How to Block Reddit on PC (7 Methods Ranked by Effectiveness)

Key takeaways

• Hosts file: add reddit.com, www.reddit.com and old.reddit.com. The other Reddit addresses redirect to www.reddit.com.
• Chrome and Edge policy: one reddit.com entry blocks every Reddit subdomain, and reddit.com/r/all blocks only that page.
• One subreddit: block its address, for example reddit.com/r/politics, with a policy, LeechBlock NG or Ascension.
• Strongest methods: a hard-to-bypass website blocker, or a password someone else holds.
• Phone: blocking Reddit on a PC leaves the app on your phone open, so block Reddit on your phone too.

Methods ranked

1. Use a hard-to-bypass website blocker

If you want to block Reddit with strong enforcement, the best alternative is a hard-to-bypass blocker that can't be removed or edited easily, such as Ascension or Cold Turkey Blocker. Ascension is a website blocker built for this. It can block all of Reddit or single subreddits, in every supported browser for the app.

Price: 15-day free trial, then $12.99/month or $50 one-time.

How to set it up:

1. 1.Install Ascension and add its extension to your browser.
2. 2.Block reddit.com, or only a subreddit such as reddit.com/r/nsfw or reddit.com/r/politics.
3. 3.Choose the block type: Always Block, Schedule Block or Time Limit.
4. 4.Add a lock to the block to prevent it from being edited or deleted.

Cold Turkey Blocker does the same on Windows and macOS, with a free version and Pro at $45 once.

Effectiveness: 9/10. The block holds on the PC. Reddit is still open on your phone, so block the app there too.

2. Let someone else hold the password

Any block you set up yourself can be removed by you. If a person you trust sets the block and keeps the password, removing it means asking them.

How to set it up:

1. 1.Choose a method that needs a password to change: the router admin page, a NextDNS account, or the PC's administrator account.
2. 2.Ask the other person to set the block with method 3 or 4 below, then change the password to one only they know.
3. 3.For the PC, have them change your own user account to a Standard account. A standard account cannot edit the hosts file or the browser policy.
4. 4.Do not use a browser extension for this method. You can remove an extension without any password.

Effectiveness: 9/10. Removing the block takes a conversation with another person. It is bypassed by using Reddit on a device they do not control, such as your phone on mobile data.

3. Block Reddit on your router or with a DNS filter

A DNS filter stops Reddit's domains from loading on every device that uses it. NextDNS lets you add single domains to a block list, and an entry of reddit.com also covers every subdomain, such as old.reddit.com. It is free up to 300,000 queries a month, then $1.99/month.

How to set it up:

1. 1.Create a NextDNS account and open the Denylist tab.
2. 2.Add reddit.com and redd.it.
3. 3.Follow NextDNS's setup page for your PC or your router. Setting it on the router covers every device on your Wi-Fi.
4. 4.Open reddit.com in a browser and check that it no longer loads.

Most routers also have a website filter under Parental controls or Access restrictions. Add reddit.com there and save. The menu differs by brand.

Effectiveness: 6/10. On the PC you can change the DNS setting back in a minute, and a VPN skips the filter. Your phone on mobile data is not covered. A DNS filter blocks whole domains, so it cannot block only r/all or one subreddit.

4. Block Reddit with the hosts file

The hosts file stops Reddit's domains from loading in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and every other browser on the PC. The full steps for any site are in how to block websites on a PC.

How to set it up:

1. 1.Type notepad in the Start menu, right click Notepad and select Run as administrator.
2. 2.Select File > Open, go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc, change Text Documents to All Files, and open hosts.
3. 3.Add these lines at the bottom:

   0.0.0.0 reddit.com
   0.0.0.0 www.reddit.com
   0.0.0.0 old.reddit.com
   0.0.0.0 i.redd.it
   0.0.0.0 v.redd.it
   0.0.0.0 preview.redd.it

4. 4.Save the file, then open Command Prompt and run ipconfig /flushdns.

www.reddit.com serves the site and old.reddit.com serves the old design, so both are needed. new.reddit.com, m.reddit.com, np.reddit.com and redd.it short links all redirect to www.reddit.com, so they stop working once it is blocked. The three redd.it lines block Reddit images and videos, including ones shown on other websites.

Effectiveness: 5/10. Anyone with administrator access can delete the lines. The hosts file blocks whole domains only, not single subreddits.

5. Block Reddit on Chrome or Edge with the URLBlocklist policy

Chrome and Edge read a URLBlocklist policy from the registry. One entry of reddit.com blocks the site and every subdomain, including old.reddit.com. The policy also accepts a path, so you can block only part of Reddit.

How to set it up:

1. 1.Press Windows + R, type regedit and press Enter.
2. 2.For Chrome, create HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\URLBlocklist. For Edge, create HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\URLBlocklist.
3. 3.Inside it, create a String Value named 1 with the value reddit.com. To block only part of Reddit, use a path instead, such as reddit.com/r/all or reddit.com/r/name.
4. 4.Restart the browser and open chrome://policy or edge://policy to check the list is active.

Effectiveness: 4/10. An administrator can delete the value, each browser needs its own entry, and Firefox ignores it. Installing another browser takes a few minutes.

6. Use a browser extension

Browser extensions such as LeechBlock NG (free) and BlockSite (free plan, Premium from $3.99/month billed annually) block Reddit inside one browser. LeechBlock NG can block a path such as reddit.com/r/all, show a countdown before the page loads, or ask for a password. Other extensions, such as Reddit Liberation for Chrome, hide the feeds and keep posts you open from a search.

How to set it up:

1. 1.Add the extension from the Chrome Web Store (Chrome, Edge, Brave) or Firefox Add-ons.
2. 2.Add reddit.com to its block list, or a single path such as reddit.com/r/all.
3. 3.Turn on Allow in Incognito (Chrome), Allow in InPrivate (Edge) or Run in Private Windows (Firefox) in the extension's settings.

Effectiveness: 4/10. You can remove the extension in one click from the extensions page, and every other browser on the PC is open.

7. Log out or change your password

Logging out removes your subscriptions and your personalised home feed. Some people also change their password to a long random one and store it somewhere they cannot reach quickly. Reddit's own settings reduce what you see without blocking anything:

• Turn off home feed recommendations: on reddit.com, open your feed settings and turn off Enable home feed recommendations.
• Mute communities: a muted community no longer appears in Home or Popular, but you can still open it directly.

Effectiveness: 2/10. Reddit works without an account. Logged out, the front page, r/all and every public subreddit still load, and you can reset the password by email.

Why blocks on Reddit fail

You set the block, so you know how to remove it. Most methods on a PC need only administrator access to remove, and you are usually the administrator. Reddit runs on several domains, so a block on reddit.com alone in the hosts file leaves www.reddit.com and old.reddit.com open. A block in one browser leaves every other browser open. Google search results link to Reddit threads, so a block that only hides the feed still lets you reach Reddit from a search.

Which method should you choose?

Light use: If you check Reddit a few times a day and want less of it, turn off home feed recommendations and block reddit.com/r/all with LeechBlock NG or the URLBlocklist policy.

Daily use you want to cut: If Reddit takes an hour or more of your day, block all of Reddit in every browser with the hosts file, or set a schedule with a website blocker. The same steps cover other platforms, such as how to block Facebook.

Heavy use you cannot control: If you remove every block you set, use a hard-to-bypass blocker such as Ascension, or let someone else hold the password. Block the Reddit app on your phone as well.

Frequently asked questions