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Chromebooks are great devices for browsing the internet and completing basic tasks. If you’re looking to buy a computer for your children, they also make great devices. However, with ChromeOS being far from a complete operating system, some settings are harder to control than others.
In this article, we’re talking about how you can block Youtube on a Chromebook.
Also read: Top 5 Chromebook charging stations
Blocking Youtube on Chromebooks with an extension
Blocking Youtube or just about any website for that matter requires adding an extension to Chrome as Chromebooks don’t have system-wide blocking capabilities. Since Chrome doesn’t have a blocking feature as well, we’re going to use a third-party extension.
We’ll be using BlockSite: Block Websites & Stay Focused extension which can quickly block specific sites with additional features like block schedules, focus timers and cross-platform syncing.
Step 1: Head over to the aforementioned link to the Chrome Web Store and click the Get button to install the extension on your browser.
Step 2: You’ll be asked to accept their privacy policy. Go ahead and do so.
Step 3: It’s a paid extension, but you can use it for free. So click the Skip button on the subscription tiers page.
Step 4: Now you’ll see the extensions configuration page. Click the Add to Blocklist button
Step 5: Head over to the Website tab and select Youtube from the list of websites by clicking the plus icon next to the site name.
And that’s all. From this point on, every time you try and visit the blocked website, you’ll be shown a page telling you that the site is blocked. If you’d like to try other options, Block Site Ex and FocusShield are two great alternatives.
Blocking Youtube on Chromebooks with an app
If you’re managing multiple devices, using an app is the better option as it can cover multiple platforms and devices. Luckily, BlockSite also offers an app that can be downloaded from either the Google Play Store or their website and can sync your blocking settings across devices.
To use the BlockSite app, first head over to the Google Play Store page for BlockSite and click the Install button. Once the app is installed on your Chromebook, follow along with the instructions, which are the same as above, to block the sites you want. Remember that you can only block two websites on a free account so if you’re looking to block more, you might want to get a subscription or try another app.
Preventing a blocker from being deleted
The final piece of the puzzle is preventing your Youtube blocker from being deleted or changed. You can do this by either hiding the extensions menu from Chrome so that the user doesn’t know an extension was installed in the first place. If you’re using an app, you will have to look for one that requires a password before making changes or uninstalling.
If you’re simply looking to hide the extension on Chrome, follow these steps.
Step 1: Head over to chrome://flags/ to open the Advanced Configuration section.
Step 2: Search for extensions and set the Extensions Menu Access Control option to Disabled in the drop-down menu.
Also read: Why is my Chromebook screen glitching?
