Blocking certain websites can be an effective way to minimize distractions and reduce the amount of time spent on non-productive sites. If you use Safari as your primary browser and want to block a website, this article will guide you through the process step by step.

1. Open System Preferences on your Mac

Firstly, you need to open the System Preferences application, which you can find in the Applications folder or by clicking on the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of the screen and selecting ‘System Preferences’ from the dropdown menu.

2. Access Parental Controls

Once inside System Preferences, look for the Parental Controls icon (it resembles a yellow circle with two stick figures) and click on it. You may need to unlock it first by clicking on the padlock icon in the bottom-left corner and entering your admin credentials.

3. Set up Parental Controls for an existing user account

To enable parental controls for an existing user account, select the appropriate user from the list on the left-hand side of the window, then click on ‘Enable Parental Controls’. If you want to create a new managed account with parental controls, click on ‘+’ button under User list and follow prompts for new account setup.

4. Navigate to Web settings

Now that Parental Controls are enabled for your chosen account, click on ‘Web’ tab in the top bar of the Parental Controls window.

5. Customize website restrictions

In this section, you have three options: unrestricted access, automatic restrictions based on age appropriateness or customizing access to specific websites. To block specific websites, choose ‘Allow access to only these websites’ option and follow steps below.

6. Add a website to block list

Click ‘+’ button at the bottom of allowed websites box, then choose ‘Add Bookmark…’ from drop-down menu. A new window will appear where you can enter the URL of the website you want to block.

7. Enter the website URL

Type or copy-paste the URL of the site you want to block into the ‘Address’ field. After entering complete URL, click on ‘Add Bookmark’ button.

8. Save your settings

Close the Parental Controls preferences by clicking on the red button in the upper-left corner of the window, and your changes will be saved automatically.

9. Test the settings

Open up Safari, and test by going to one of the blocked websites. If everything has been set up correctly, you should see a message stating that access to this website is restricted.

Now that you’ve successfully blocked a website in Safari using Parental Controls, repeat these steps anytime you wish to block additional sites or modify existing restrictions. Keep in mind that these settings will only apply for the user account where Parental Controls have been enabled.