Can a Chrome extension block websites permanently?

Not in the strictest sense. Any Chrome extension can be turned off from chrome://extensions in about two clicks, so 'permanent' really means 'blocked until you deliberately undo it.' The right question is how much friction stands between you and a bypass. A long Focuh challenge plus a commitment you have to consciously break is far closer to permanent than a toggle you can flip on impulse, but no extension is truly unremovable.

How do I stop myself from disabling the blocker?

Friction is the whole game. Pick a long challenge length so there's no built-in off switch waiting at midnight, block on a separate browser profile you don't keep admin tools open in, and use a tool like LeechBlock that can demand a password or a forced wait before it lets you disable a block. The strongest version is OS-level blocking through the Focuh Mac app, which doesn't live in chrome://extensions at all.

Does Focuh let me block sites forever?

Focuh is built around fixed challenge lengths — 30, 91, or 180 days, or a custom number — rather than a literal 'forever' setting, because an honest forever doesn't exist for any browser extension. You can chain challenges back to back, and because each one runs continuously with no daily allowance, the practical effect is sites that simply stay gone for as long as you keep committing. There's no account, no telemetry, and no cap on how many sites you block.

Can I block a website permanently across all browsers?

Not with a Chrome extension alone. An extension only controls Chrome, so switching to Safari, Firefox, or Arc instantly bypasses it. To block a site across every browser and native app at once, you need OS-level blocking. The free Focuh Mac app uses macOS Accessibility APIs to block system-wide during a focus session, covering all browsers together. That's the only way to make a block stick no matter where you try to open the site.

Is a permanent website block on Chrome free?

Yes. Focuh, LeechBlock NG, and StayFocusd are all genuinely free and let you block unlimited sites for as long as you like. BlockSite advertises a free tier but caps it at three sites and locks scheduling and password protection behind a paid plan, so its 'permanent' blocking effectively costs money. If free and uncapped matters to you, start with Focuh or LeechBlock rather than a freemium blocker.

What happens when I try to open a blocked site in Focuh?

The tab redirects to a quiet local page instead of loading the site, and Focuh logs the attempt. That attempt counter is useful feedback: seeing that you reached for Reddit fifteen times on Monday and three times by Friday shows the reflex actually fading rather than just being held back. The counter and your blocklist stay in local Chrome storage and never leave your device.

Should I use the Mac app instead of the extension for permanent blocking?

Use both if you're on a Mac. The extension handles Chrome tabs and is the fastest thing to set up. The free Focuh Mac app blocks at the operating-system level, which is much harder to switch off mid-session because it isn't a toggle in your browser. For blocking that feels permanent, the realistic setup is the extension for the browser plus the Mac app for everything else.

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Best Chrome Extension to Block Websites Permanently (2026)

Q: What's the best Chrome extension to block websites permanently?

Focuh is the closest fit for most people: you add your sites, pick a long challenge length like 90 or 180 days, and they stay blocked the entire run with no daily reset to renegotiate. LeechBlock NG can add password or delay locks for extra friction if you want a rule engine. BlockSite offers password protection too, but caps the free tier at three sites. For genuinely hard-to-remove blocking, pair the extension with the Focuh Mac app.

June 22, 202610 min readFocuh

You can get close to a permanent website block with a Chrome extension, but you can't make it absolute. Any extension can be disabled from chrome://extensions in two clicks, so the real goal is to put enough friction between you and that off switch that the impulse passes first. The best Chrome extension to block websites permanently is the one that runs as a long, continuous commitment with no daily reset to renegotiate — and that you back up with OS-level blocking when you need it to actually hold.

This guide covers what "permanent" honestly means for a browser extension, which free extensions get closest, and where you have to step outside Chrome to make a block stick.

What does "permanently" actually mean for a Chrome extension?

Here's the uncomfortable part most listicles skip: no Chrome extension can block a website permanently in the literal sense. Extensions are user-installed software, and Chrome gives you a built-in switch to disable any of them. There's no extension that can stop you from opening the extensions page and flipping itself off.

So "permanent" is really shorthand for high friction. A good permanent blocker does three things: it removes the easy daily off-ramp (no "you've used your 30 minutes, here's tomorrow's"), it makes disabling annoying enough that you won't do it on autopilot, and it gives you a continuous run long enough that the habit fades instead of resetting. Judge any "permanent" blocker on those three, not on a checkbox that says "permanent."

Chrome extensions for permanent blocking compared

Extension	Free?	Site limit	How permanent	Friction to disable
Focuh	Yes	Unlimited	Long continuous challenges (30–180 days)	Commitment-based, no daily reset
LeechBlock NG	Yes	Unlimited (30 blocksets)	Schedules + lockdown	Optional password / delay locks
StayFocusd	Yes	Unlimited	Daily time budget	Low — resets each day
BlockSite	No (3-site trial)	3 sites	Scheduling (paid)	Password (paid plan)

The pattern is clear. StayFocusd resets every midnight, so it's the least permanent by design. BlockSite has password protection but hides it — and most of the product — behind a paid plan with a three-site free cap. LeechBlock and Focuh are the two genuinely free, uncapped options, and they take opposite routes to "permanent": LeechBlock through configurable locks, Focuh through one long commitment you don't get to renegotiate daily.

Why Focuh is the closest thing to permanent

Focuh is a free Chrome extension built around a single idea: commit once, stay blocked. You add the sites you want gone, pick a challenge length — 30, 91, or 180 days, or a custom number — and start. The sites stay blocked the entire run. There's no daily allowance to top up, no time budget to raise at 4pm, and no settings page full of dials begging to be loosened when you want an excuse.

That matters more than it sounds. Every adjustable setting is also a lever you can pull when willpower dips. The fewer levers a blocker gives you, the harder it is to talk yourself out of the block one small "reasonable" edit at a time. Focuh's long-challenge model is deliberately low on dials.

It's also genuinely free: no account, no email, no telemetry, no ads, and no cap on how many domains you block. Your blocklist and the attempt counter live in local Chrome storage and never leave your device. If you want the wider landscape, the best free website blocker for Chrome guide lines the options up side by side.

Install Focuh — free, no account.

When LeechBlock NG makes sense

If you'd rather build the permanence out of rules than commitment, LeechBlock NG is the power tool. It's free, open source, and lets you set password or forced-delay locks on individual blocksets, so disabling a block means typing a password you can deliberately make annoying, or waiting out a timer. For someone who wants explicit friction they configured themselves, that's a strong answer.

The cost is setup. LeechBlock's options page is a dense grid of blocksets, schedules, and time fields, and you have to learn it before it does anything. If you enjoy configuring software you'll appreciate the control; if you want to install, block, and start working in under a minute, it'll feel like a lot. The full trade-off is in Focuh vs LeechBlock.

The honest limit: extensions only block Chrome

This is the wall every "permanent Chrome blocker" hits, and it's worth being blunt about. A Chrome extension can only block Chrome. It cannot block Safari, Firefox, or Arc, it cannot block native desktop apps, and it cannot stop you from opening the same site in a different browser. The most common bypass in the world isn't disabling the extension — it's just opening Safari.

So if your distraction lives entirely in Chrome tabs, a long Focuh challenge is plenty. If you'll switch browsers or open a native app the moment Chrome says no, an extension by itself won't hold, no matter how "permanent" it claims to be. The full reasoning is in system-level vs browser website blocking.

How to make a block actually stick on a Mac

To get past the Chrome-only ceiling, you block at the operating-system level. The free Focuh desktop app for Mac does this with macOS Accessibility APIs: during a focus session it blocks distracting sites across every browser — Safari, Firefox, Arc, and Chrome — plus native apps, all at once. Crucially, it doesn't live in chrome://extensions, so there's no two-click toggle to flip. Disabling it mid-session takes real, deliberate effort, which is exactly the friction "permanent" needs.

The most reliable permanent setup, then, is two free tools working together: the Focuh extension for Chrome tabs and the Focuh Mac app for everything outside Chrome. On the desktop side specifically, see how to block websites permanently on Mac for the step-by-step.

How to set up near-permanent blocking in Chrome

Install Focuh from the Chrome Web Store. No account, no email.
Add every site you want gone — reddit.com, youtube.com, x.com, whatever your real list is. There's no three-site cap to hit.
Choose a long challenge: 91 or 180 days if you mean it. The longer the run, the less often you face a built-in decision point.
Start the challenge. Blocked tabs redirect to a quiet local page, and the attempt counter starts tracking your urges so you can watch them drop.
On a Mac, install the free Mac app too and run a focus session whenever you need the block to cover other browsers and apps.

Which should you choose?

Choose Focuh if you want the simplest path to a long, uninterrupted block with no daily reset, no account, and a free Mac app behind it. It's the closest thing to permanent for most people.

Choose LeechBlock NG if you want to engineer the friction yourself with password and delay locks and don't mind a longer setup.

Skip BlockSite for permanent blocking unless three sites is genuinely all you need, since the features that make it "permanent" sit behind a paid plan.

No Chrome extension is unbreakable, and any guide that promises otherwise is selling you something. What you can do is stack the friction — a long commitment, a tool with few escape hatches, and OS-level blocking on top — until breaking the block costs more effort than just doing the work. Install Focuh free, and add the free Mac app when Chrome alone isn't enough.