It’s easy with Safe Surfer to install an effective porn blocker on a Windows 11 device. Along with protecting your privacy, we also use our own behind-the-scenes technology to block porn and other harmful online content. This guide will efficiently walk you through how to install protection.
First off, you will need to check if this Windows 11 device is running version 22H2 (2022 Update) or later. You can find this information from the Start button on the taskbar > All apps > Settings > System > About > Windows specifications > Version.
If you are running version 21H2, you can update by navigating from the left-hand sidebar of the Settings app to Windows Update > Check for updates. Click the “Download & install” button found next to the version upgrade prompt. Can’t see the prompt? Try downloading the Windows 11 Installation Assistant.
Step 1: Install protection
On the taskbar, click the Start button.
At the upper-right corner of the Start Menu panel, click the “All apps” button.
Scroll down to the Settings app listing, then click it.
This device will feature Wi-Fi and/or Ethernet capabilities to connect to the Internet. We have detailed protection installation for both hardware options below. You should install for each if both are present.
Wi-Fi
On the left-hand sidebar, click “Network & internet”.
Click the Wi-Fi submenu.
Click the “Hardware properties” submenu.
Click the Edit button found next to “DNS server assignment”.
Click the drop-down box, then click Manual.
Turn on the switch found under IPv4.
Before we continue, click this link to visit the Safe Surfer dashboard so that we can create a new custom device listing. Enter a name for the listing, then click the Accept button. You don’t need to select “Link my IP to this device”—this option would only be used in certain cases.
The dashboard will present you with two installation link options for this device. Click the copy button (as highlighted in the image below) found next to the DoH link.
Make sure to log out of the Safe Surfer dashboard by clicking the three-dot icon (at the upper-right corner) > Log out.
Back in the Settings app, fill in the details as below:
- Preferred DNS: 35.227.226.142
- DNS over HTTPS: On (manual template)
- DNS over HTTPS template: [right-click and select Paste]
Once you’ve filled in the fields, click the Save button. The Settings app should report the DNS settings as below.
Ethernet
On the left-hand sidebar, click the “Network & internet” menu.
Click the Ethernet submenu.
Click the Edit button found next to “DNS server assignment”.
Click the drop-down box, then click Manual.
Turn on the switch found under IPv4.
Fill in the details as below:
- Preferred DNS: 35.227.226.142
- DNS over HTTPS: On (manual template)
- DNS over HTTPS template: [right-click and select Paste]
Once you’ve filled in the fields, click the Save button. The Settings app should report the DNS settings as below.
This device is now protected, but there’s still a little more we need to do for the best experience.
Step 2: Change important user account settings
Next we will ensure that the Windows user account your child uses will have only standard-level permissions on this device. This means that they will not be able to remove the filter installation without the password of a device administrator (being you). We will now go through the steps to make a new administrator account, then we will set the account your child uses to have standard-level permissions.
On the left-hand sidebar of the Settings app, click the Accounts menu. Click the “Family & other users” submenu. Click the “Add account” button found next to “Add other user”.
Click the option labelled “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information”.
Click the option labelled “Add a user without a Microsoft account”.
Fill in the fields as seen below. Make sure to use a memorable password that only you know. You might also be asked to fill in several recovery questions. Click the Next button.
We now need to give administrative permissions to the account we just created. Click the account listing for Admin, then click the “Change account type” button.
Under the account type section, click the Administrator option. Click the OK button.
Sign out of the account your child uses by clicking the Start button > user icon (at the lower-left corner) > Sign out.
Sign in to the new Admin account. Click the Start button > All apps > Settings > Accounts > Family & other users. Click the account listing that belongs to your child, then click the “Change account type” button.
Under the account type section, click the Standard User option. Click the OK button.
3. Finalise protection
If you would like to set blocked sites for this device, visit the Safe Surfer dashboard again. On the left-hand sidebar, click the Blocking menu. Click the blue bubble list, then select the Windows 11 device created earlier. You can now browse through our list of categories and select ones that you wish to block. If you would like to read details regarding what kind of content falls under a category, tap the three-dots menu at the upper-right corner, then tap the “Show descriptions” option. Click the Save button at the upper-right corner of the page once you’re done.
Log out of the Safe Surfer dashboard by clicking the three-dot icon (at the upper-right corner) > Log out. Restart the device to immediately apply any filter changes made.
Verify that the filter installation is working by visiting ExampleAdultSite.com. This is a safe website designated for testing if pornographic sites are being blocked. This site should be blocked.
Protection complete
Great work! This device is now fully protected. To start monitoring protected devices, visit our easy-to-use online dashboard.
If you ever need to uninstall protection, simply switch the Wi-Fi and/or Ethernet DNS server assignment settings back to Automatic mode (rather than Manual). As previously demonstrated, these changes can only be made by user accounts that hold administrative permissions on this device.
If you have any other Windows 11 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.
Disclaimer: Safe Surfer Limited is in no way associated with Microsoft Corporation.