How to block Reddit on a Mac

Reddit never runs out: there’s always another thread, and the front page fills up again each time you look. Cloister stops that on a Mac by making Reddit not load at all in Safari, Chrome or Firefox, for as long as you choose. Once the block starts, there’s no button to end it, so “just checking one thing” has to wait until it’s over.

Block Reddit in three steps

First, get Cloister on your Mac if it isn’t there yet. The 14-day trial has every feature.

1. Click the Cloister icon in the menu bar, at the top of your screen.
2. Choose the Social list. Besides Reddit, old.reddit.com included, it covers X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and other social sites.
3. Set how long the block should last, then press Start session and Start blocking.

From then until the timer ends, Reddit won’t open.

Reddit has more than one address

Reddit opens at more than one address: its classic look, for one, is at old.reddit.com. Cloister blocks the addresses on a list, each with or without www, so each of Reddit’s needs its own line. The Social list has these four:

• reddit.com
• old.reddit.com
• new.reddit.com
• np.reddit.com

To block Reddit and nothing else, make a list of your own with the same four. In Cloister’s Settings, open Lists, press + and name it “Reddit”, then type each address and press Add after it.

Block it every evening

If Reddit fills the same hours every day, a schedule can start the block for you. In Settings, under Schedules, press +, choose your list, the days and the hours, such as every evening from 8 to 11, and press Add schedule. It starts by itself, even when Cloister is closed. And if you’d like a few minutes of Reddit between stretches of work, a block can have planned breaks.

Tested in Safari, Chrome and Firefox

On 12 October 2026 we ran a block on a MacBook Pro with macOS Tahoe. While it ran, Reddit didn’t open in Safari, Chrome or Firefox, even with a VPN app switched on before the block or during it. The details are at the end of this page.

If you use iCloud Private Relay in Safari, turn on Cloister’s network filter, in its Settings under Coverage, and allow it when your Mac asks.

Reddit in your search results

If you add “reddit” to searches to find answers from real people, searching still works during a block, and Reddit threads still show up in the results. They won’t open, though: they’re Reddit’s pages. Anything the results page shows by itself, like a line quoted from a thread, stays visible, because that page belongs to the search engine.

Can I keep one subreddit open?

No. Cloister blocks whole sites, and every subreddit is part of Reddit, so it’s all of Reddit or none. If you need a community for work or school, block Reddit in the hours you don’t need it rather than all day, because a block can’t be stopped once it starts.

What if I want it back early?

You’ll have to wait it out. Quitting Cloister, restarting the Mac or changing the clock doesn’t end a block, and that’s the point: a block you can undo on a slow afternoon rarely lasts. The blocking guide shows what each usual attempt does, and the rare ways around Cloister.

On your iPhone and iPad

Cloister for iPhone and iPad is a separate app. It blocks apps, app categories and websites with Screen Time, so it can block Reddit’s app as well as the site, on a schedule or when you tap Start. Blocking needs Cloister Pro. Unlike on the Mac, each block ends the way you chose: a Flexible block with one tap, a Cooldown block after a 5-minute wait. A Strict block has no exit inside Cloister, though iOS keeps ways out that no app can remove, such as turning off Cloister’s Screen Time access in Settings.

YouTube too? The YouTube guide works the same way, with the Video list.

How this page was made

The steps use the Mac app’s own words, the four addresses are the Social list’s, and the result is the test above. The iPhone part follows the iPhone app’s page. If anything here is wrong or out of date, write to support@getcloister.app and it will be corrected.