Chrome does not include a built-in way to block a website during certain hours. There is no schedule in Settings, History, or the site permissions panel. To block a site from 9 AM to 5 PM on weekdays, set a SiteKeeper time window with a budget of 0. The daily cap still applies the rest of the day.
The fastest path: install SiteKeeper, add the site, and set a time window budget of 0 for the hours you want blocked. The rest of this guide covers that setup, what Chrome can and cannot do on its own, and how a time window differs from a daily time limit.
What Chrome Can and Cannot Do
Chrome can:
- Show you which sites you visited (History)
- Let a parent manage a supervised account
- Run extensions that intercept navigation
Chrome cannot:
- Block
youtube.comonly between 9 AM and 5 PM - Apply one schedule on weekdays and another on weekends
- Count remaining minutes inside a scheduled window
That gap is why “how to block a website during certain hours” is such a common search. People do not want a permanent blacklist. They want work hours protected and evenings left alone.
Block a Site During Certain Hours With SiteKeeper
Time windows are SiteKeeper’s schedule. Each window has days of the week, a start time, an end time, and an optional budget. Turn the site limit on first. A window budget only adds a tighter cap for those hours. The daily cap, and the weekly cap if you set one, still apply all day.
1. Install the extension
Add SiteKeeper from the Chrome Web Store. You can set your first limits without creating an account.
2. Add the site you want to control
Open the extension and add the domain (twitter.com, youtube.com, reddit.com). You can pick from sites you already visit or type the host yourself.
3. Create a time window
In the site’s limit settings, add a time window:
- Choose the days (weekdays, weekends, or specific days).
- Set a start time and an end time. End time must be later than start time on the same day—windows do not wrap past midnight.
- Set the budget for that window. Use 0 hours and 0 minutes to block the site for the whole window. Use a small budget (for example 10 minutes) if you still want a short check-in.
Example: Monday–Friday, 09:00–17:00, budget 0:00. Twitter is blocked all workday. After 5 PM, the window ends and the daily cap still applies.
4. Let the schedule run
You do not toggle anything each morning. Inside the window, the site blocks once time spent in the window reaches the budget. A budget of 0 blocks for the whole window. Chrome shows a blocked page with time spent versus the limit.
If you want more time, the block page can add 5, 15, 30, or 60 minutes. That raises the saved cap. Adding time is a deliberate step.
Example Schedules
Deep work (weekdays)
Mon–Fri, 09:00–17:00, budget 0:00 on social and news sites. Evenings and weekends have no extra window. They still follow the daily cap.
Evenings only
Every day, 18:00–21:00, budget 0:30 on YouTube. Inside that window you get half an hour. The daily cap still applies all day.
Study block
Mon–Fri, 08:00–12:00, budget 0:00 on entertainment sites. The afternoon still follows the daily cap.
School nights
Sun–Thu, 20:00–23:00, a stricter budget on games and social. Friday and Saturday have no window, so only the daily cap applies.
If you need an overnight block (for example 22:00–08:00), split it into two windows: 22:00–23:59 and 00:00–08:00. A single window cannot cross midnight.
Time Windows vs Daily Time Limits
These two features solve different jobs. Use both when you need a schedule and a budget.
| Goal | Use |
|---|---|
| Block a site only during work hours | Time window with budget 0:00 |
| Allow 30 minutes a day, any time | Daily time limit |
| 10 minutes during work, daily cap still applies | Window budget plus the daily cap |
| Block for the day | Daily limit of 0:00. You can still add time on the block page. |
A daily limit is a budget for the whole day. A time window is an extra budget on chosen hours. A budget of 0 blocks those hours.
Other Ways People Try This in Chrome
These can work in narrow cases. They are usually the wrong tool for a personal work-hours schedule.
Hosts file or router rules. You can black-hole a domain at the OS or network level. There is no weekday clock, and turning it off is a chore. Fine for a permanent block, not for 9-to-5.
Family Link / supervised accounts. Built for parents managing a child’s Google account. Not a self-imposed work schedule on your own Chrome profile.
Block-only extensions. Tools such as StayFocusd or BlockSite can limit or block sites. Many are daily allowances (a timer that resets at midnight) rather than hour-of-day schedules. If your search is specifically “during certain hours,” check that the tool supports a clock-based window, not only a daily cap.
Willpower and closing the tab. Cheap, and it fails the moment a notification appears.
If you already track where time goes, pair this schedule with automatic website time tracking so you set windows from data, not guesses.
Common Questions
Does Chrome have a built-in way to block websites during certain hours?
No. Chrome has no scheduled site block in settings. You need an extension (or a system/network block, which is not hour-based).
Can I block a website only on weekdays?
Yes. Set the window’s days to Monday–Friday and the budget to 0. Weekends skip that window and use the daily cap. A second window cannot make Saturday looser than the daily cap.
What happens when the blocked hours end?
The window stops. The daily cap, and the weekly cap if you set one, still applies.
Can I block a site overnight?
Not with a single window that starts at night and ends in the morning. Create two windows: one until 23:59, one from 00:00.
Is this the same as a website blocker with a timer?
Not quite. A timer is usually a daily allowance (30 minutes, then block). Blocking during certain hours is a schedule. SiteKeeper does both: daily/weekly limits and time windows.
Will this work in Incognito?
Only if you allow the extension to run in Incognito (Chrome → Extensions → SiteKeeper → Allow in Incognito). Otherwise private windows bypass the schedule.
Next Steps
Start with one site and one window—for example, a budget of 0 on your most distracting site Monday–Friday 09:00–17:00. After a week, check your dashboard and adjust the window from real usage.
Install SiteKeeper or read the website limits feature overview if you want the product picture before you set a schedule.
Related: How to set website time limits, How to track time spent on websites, Complete guide to path analysis.