How to Block a Website with BrowseControl
BrowseControl is an internet restriction software that prevents access to unlawful, distracting, inappropriate, or unsafe sites on any internet browser (Google Chrome, FireFox, Edge, etc).
On this page, you will learn how to use BrowseControl’s web filtering features to enforce and regulate your organization's Internet restriction policies by blocking websites based on category, URL, domain, and the machine/user attempting to access the website.
How to Block Websites
Blocking Websites with BrowseControl
With BrowseControl website access permissions can be customized for your network based on the user or machine used to access the website, giving you a flexible solution for blocking websites across your network.
BrowseControl can provide an extension of your organization’s onsite Internet usage policies to laptops and computers running outside the corporate network, giving you the option to enforce Internet restriction policies for remote workers.
BrowseControl is best known as software for blocking websites on the internet. Aside from web access filtering, BrowseControl can also prevent unauthorized software use (games, instant messaging, etc.) and block the download of unauthorized files.
To learn how to block access to websites on the internet using BrowseControl, please read the instructions below.
If this is your first time setting up a product from the CurrentWare suite (BrowseControl, BrowseReporter, AccessPatrol, and/or enPowerManager), you will first need to install the CurrentWare Console on the device you would like to use as the managing computer.
The managing computer with the CurrentWare Console software installed will act as the centralized console for implementing your Internet access restriction policies with BrowseControl. The managing computer will be responsible for managing the other computers on the network - this will typically be a computer used by a manager, though it can also be a server for advanced users or for enterprises that would like to deploy their CurrentWare solution remotely.
If you would prefer a video tutorial for how to setup the CurrentWare console, you can find it here.
Before you begin: Download the CurrentWare Setup File
Setup File Contents:
- CurrentWare Server and Console Setup File (CurrentWare.exe)
- CurrentWare Client Setup File (cwClientSetup.exe)
1. Install the CurrentWare Console on the manager's computer
- Launch the CurrentWare Console setup file (CurrentWare.exe)
- Read and accept the End-User License Agreement (EULA)
- Select “CurrentWareConsole” and click “Next”
- Select BrowseControl and Category Filtering solutions
- The Installer will proceed to install the CurrentWare Server, Console and BrowseControl onto the manager’s computer. This process will take 3-5 minutes to complete.
Note: For companies installing BrowseControl on more than 300 computers, we recommend installing the CurrentWare Client setup file on a server and using SQL Server Professional as the database. To see Remote Deployment Options for BrowseControl, visit our quick-start installation page.
2. Install the CurrentWare Clients on the computers you would like to control
- Take the CurrentWare Client setup file (cwClientSetup.exe) and launch it on the computers that you would like to block websites on.
- The installer will ask you for the name of the computer that the CurrentWare console is installed on from step 1. Advanced users can also use the IP address of their CurrentWare Server.
- For instructions on how to find the name of the computer that you installed the CurrentWare Console on you can visit our video tutorial or see the Microsoft support page.
- After the CurrentWare Client installation is complete, it will connect to your CurrentWare Console (the manager’s computer from step 1) automatically.
- Repeat this process on all the computers you would like to control with the BrowseControl software.
Now that you have the CurrentWare Console software installed on the managing computer and the CurrentWare Client software installed on the machine(s) you would like to control, we will show you a few ways to block websites.
With BrowseControl's web filtering tools you can manage the internet access of computers/users using a combination of methods, allowing and blocking specific websites or categories of websites to suit your unique internet filtering needs.
- Block a specific website/domain URL (also known as a "blacklist")
- This method is best used when you would like to allow access to the majority of the internet with a small list of known exceptions
- This method can also be used to customize your BrowseControl strategy alongside the category filtering method by blocking additional websites not included in your chosen categories
- Block websites based on BrowseControl's frequently updated database of over 100 URL categories using the URL Category Filtering add-on
- This method is best used to block a large number of websites based on defined categories that are not suitable for your organization such as Social Media, Adult, or Games
- Block all websites except for a specified allow list (also known as a "whitelist")
- This method is best used when the internet access of a given user/computer needs to be strictly regulated to a list of approved websites
- This method can also be used to customize your BrowseControl strategy alongside the category filtering method by allowing access to specific websites that would normally be blocked in one of the categories selected in the Internet Category Filtering add-on
3. Launch the CurrentWare Console on the managing computer
Choose 1 of the 3 following methods and apply it to the computer(s) or user(s) that you would like to filter internet access for, or use a combination of these methods to customize your internet filtering strategy to meet your organization's needs.
Method 1: Block a Website - (Blocked List)
- Select the computer(s) or user(s) that you would like to block from using a specific website
- Set “Internet” to “On” if it is not already on
- Go to “URL Filter”
- Add the URL (www.NameOfWebsiteToBlock.com) of the specific website you would like to block for the chosen computer(s) and/or user(s)
Method 2: How to Block Websites by Category
- Select the computer(s) or user(s) that you would like to block from using a specific website
- Set “Internet” to “On” if it is not already on
- Go to “Category Filtering”
- Add the categories you would like to block (ex. "Social Media” to the Blocked Category List
Method 3: How to Block Websites - Allow only authorized websites (Allowed List)
- Select the computer(s) or user(s) that you would like to block from using a specific website
- Set “Internet” to “Off”
- Go to “URL Filter”
- Add the allowed websites to the Allowed List
That's it! BrowseControl is blocking websites from the internet on your employees' computers!
Reinforce awareness of your internet filtering policy for your employees, customers, or students
Customize your messaging for blocked sites to inform users in your organization of your internet usage policy. Whether you are filtering web access for legislation compliance, cybersecurity, employee productivity, or to prevent access to inappropriate content, you can customize messaging on blocked sites to suit your organization's needs.
