Focus mode on Windows that blocks websites and apps
By Param Nimbark. Last updated 2026-10-13.
The Windows 11 focus session silences your notifications and leaves every distraction running, one click away, for the whole block. Discord is still open, Spotify still plays, and the tab you promised not to look at is still there. This guide goes through what Windows itself offers for a focus mode, including the two ways it can block a website, and then the Seqtrix Focus Lock step: pick the apps and sites, pick a length from 15 minutes to 8 hours, pick how hard the lock is, and the machine holds the line for you.
Installs from the Microsoft Store, no SmartScreen prompt. Free Starter plan, no account.
Direct installer for Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit, v0.16.0.
The manual way: what Windows 11 can do on its own
Start here. Two of these are built into Settings, one is a Microsoft app, and one is a text file that has worked since Windows 95. Each one covers part of the job.
The focus mode Windows 11 ships. Pick a duration, press Start focus session, and Do not disturb switches on, taskbar badges hide and a timer runs in the Clock app. Microsoft documents that Do not disturb comes on automatically with the session. What it does not do: close or block a single app or site. Discord keeps running, the browser tab stays open, and only the toasts are gone.
The same silence without the timer. Useful for a meeting; useless against a distraction you open yourself.
In the Family Safety app, pick a family member, open Content filters and turn on Only use allowed websites, then add the sites to block. Apps can be blocked at account.microsoft.com/family under Apps, features and games. It is built for a child account rather than your own, the web filter applies only in Microsoft Edge, and any other browser is blocked completely while it is on.
Open Notepad as administrator, open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts, add a line such as 127.0.0.1 www.reddit.com and save. Every browser now fails to reach the site. It works, it is free, and it has no timer: you edit the file to block and edit it again to unblock, as administrator each time.
The gap is the same in each case: Windows will quieten the machine or block one thing permanently, but it will not close your distractions for a set time and hand them back at the end. That is a timed lock, and Windows has no place to set one.
The Seqtrix way: one Focus Lock step
Seqtrix is a Windows automation app that runs steps in order. Focus Lock is one of its security steps, in the Security Lock group and in the toolbox. Drop it into a sequence, fill in five things, and run it.
- 1Pick the apps
The Focus Lock step shows the same installed-app list as the rest of Seqtrix. Tick Discord, Slack, Steam, whatever pulls you away. Seqtrix itself, Windows system processes and your Always allowed list (Settings > Security) can never be blocked.
- 2Pick the websites
Type the domains, one per line: youtube.com, twitter.com, reddit.com. Each one is blocked as the bare domain and as www. Website blocking is on the Advanced and Pro plans.
- 3Set the length
Anything from 15 minutes to 8 hours, or until a clock time such as 18:00. The end is stored as elapsed time plus the boot time, so changing the system clock does not end the session early.
- 4Choose the strength
Soft, Firm or Hard. The default is Firm. Hard asks you to confirm twice before it starts, because once it starts there is no way to end it early apart from the emergency exit below.
- 5Run it
While the session runs, a blocked app is closed within a second of launching, with a small toast that reads "Blocked by Focus Lock · 42 min left". A blocked website shows a local page that says "Focused until 15:30". The Dashboard and the Mini Mode ring show the remaining time.
Three strengths: Soft, Firm and Hard
A password lock is not a focus lock: you know the password, so one weak moment ends the session. Focus Lock lets you decide in advance how hard it is to talk yourself out of it.
Ends whenever you like, from the ring or from the app. The block is a reminder, not a wall. This is the strength the two free focus templates use.
Ends only after you type a 24-character code shown on screen. The point is the delay: by the time you have typed it, the urge has usually passed. The default strength.
Cannot be ended. A watchdog task relaunches the blocker if Seqtrix is killed, after a restart, and after a system clock change, so the session runs to its scheduled end. One emergency exit every 7 days, which takes effect 10 minutes after you ask for it.
Soft is free on every plan so the free focus templates keep working. Firm, Hard and website blocking are on the Advanced plan, which the 15-day trial includes.
Website blocking, and the two cases it cannot cover
Focus Lock blocks a website the same way the manual route above does, without the manual part. For the length of the session, the chosen domains point at a local page served by Seqtrix that reads "Focused until 15:30", in Edge and Chrome, and in Firefox when it uses the Windows resolver. The entries are removed when the session ends, and a sweep at startup removes any left behind by a crash. Writing to the hosts file needs administrator rights, so the first session asks for one elevation prompt; later sessions do not.
Two limits, stated plainly. A browser configured with its own DNS-over-HTTPS provider resolves names without asking Windows, so it can bypass the hosts entries; turn that setting off in the browser, or block the browser itself as an app. And a site on the HSTS preload list refuses a plain connection, so instead of the local page you see the browser's own error page. The site is still out of reach either way.
The emergency exit, and the installer you should use
A Hard session has one way out before its end: the emergency exit. You can use it once every 7 days, and it takes effect 10 minutes after you ask, never at once. Freedom allows one early end a week too, but instantly; the delay is the point. Every request is logged in the run history, so you can see how often you reach for it.
The watchdog that keeps a Hard session alive is a scheduled task, and on the seqtrix.com installer Seqtrix refuses to uninstall while a Hard session runs. The Microsoft Store build cannot refuse an uninstall, because Windows owns the uninstall of Store apps. If you want Hard to mean hard, install from seqtrix.com.
Related, and on every plan: the Panic hotkey in Settings > Security runs a pinned Panic sequence that locks Master Mode, mutes the audio and locks Windows within a few seconds, then encrypts the folders on your Panic list in the background.
Five focus templates, ready to run
In Seqtrix open Templates, search for the name and press Try this template. Two are free; three are on the Advanced plan.
A Soft 25-minute lock on your usual offenders, media stopped, a chime at the end and a line in your focus log. Run it four times and you have done a morning.
One app, one Soft lock, until you end it. For the game or the chat app you keep opening by reflex.
Closes Slack and Discord, then runs a Firm 90-minute Focus Lock on Slack, Discord, twitter.com and youtube.com, pauses media, and on the end shows a toast and reopens Slack.
A lock that ends at a clock time rather than after a duration, so the block matches the timetable instead of a timer.
Keeps the chat and mail clients and their websites out of reach while you are live, so nothing private lands on the stream.
Paying Freedom or Cold Turkey for a blocker and still wiring the rest by hand? The Seqtrix vs Cold Turkey and Freedom page puts the three side by side, including where the other two still win.
FAQ
Yes, in Settings under System and then Focus. Start focus session turns on Do not disturb, hides taskbar badges and runs a timer with optional breaks. It silences notifications; it does not close Discord, pause Spotify or block a website, so the distractions are one click away the whole time.
Not as part of Focus. Microsoft Family Safety can filter websites, but it is built for a child account in your family group and its web filter only applies in Microsoft Edge, with other browsers blocked outright while it is on. Editing the hosts file blocks a site in every browser but needs an administrator Notepad and a manual undo.
Yes. The Focus Lock step writes the chosen domains to the hosts file for the length of the session and shows a local "Focused until" page in their place, in Edge and Chrome, and in Firefox when it uses the Windows resolver. The first time it needs one elevation prompt. Two limits to know: a browser set to its own DNS-over-HTTPS provider can bypass hosts entries, and HSTS-preloaded sites show the browser’s own error page instead of the local page. Both still stop you reaching the site. Website blocking is on the Advanced and Pro plans.
Focus Lock closes it again within a second and shows a toast with the time left. Whether you can end the session early depends on the strength you chose: Soft ends from the ring or the app, Firm needs the 24-character code shown on screen, and Hard cannot be ended at all until its scheduled end.
Ask for the emergency exit. It is allowed once every 7 days and takes effect 10 minutes after you request it, never at once, and the request is written to the run history. On the seqtrix.com installer, uninstalling Seqtrix is refused while a Hard session runs; the Microsoft Store build cannot refuse it, because Windows owns the uninstall of Store apps.
Yes. Attach a schedule to the sequence, for example weekdays at 9:00, bind it to a hotkey, put it on a Mini Mode ring slot, or start it by voice. Two rules keep you from being locked by surprise: a scheduled Hard session only starts if the schedule was enabled while no session was running, and Hard sessions cannot be started by voice.
Keep going
- Template: Deep work block, 90 minutes
- Template: Focus sprint (25 minutes)
- Comparison: Seqtrix vs Cold Turkey and Freedom
- Guide: Password-protect an app on Windows
- Guide: Automate your OBS stream setup with one hotkey
Start your first block today
Every install includes a 15-day Advanced trial, no credit card. Paid passes are one-time, with no auto-renewal.
Installs from the Microsoft Store, no SmartScreen prompt. Free Starter plan, no account.
Direct installer for Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit, v0.16.0.