Whitelist Without the Complexity: Allow Only the Websites You Need

Most website blockers answer a simple question:

What do you want to block?

Block social media. Block YouTube. Block Reddit. Block shopping websites.

That works well – until your workday becomes more demanding.

Sometimes the better question is:

What websites do you actually need right now?

That idea inspired one of the newest additions to BlockDistraction Pro: Whitelist support.

Build a Workspace Instead of a Block List

Imagine you're about to spend the next two hours writing code, preparing for an exam, or finishing an important report.

You probably need only a handful of websites:

• GitHub
• ChatGPT
• MDN Web Docs
• Your email
• Your project management tool

Everything else is simply noise.

Instead of maintaining an endless list of distracting websites, you can create a small collection of websites that are always allowed.

During a Focus Session, BlockDistraction can temporarily allow access only to those websites.

The result feels less like a browser – and more like a dedicated workspace.

No Mode Switching Required

Many blockers force you to choose between a Blacklist mode and a Whitelist mode.

That usually means maintaining two different configurations or constantly switching between them.

BlockDistraction takes a different approach.

Blacklist and Whitelist rules are stored together in the same rule list, provided that their website targets do not overlap.

You can keep distracting websites on your Blacklist and important, non-overlapping websites on your Whitelist.

When a Focus Session starts, you choose which rule strategy it should use.

Whitelist Is Not an Exception Layer

A Whitelist rule does not punch a narrow hole through a broader Blacklist rule. BlockDistraction prevents overlapping Blacklist and Whitelist targets because the result would otherwise be ambiguous.

For example, whitelisting one YouTube channel does not let you block all of YouTube or YouTube Shorts at the same time. A new manual rule, imported rule, or Rule Pack entry for that YouTube target is reported as a conflict and left unchanged. Choose either the YouTube Whitelist behavior or the YouTube Blacklist behavior instead.

Perfect for Focus Sessions

Whitelist becomes especially powerful when combined with Focus Sessions.

Before starting a session, Pro users can choose between two strategies:

• Block Blacklist – block your distracting websites.
• Allow Whitelist Only – temporarily allow access only to your approved websites.

Whether you're studying, coding, writing, or preparing a presentation, you can instantly turn your browser into a distraction-free environment.

Simple to Manage

Whitelist rules appear alongside your Blacklist rules and use a green color scheme for quick recognition.

You can create them from the popup or from the Settings page.

Conflict validation reports overlapping targets instead of silently changing which rule wins.

Importing and exporting rules works exactly as before – Whitelist rules are included automatically.

There are no separate files and no additional management steps.

Less Time Managing, More Time Working

Productivity tools shouldn't require complicated workflows.

The goal of Whitelist support isn't to introduce another operating mode.

The goal is to remove decisions.

When it's time to focus, your browser should already know which websites deserve your attention.

Everything else can wait.

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Whitelist support is available in BlockDistraction Pro and is designed primarily for the Allow Whitelist Only Focus Session strategy.