Microsoft Edge is a browser created by Microsoft to replace Internet Explorer. It is based on the Chromium engine like the Google Chrome browser and therefore takes advantage of the features found in the Chrome browser.

This means that, apart from other features found in the edge browser, it can also allow the features and functionalities found in the Chromium-based browser to be implemented without much effort.

As of writing this article, there are two proven ways that you can use to block unwanted or malicious websites on the edge browser.

• Using the command prompt/terminal
• Using an ad blocker add-on

It currently doesn’t have an inbuilt way to block the websites, but it does provide an easy way of doing so using these two methods.

How to block a website via the browser

• Launch Microsoft Edge
• Click on the three dots in the far right corner at the top
• A drop-down menu will be displayed.
• Navigate to the settings option and click on it
• Navigate to the “site permissions” from the left sidebar menu.
• Click on the “cookies and site data”
• On the “Block” option, click on the “Add” button to block the website you want to block access to.

• A pop-up small screen will appear on the screen. Add the URL of the particular websites you want to block.

Repeat the same process on all the websites you want to get blocked.

How to block a website by using the Hosts file

• Click on the Windows key and type “cmd” to display the terminal/command prompt on the menu.
• Right-click on the command prompt and scroll down and choose the “Run as administrator” option.
• Input the following line exactly as it appears: notepad c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
• After you are done typing the text, press the Enter key to continue.
• A notepad application will be powered up, containing some texts.
• Scroll down the text and input 127.0.0.1 at the very end of every line in the notepad.
• Press on the space bar and input the websites you want to block. (For example 127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com)
• Repeat the same process for all the websites you want to be blocked.

When finished adding the websites;

• Click on the “file” option to display the expanded menu, on the left top corner of the notepad.
• Then, click on “save” to finish.

You can now close the notepad and the command prompt, and all is done.

If you do not wish to block the particular website(s) again;

• Go through the first four steps up to the point where the command prompt is powered up.
• Delete the line of text in Notepad that corresponds to the website(s) you want to unblock.
• Now repeat steps six and seven, and the websites should be accessible once more.

 Install a Block Site extension in Edge

• Launch the Microsoft Edge if you haven’t already
• Click on the three dots at the far right corner of the browser on the toolbar
• Navigate to the “extensions” option, and click on it. This will take you to the extensions page. Now scroll down if you have already installed more extensions and click on the “Get extensions from the Microsoft Edge” button.
• This will take you to the Microsoft Add-ons page.
• In the search box, search for “block website” to display a variety of available options.
• You may choose the one with more ratings, or the one recommended by the editor.

• Click on the “get” button to install the extension on the browser.
• You will be prompted by a pop-up to confirm the action. Click on the “add extension” button to confirm. The extension should now be installed in the browser.
• To use the extension, visit the actual site you want to be blocked. Click on the extension to see the available options for executing the blocking. Depending on the add-on, if you see the “block the current website” option, click on it. The website will be added to a list of blocked websites, and you can add as many as you wish.

Another way is by adding the search addresses to the block list. Click on the extension on the toolbar to get more setting options.

Install a Block Site extension using Chrome extensions

• Click on the three horizontal dots in the upper right corner of the browser
• Scroll down to the “extensions” option and then click on it to open the extension page
• Toggle on the “allow extensions from other stores” option on the bottom left-hand side of the browser.
• You will be prompted with a warning “allow extensions from other stores”, click on allow.

• You will be taken to the “Chrome Web Store”. Search for the blocker in the search box and install any of the available options.
• Once you select, click on “add to chrome”
• You will get a confirmation prompt, click on “add extension”.

 And that is it. They might not be as perfect as the native extensions, as they may not be fully optimized for the browser, but most get the job well done.

On the mobile device

There are various parental control apps that are available on Google Play. These apps have come in handy when filtering online activities, including setting appropriate websites on the Microsoft Edge browser.

“Microsoft Family Safety” app has been one such powerful tool parents use to regulate what their kids can access online.

MacOS Screen time tool

This is another alternative that helps track and block what your kids might be exploring online. It might not be perfect for third-party browsers like Microsoft Edge, but it does the job well when it comes to which websites are allowed to be accessed using “Allowed Websites Online” settings.

Using the screen time, you get to block by specifying the sites you want to allow to be accessed through the “Allowed Websites Online” in the settings. This, however, is not the best solution, and maybe it can be relied on when Apple improves its software capabilities.

Conclusion

It has become necessary to have some websites blocked because of various reasons. The chromium engine also has come in handy in times of taking advantage of the chrome ecosystem and its available and proven extensions.

Children nowadays can easily access online content and some websites might have inappropriate content. Other times it might be the website you are avoiding distracting you when you are doing your work online.

These above methods will come in handy if you want to block the particular website on the Microsoft Edge browser, or on all the available browsers installed in the system.