website?", the DNS service answers. A family DNS service simply refuses to answer for known adult and harmful sites, so the page never loads. It's free, it covers the whole device (every app and browser, not just one), and kids can't easily get around it.

We use a free family-protection DNS on our boys' devices. Our guides walk you through it on our own setup — our iPhones and Mac (our Android tablet's coming soon); other platforms work almost exactly the same way, and the vendor support sites have the full per-device steps. The idea is the same everywhere: you point the device's DNS at the family server and you're done.

Step 2 — Turn on SafeSearch

SafeSearch filters explicit results out of Google, Bing and YouTube searches. On a managed child account it can be locked on so kids can't switch it off. It's a two-minute job and it stops a lot of "innocent search, nasty result" moments. Worth knowing: under Australia's new online safety codes, search engines like Google and Microsoft must bring in age checks and filter adult content for Australian users from 27 June 2026 — but don't wait for that; switch SafeSearch on yourself today.

Step 3 — Switch on the built-in content controls

Apple Screen Time (Content & Privacy Restrictions) and Google Family Link both let you block adult websites at the device level and limit which apps can be installed. They're free, already on the phone, and hard for a child to uninstall. These are your backstop if a filter ever misses something.

Why you layer all three

The eSafety Commissioner is clear that no single parental control is 100% effective — they work best as part of a range of methods. That's exactly why I run DNS and SafeSearch and the built-in controls: if one misses, another catches it.

The part filtering can't do

Filtering blocks content. It doesn't replace the conversation. The single biggest protection is still keeping devices in shared family areas, out of bedrooms overnight, and talking to your kids so they'll come to you when something weird turns up — because eventually something will get through, and you want to be the person they tell.

Want the screen-by-screen setup?

The exact steps for the free family DNS, SafeSearch and the built-in controls — done on our own iPhones and Mac (Android tablet coming soon) — are in the Ultimate Parents Guide. Other platforms work in very nearly the same way, and I point you to each tool's official support site for the full per-device steps. A one-off $13.60, no subscription, no affiliate links.

The bottom line: Free DNS filter + SafeSearch + built-in controls, layered. Twenty minutes, no cost, and you've blocked most of what worried you — then keep the conversation going for the rest.

Related: Parental Controls Explained and Ads & Tracking on Kids' Apps. Back to Internet Child Safety.