How to block porn on a Chromebook
It’s easy with Safe Surfer to block harmful online content on a Chromebook. On your first protection installation, it will take around 20 minutes for the full installation, or 30 minutes for the entire guide.
If the Google account that your child uses on this device is a school Google account (that is, a specific account provided for the child that is tied to the school, such as joe.bloggs@example.school.nz), the following steps might not be available. No problem—we can usually get this device to pick up at least some basic Safe Surfer protection from your home Wi-Fi. You can find out more by clicking this link.
This step doesn't apply if the Google account that your child uses on this device is a school Google account.
Chromebook devices have a feature called Guest browsing, which ignores any protection installation on the device. Due to how Chromebook devices work, the first Google account signed in to the Chromebook is deemed the device owner (that is, the user account that has full control over the device). If you wish to fully disable the guest browsing feature, you will need to Powerwash (that is, factory reset) the Chromebook and sign in with your personal Google account so that you hold the device owner permission on this device, rather than your child's account. You can find out how to do this by clicking this link. After performing the Powerwash and having signed in with your own Google account, you can then add your child's Google account.
Before performing a Powerwash, you must make sure that you have backed up all files and app data on the device. Safe Surfer is not responsible for any data loss.
Click the Launcher button at the lower-left corner of the screen.
Click the Settings app.
Click the Privacy and security menu on the left-hand sidebar.
Click the Manage other people menu.
Click the Guest browsing switch to turn it off.
If this switch is locked, you won't be able to turn this feature off. If you're currently logged in with a school Google account, and you can't find the switch, it has likely already been disabled by a school administrator.
Click the back button.
Click the Chrome app on the shelf (that is, the taskbar).
Visit the Safe Surfer dashboard (https://my.safesurfer.io). Click the Devices menu on the left-hand sidebar, then click the New device button.
Click the option for This device.
Click the Chrome option.
Give this device listing a name, then click the Accept button.
Scroll down and click the Copy link button.
Go back to the Settings app. Click the drop-down box found next to Select DNS provider. In the drop-down list, click the Add custom DNS service provider option.
Click the text box (labelled Enter custom DNS query URL) with two fingers on the touchpad to open the context menu, then click the Paste option. If you can't bring up the context menu, you could alternatively use the Ctrl + V keys to paste the link into the text box.
If the Paste option doesn't work, go back to the Chrome app and click the Copy link button again.
Click away from the text box.
If the text box prompts you to verify that this is a valid URL, we'll show you how to resolve this next.
Click the text box again, then click some white space again to fix this.
Back on the Safe Surfer dashboard in Google Chrome, click the Done button, then click the Blocking link.
Click the switches to either block or unblock categories—grey means not blocked, and red means blocked. Once you’re done, click the Save button at the upper-right corner. You might need to scroll to the top of the list for the Save button to appear.
At the upper-right corner of the dashboard’s title bar, click the three dot icon, then click the Log Out button.
Visit the Safe Surfer website to verify the protection installation. The protection bubble should report that this device is protected.
In addition, you can visit ExampleAdultSite.com to see blocking in action. This is a safe website for testing to see if pornographic websites are being blocked. If it's not blocked, review the previous steps.
Great work, we’ve finished the protection installation. You can now close the Settings app.
Due to Google's design for Chromebook devices, we can't prevent the Safe Surfer DNS installation from being turned off by tech-savvy device users. If you have a Pro Surfer subscription, we will let you know through the Alerts system if we haven't received network traffic for a while. In general, we strongly recommend keeping devices out of bedrooms. You might like to consider having a dedicated living space where devices can be used safely. If this is an issue, you might like to consider switching to either a Windows or a Mac device, where we can provide a more rigourous experience.
Play Store parental controls help hide Play Store content listings that contain sexually suggestive and/or sexually explicit content.
Apps already installed that are affected by these settings will not be hidden. These apps will also continue to receive updates from the Play Store.
Click the Launcher button at the lower-left corner of the screen.
Click the Play Store app.
Click the profile icon at the upper-right corner.
Scroll down the list and click the Settings menu.
Click the Family section, then click the Parental controls menu.
Click the switch to turn on the Parental controls feature.
Enter a PIN for the Parental controls feature, then click the OK button.
Confirm your PIN, then click the OK button.
Click the Apps & games section.
Set this to either 7+ or 12+, then click the Save button. In North & South America, the equivalent for these are E10+ (Everyone 10+) and T (Teen). For reference, social media apps are typically rated 12+.
Click the Books section.
Click the checkbox found next to Restrict sexually explicit books.
Click the Save button.
Depending on your region, you might also have controls available for the following categories:
Movies
TV
Books
Set these to an appropriate level if they are available. Once you're done, you can now close out of the Play Store app.
Great work! This device is now fully protected. To start monitoring protected devices, visit our easy-to-use online dashboard.
If you have any other Chromebook devices you would like to protect, simply start again from the top of the guide. If you would like to protect a different kind of device, visit our Guides page.
If the Google account that your child uses on this device is a school Google account (that is, a specific account provided for the child that is tied to the school, such as joe.bloggs@example.school.nz), the following steps might not be available. No problem—we can usually get this device to pick up at least some basic Safe Surfer protection from your home Wi-Fi. You can find out more by clicking this link.
Step 1: Factory reset Chromebook to lock Guest browsing feature (optional)
This step doesn't apply if the Google account that your child uses on this device is a school Google account.
Chromebook devices have a feature called Guest browsing, which ignores any protection installation on the device. Due to how Chromebook devices work, the first Google account signed in to the Chromebook is deemed the device owner (that is, the user account that has full control over the device). If you wish to fully disable the guest browsing feature, you will need to Powerwash (that is, factory reset) the Chromebook and sign in with your personal Google account so that you hold the device owner permission on this device, rather than your child's account. You can find out how to do this by clicking this link. After performing the Powerwash and having signed in with your own Google account, you can then add your child's Google account.
Before performing a Powerwash, you must make sure that you have backed up all files and app data on the device. Safe Surfer is not responsible for any data loss.
Step 2: Disable the Guest browsing feature
Click the Launcher button at the lower-left corner of the screen.
Click the Settings app.
Click the Privacy and security menu on the left-hand sidebar.
Click the Manage other people menu.
Click the Guest browsing switch to turn it off.
If this switch is locked, you won't be able to turn this feature off. If you're currently logged in with a school Google account, and you can't find the switch, it has likely already been disabled by a school administrator.
Click the back button.
Step 3: Install protection
Click the Chrome app on the shelf (that is, the taskbar).
Visit the Safe Surfer dashboard (https://my.safesurfer.io). Click the Devices menu on the left-hand sidebar, then click the New device button.
Click the option for This device.
Click the Chrome option.
Give this device listing a name, then click the Accept button.
Scroll down and click the Copy link button.
Go back to the Settings app. Click the drop-down box found next to Select DNS provider. In the drop-down list, click the Add custom DNS service provider option.
Click the text box (labelled Enter custom DNS query URL) with two fingers on the touchpad to open the context menu, then click the Paste option. If you can't bring up the context menu, you could alternatively use the Ctrl + V keys to paste the link into the text box.
If the Paste option doesn't work, go back to the Chrome app and click the Copy link button again.
Click away from the text box.
If the text box prompts you to verify that this is a valid URL, we'll show you how to resolve this next.
Click the text box again, then click some white space again to fix this.
Back on the Safe Surfer dashboard in Google Chrome, click the Done button, then click the Blocking link.
Click the switches to either block or unblock categories—grey means not blocked, and red means blocked. Once you’re done, click the Save button at the upper-right corner. You might need to scroll to the top of the list for the Save button to appear.
At the upper-right corner of the dashboard’s title bar, click the three dot icon, then click the Log Out button.
Step 3: Verify protection
Visit the Safe Surfer website to verify the protection installation. The protection bubble should report that this device is protected.
In addition, you can visit ExampleAdultSite.com to see blocking in action. This is a safe website for testing to see if pornographic websites are being blocked. If it's not blocked, review the previous steps.
Great work, we’ve finished the protection installation. You can now close the Settings app.
Due to Google's design for Chromebook devices, we can't prevent the Safe Surfer DNS installation from being turned off by tech-savvy device users. If you have a Pro Surfer subscription, we will let you know through the Alerts system if we haven't received network traffic for a while. In general, we strongly recommend keeping devices out of bedrooms. You might like to consider having a dedicated living space where devices can be used safely. If this is an issue, you might like to consider switching to either a Windows or a Mac device, where we can provide a more rigourous experience.
Step 4: Enable Play Store parental controls
Play Store parental controls help hide Play Store content listings that contain sexually suggestive and/or sexually explicit content.
Apps already installed that are affected by these settings will not be hidden. These apps will also continue to receive updates from the Play Store.
Click the Launcher button at the lower-left corner of the screen.
Click the Play Store app.
Click the profile icon at the upper-right corner.
Scroll down the list and click the Settings menu.
Click the Family section, then click the Parental controls menu.
Click the switch to turn on the Parental controls feature.
Enter a PIN for the Parental controls feature, then click the OK button.
Confirm your PIN, then click the OK button.
Click the Apps & games section.
Set this to either 7+ or 12+, then click the Save button. In North & South America, the equivalent for these are E10+ (Everyone 10+) and T (Teen). For reference, social media apps are typically rated 12+.
Click the Books section.
Click the checkbox found next to Restrict sexually explicit books.
Click the Save button.
Depending on your region, you might also have controls available for the following categories:
Movies
TV
Books
Set these to an appropriate level if they are available. Once you're done, you can now close out of the Play Store app.
Protection complete
Great work! This device is now fully protected. To start monitoring protected devices, visit our easy-to-use online dashboard.
If you have any other Chromebook devices you would like to protect, simply start again from the top of the guide. If you would like to protect a different kind of device, visit our Guides page.
Updated on: 14/06/2024
Thank you!