Block porn on Android

Before you start

Set aside half an hour during the day, not late at night, ideally with the person who will hold the PIN afterward. The setup isn’t hard. The hard part is asking someone.

A note on menus: Android looks a little different from one manufacturer to the next. The paths below come from Google’s own Android Help, accessed on October 12, 2026. Google itself notes that some steps can vary by device. If you can’t find an item, use the search field at the top of Settings.

Step 1: Private DNS with a family filter (5 minutes)

Every time you open a site, your phone first asks for its address. That’s called DNS. If that question goes to a service that filters out adult sites, the phone gets no address for them and the page doesn’t load.

1. Open Settings > Network & internet > Private DNS. On some devices it sits under “Advanced.”
2. Choose “Private DNS provider hostname.”
3. Enter family.cloudflare-dns.com and tap “Save.”
4. Open nudity.testcategory.com in your browser. It’s a harmless test page from Cloudflare. It must not load.

Cloudflare describes this service as “1.1.1.1 for Families”: it blocks malware and adult content. According to Cloudflare, Private DNS is available from Android 9 on. The queries go to Cloudflare encrypted, not to us.

The honest limit: this setting has no lock. You can switch it back in ten seconds. It is a hurdle, not a wall. That’s why Step 2 is worth it if your device offers it.

Step 2: Parental controls with a PIN, Android 17 and later (10 minutes)

With Android 17, Google introduced parental controls directly on the device, without Family Link and without a child account. According to Google, you need the latest version of Android 17 or later. You’ll see in Settings whether your device has it.

1. Open Settings > Parental controls.
2. Set up the parental controls PIN. The PIN has at least four digits. The person you trust does this step. You look away.
3. Google offers to add a recovery account in case the PIN is forgotten. Have their Google Account entered there, not yours. Otherwise you can reset the PIN yourself at any time. According to Google, this doesn’t sign them in on your device.
4. Under “Web content filters,” turn on “Block explicit sites” and “Filter explicit search results.”
5. Under “App limits,” select browsers the filter doesn’t cover and apps that are your way in, and turn off “Allow app.” That blocks the app.
6. Under “Downtime,” set the hours when the phone is locked, for example 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

What you should know: according to Google, the web filter applies only to Chrome, the Google app and Android System WebView in current versions, plus browsers that choose to integrate with it. In other browsers and apps, explicit content can still appear. That’s why point 5 matters. Google also states that when “Block explicit sites” is on, the sites you visit in Chrome are sent to Google to be checked. That is the price of this filter. If that bothers you, Private DNS from Step 1 remains the route without Google.

According to Google, some device settings are restricted while the restrictions are active, so the features can’t be bypassed. Without the PIN they can’t be switched off. Deleting the PIN turns all restrictions off. If the device has several profiles, such as a work profile, Google says the restrictions can’t be turned on.

Google describes this feature for parents and children. The help page doesn’t rule out an adult using it for himself, but it doesn’t say so explicitly either.

Step 3: SafeSearch on “Filter” (2 minutes)

Open the Google app, tap your profile picture at the top right, then Settings > SafeSearch, and choose “Filter.” According to Google, this blocks all explicit results in Google Search. It applies only to Google Search and you can switch it back yourself, but it removes the images from search results, which is how many men get pulled in.

Step 4: Content restrictions in the Play Store (3 minutes)

In the Play Store, tap your profile picture, then Settings > Family > Content restrictions > Go to Parental controls. There you decide which apps, films, TV shows and books may be shown and installed by age rating. The person you trust gets this PIN too. From Android 17, the Play Store uses the parental controls PIN for this.

Google names two limits itself: the restrictions only apply on the device where you set them up, and they only affect new installs, not apps already there. They don’t block websites in the browser.

Step 5: Secure the night

If it mostly happens late in bed, Bedtime mode under Settings > Digital Wellbeing helps. You’ll also find app timers for individual apps there. You can switch both off yourself, but they interrupt the habit of scrolling “just for a minute.” The stricter option is “Downtime” from Step 2, which only opens with the PIN.

The most effective step isn’t a setting at all: charge the phone outside the bedroom at night.

Step 6: Nudity warnings in messages

Google Messages has “sensitive content warnings.” The feature blurs possible nude images and warns before you view, send or forward them. According to Google, detection happens on the device. For adults it is off by default. To turn it on: in Google Messages tap your profile picture, then Messages settings > Protection & safety > Manage sensitive content warnings, and turn on “Warnings in Google Messages.” Google itself says detection isn’t perfect.

Where the block reaches its limits

It would be dishonest to promise you a solid wall. These are the limits to know.

Adults get fewer locks than children. According to Google’s help, Family Link is for parents supervising a child’s account. Chrome’s Incognito ban exists there for children; Google describes no such switch for adults. That makes the PIN from Step 2 the most important piece.

Some apps bypass the system DNS. According to Android Developers, apps with their own DNS settings can get around the built-in protection. VPN apps can also set their own DNS servers. If you notice yourself installing such apps to get around the block, that belongs in the conversation with your anchor.

Chrome has its own “secure DNS.” Under Chrome > Settings > Privacy and security there is “Use secure DNS.” Leave it at the default and don’t enter another provider there.

Lists are never complete. Every filter misses sites and sometimes blocks harmless ones.

Other devices. A tablet, the laptop, the TV: a single device without a block gets around everything. For Mac, Windows PC, Linux and your home router, consurgam.com/protect sets things up with one click or one command; more in Block porn on your computer.

And the most important limit: a block doesn’t change why you reach for the phone. It buys you a moment. What to do in that moment is in Urge to watch porn.

Who gets the PIN

Someone reliable who won’t give in when you text at midnight that you need the PIN “just for a second.” A friend, a brother, an older colleague. Whether your wife should take this role is something to discuss openly. Some couples want that; others specifically don’t want her to become the gatekeeper. How to ask is in Accountability partner.

A sentence you can use: “I’m asking you for something small. Please type a PIN into my phone that I don’t know, so I can’t switch off my filter alone at night. You won’t get any reports, and you don’t have to check up on me.”

And Consurgam?

Consurgam is currently only available for iPhone and iPad; an Android version is in the works. Everything on this page works without the app. The knowledge pages here are free for everyone, Android users included, for example How to quit porn and Porn relapse.