Surfshark Unsafe site blocking on iOS

Unsafe site blocking is a Surfshark One and Surfshark One+ feature that allows you to block access to your chosen website categories. These include, but are not limited to, adult, drug, gambling, weapon, and even scam websites.

NOTE: As long as you have this feature is enabled, you cannot access any of the website categories you selected to block.

Set up the Surfshark unsafe site blocking feature

1. Tap Antiscam in the bottom navigation menu:
   
   
    
2. Tap Unsafe site blocking:
   
   
    
3. Tap Set up this device:
   
   
    
4. Type in the name of the device and tap Next:
   
   
    
5. Select the categories you want to block by tapping the checkbox next to each one, then tap Save:
   
   
    
6. Afterward, you will see a notification in the Surfshark app that the Unsafe site blocking enabled:
   
   
    
7. If notifications aren’t enabled, you’ll be prompted to turn them on:
   
   
    

How the unsafe site blocking feature works

Once Unsafe site blocking is enabled, Surfshark automatically prevents access to websites that fall under the categories you selected. When you try to open a site that gets flagged, you won’t reach the page — you’ll see a blocker screen explaining what was detected (for example, malware, phishing, adult content, and similar risks).

Web content blocker troubleshooting on iOS

Trusted mobile network

If you marked your mobile network as a trusted network for Auto‑connect, the web content blocker will not run on that network. Remove the network from Trusted networks in the Auto‑connect settings to enable the web content blocker.

Browser cache or delay

The Surfshark Unsafe site blocking feature may not block sites immediately after you enable the web content blocker because of browser caching. Try killing the browser and restarting it, waiting a bit, and/or clearing your browser cache.

Another VPN is running

If a different VPN app is active on your device, neither the Surfshark app nor the web content blocker feature will work. Disable the other VPN and open the Surfshark app to restart it.

VPN protocol

If you wish to use the web content blocker feature alongside an active Surfshark VPN connection, make sure that Surfshark is connected with the WireGuard® protocol. If you’re connected using IKEv2 or OpenVPN, switch Surfshark to WireGuard®.

Bypasser conflict

The web content blocker feature won’t block a website added to Bypasser. If there is a certain website that may belong to a specific web content blocker category and you wish to block it, consider removing it from the Bypasser list first.

All websites stop loading after enabling the web content blocker feature

If your browser stops loading websites after turning it on, turn off the web content blocker or remove the Surfshark VPN profile in your device settings. Then try reconnecting.
 

To restart the Surfshark web content blocker, follow these steps:

1. Open Antiscam:
   
   
    
2. Tap Unsafe site blocking:
   
   
    
3. Toggle the web content blocker to the off position:
   
   

Settings not synced with the admin panel

The web content blocker settings on your device may not be immediately synchronized with the settings on the Surfshark web application. Synchronization can take up to an hour. To force synchronization, open the Surfshark app and the web content blocker settings screen.

Category changes are not applied immediately

If you update your web content blocker categories and notice that websites from the new categories are not immediately blocked, DNS caching may be causing the delay. To resolve this, try toggling Airplane Mode on and off, reconnecting to your network, or restarting the VPN connection.