How to block an application from accessing the internet in Windows 11/10

If you want to block an application from accessing the internet on Windows 11 and Windows 10 computers, here is how you can do that. There are mainly two methods to prevent an app from using the internet connection on your computer – using Windows Defender Firewall and using third-party software.

Let’s assume that you want to hand over your computer to your kid for educational purposes, and your kid needs to read some offline books. On the other hand, your computer is always connected to the internet due to some reason. At such a moment, if you want to prevent your kid from accessing the internet via a browser like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge, this tutorial will be handy for you. Whether it is a browser, game, or anything else, you can block that program from using the internet on your computer.

How to block an application from accessing the internet

To block an application from accessing the internet using Windows Defender Firewall, follow these steps:

1. Open Windows Defender Firewall on your PC.
2. Click on the Advanced settings option.
3. Select the Outbound Rules on the left side.
4. Click on the New Rule option on the right side.
5. Select Program and click the Next button.
6. Select This program path > click the Browse button.
7. Choose the program you want to block from accessing the internet.
8. Click the Next button.
9. Select Block the connection option and click on Next.
10. Select Domain, Private, and Public options > click the Next button.
11. Enter the name of the Firewall rule and click the Finish button.

To learn more about these steps, continue reading.

At first, you need to search for the firewall in the Taskbar search box and click on the individual search result to open the Windows Defender Firewall on your computer. Following that, click on the Advanced settings option on the left side and click the Outbound Rules.

On the right-hand side, you can find an option called New Rule. Click on it to create a new firewall rule to block the program from using the internet connection on your PC.

Here you can find multiple options, such as Program, Port, Predefined, and Custom. You need to select the Program option and click the Next button.

Following that, you will get an option to block a specific program or all programs from using the internet on your PC. If you want to block one particular app, you need to choose the This program path option, click the Browse button, and select the installer file.

Then, click the Next button. After that, you need to choose the Block the connection option and click on the Next option.

Now, you will find three options or types of connections – Domain, Private, and Public. You need to select all three options and click the Next button.

Lastly, enter the name of your firewall rule and click the Finish button.

Once done, you cannot use the internet on that program you selected. In order to re-enable internet access, you need to delete the firewall rule. To do so, right-click on the rule you created to block the program from accessing the internet, and select the Delete option.

How to prevent an app from accessing the internet using third-party software?

If you do not want to go through all the steps as mentioned above to block a program from using internet on your Windows 11/10 PC, you can use third-party software. There are plenty of tools available in the market.

• For example, you can use ProgCop, which blocks any program from accessing the internet within moments. The user interface is uncluttered, and it is not much time-consuming to set things up. You can easily add a program to the list and remove it whenever needed.
• The second tool is OneClickFirewall. At times, you might need to make all the changes right from the context menu. If so, you can use this software on your computer. The best thing about this tool is that you can get an option called Block Internet Access in the right-click context menu on all the programs.

How do I block programs from accessing the Internet except one?

You can block all programs from accessing the internet except a specific one with the help of the Windows Defender Firewall. You need to create a new outbound rule blocking all programs at once. For that, select the All programs option when it asks you to choose the program you want to block. You must create a new outbound rule that allows the desired application to access the internet.

Related: How to allow or block a program in Windows Firewall.

How do I block a website on Windows 11/10?

If you want to block a website on Windows 11, then you can use a free third-party tool or some best free parental control tools like Microsoft Family Safety, Qustodio, etc. In addition, you can also block an IP or website using Windows PowerShell. You can also use a proxy script or a Hosts file to block websites in browsers (Chrome, Edge, and Firefox) on Windows 11/10.

That’s all! Hope this guide helped.