For a child's PC, the allowlist is the kindest filter: instead of chasing bad sites forever, the PC simply opens the learning sites you chose — and politely refuses the rest of the internet.
✍️ Technical Anshu🪟 Windows 10 / 11⏱️ 7 minute read
🎥 Watch the full video — Website Filter Pro setup and allow mode, step by step
Parents usually meet website filtering through blocklists, and blocklists lose: there is always one more site. The allowlist inverts the problem into something a parent can actually finish — a short list of homework and learning sites that open, and everything else closed by default. The setup mirrors the office pattern from the video: Website Filter Pro in allow mode, a child account that is a standard user, and a parent account holding the password. This guide adds the parts specific to home: the YouTube truth, the homework-research problem, and an honest word about the phone in the child's pocket.
A starter kids PC allowlist (illustrative)
✔ School portal / class app site
✔ Dictionary and encyclopedia for homework
✔ Maths practice site the teacher named
✔ Kids learning video site (see the YouTube note)
⛔ Games, social, random video — not malice,
just not on the list
Illustrative starter list. Build yours from the school's actual homework platforms — teachers' circulars list them.
1
Set Up the Accounts the Right Way Round
Home PCs usually have this backwards: the child is the admin because the child 'set it up'. The allowlist only survives if the roles are correct.
The parent account is the administrator, with a password the child does not know
The child signs in with a standard account — homework, browsing and school apps all work fine as a standard user
This one change means the filter cannot be uninstalled, a new browser cannot be installed, and settings cannot be edited from the child's account
Keep the arrangement open, not secret: children accept a stated house rule far better than a discovered trap
2
Build the List From the School's Real Needs
A kids allowlist built from guesses breaks on the first homework assignment. Build it from the school's own platforms.
Add the school portal and class app the teachers actually assign work on
Add the reference sites homework genuinely needs — a dictionary, an encyclopedia, the maths practice site
Expect the hidden domains pattern: school portals sign in through second domains; if login fails, find and add the helper (the Network tab method in our hidden domains guide, or ask the school's IT contact)
Review the list each term — new subjects bring new platforms, and stale entries can quietly go
3
The YouTube Truth Every Parent Should Hear
This is the decision almost every family hits, so it deserves honesty rather than a setting no one explains.
Allowing youtube.com allows all of YouTube — an allowlist works per site, not per video or per channel
If videos are needed for study, consider the supervised or restricted variants the school recommends, knowing they reduce rather than eliminate the open catalogue
Many families choose: no general video site on the study PC, and educational videos watched on a shared family screen instead
Whatever you choose, choose it deliberately — do not let a half-working login quietly make the decision for you
4
Handle Research Homework Without Opening Everything
Older children get open-ended projects, and a strict allowlist collides with them honestly. Plan the collision instead of surrendering to it.
For a project week, a parent can temporarily add the specific reference sites the project needs, then remove them
Keep a shared family device with broader access for open research, used in shared space — the study PC stays locked
As children grow, graduate the system: allowlist for the young, supervised browsing later — the tool matters less than the progression being explained
🔴 The honest limit, said with respect: this setup governs the home PC. It does not govern a phone on mobile data, a friend's device, or a school tablet. The allowlist's real value is making the study desk a study desk. The rest is parenting — and no filter, at any price, honestly replaces it.
🎥 Watch the Full Video Guide
The complete Website Filter Pro walkthrough — download, allow mode and testing — is shown live in the video.
My child needs YouTube for homework videos. Can I allow only some channels?
Not with a website allowlist — it allows or refuses whole sites, and youtube.com is one site with everything on it. Practical options are a supervised or restricted video setup your school recommends, or keeping general video watching on a shared family screen while the study PC stays study-only.
The school portal login fails on the locked PC but works on my phone. Why?
The portal's sign-in almost certainly runs on a second domain that is not on the allowlist yet. This is the hidden domains pattern: find the blocked helper domain with the browser's Network tab, or ask the school which sign-in service they use, and add that domain.
Will my child be able to remove the filter?
Not from a standard account. Removal, settings changes and installing a different browser all require the administrator password, which the parent holds. If the child knows that password or is an administrator, no filter setting will hold — the account setup is the lock; the allowlist is what it protects.
This guide is based on the Technical Anshu video on allowing only selected websites • Stuck on a step? Ask in the video comments — answers happen there 🙏