How to block YouTube with OpenDNS

Use OpenDNS Home, not FamilyShield

OpenDNS FamilyShield has a fixed adult content filter. It does not give you a custom YouTube deny list.

OpenDNS Home is the free home option with custom filtering. Its settings apply to devices that use OpenDNS from the public network address registered in your account. On a typical home router, that means the same rule reaches every home device.

OpenDNS calls this a domain filter. It cannot block one YouTube channel or keep school videos while denying entertainment.

Set the home network to use OpenDNS

1. 1

   Create an OpenDNS Home account. Add your home network in the dashboard and confirm its current public IP address.

2. 2

   Follow the OpenDNS setup guide for your router. Replace the router's DNS servers with the OpenDNS addresses shown in that guide.

3. 3

   Turn IPv6 off on the router. This step is the one most setups miss. On a dual-stack connection the devices keep using your provider's IPv6 resolvers, your OpenDNS filter never sees the request, and YouTube keeps loading even though every other step succeeded. Pointing IPv6 DNS at OpenDNS instead does not help: its IPv6 service is a sandbox that ignores your Home account filtering, so the block would not apply there either. Disabling IPv6 is the only setting here that keeps the filter in the path.

4. 4

   If your internet provider changes your public IP, set up an OpenDNS compatible update client. Otherwise, your saved filter may stop matching your home.

5. 5

   Test the OpenDNS welcome or test page from a home device before adding any block.

OpenDNS keeps its current router choices in the official setup guide. Its home service page distinguishes the fixed FamilyShield plan from the custom OpenDNS Home filter.

Router menus differ by model and firmware. Look for Internet, WAN, or DNS settings rather than copying an old path from a forum.

Add YouTube to the custom domain list

In the OpenDNS dashboard, select your network and look for Web Content Filtering and the individual domain list. Dashboard labels may change. Choose the option that always blocks a domain.

Start with these entries:

• youtube.com
• youtu.be
• youtube-nocookie.com

Save, wait for the change, then clear cached lookups or restart the test device. If videos still stream, add googlevideo.com and test again.

That last entry stops many video streams, including YouTube players embedded on other sites. A broad Google list can also break YouTube sign in and Google account handoffs. Do not add shared hosts such as google.com, googleapis.com, or gstatic.com just because they appear during a test.

Know what the rule does not hold against

OpenDNS sees only DNS requests sent to it. A device can use another resolver. A browser or VPN can carry encrypted DNS. Cellular data, a phone hotspot, and a public wifi network leave the home connection.

A known service IP can also avoid a new lookup. HTTPS may reject a bare IP in a browser, but that does not make a DNS rule a network firewall.

The basic home setup also identifies the network by its public IP. Keep the update client working if that address changes. Test again after a new router, internet outage, or provider change.

Pick a narrower control when YouTube must stay open

Google now lets a linked parent block a named channel for a supervised child account. Family Center can also set the daily Shorts feed limit to zero. Those rules follow the child's supervised account on supported devices.

Vidward does not use OpenDNS. It is a desktop browser extension plus a parent dashboard. It cannot block the home network, phones, tablets, TVs, or consoles. It fits only when the child may keep YouTube in a desktop browser and the parent wants channel, video, title, Shorts, or autoplay rules.

For the limits behind this setup, read how to block YouTube with DNS. If the goal is a whole home or device schedule, read how to block YouTube on your router.