Watchword: Search Filter EN

The tab closes before the results load, even when the word is disguised.

Watchword closes the tab the moment you search for a word you've blocked, on the big search engines, YouTube and the search box of almost any site. It's built for the weak moment: the late-night search you'd regret by morning.

WHAT IT DOES

• Closes the tab, not just the page. Search for a blocked word and the tab is gone before the results show, so there isn't a single thumbnail to glance at. In a search box, it closes while you're still typing, before you press Enter.

• Catches disguises. b.a.l.l, b_all, b all, b4ll, B-A-L-L, ｂａｌｌ and letters swapped for look-alikes from other alphabets all count as "ball". So do words broken into pieces, and for most words in the packs, misspellings too. The tricks that slip past other filters don't work here.

• Whole words only. Blocking "ball" never touches "football", "balloon" or a link that happens to contain those letters. Only what you searched for is checked, never the rest of the address. Every word in the packs was tested against hundreds of thousands of everyday searches, so normal searching keeps working and you're never tempted to switch it off.

• Ready-made word packs. One click adds over 500 words and phrases, so you never have to type out a list of things you'd rather not think about: porn and explicit terms, erotic stories and audio, porn site names and the sites themselves, plus the slang people use to slip past filters. Softer packs for suggestive content are there if you want them.

• Help still gets through. Searches like "how to quit porn" and "porn addiction help" stay open. The list is fixed and can't be added to, so it never becomes a back door.

A LOCK YOU CAN'T TALK YOURSELF OUT OF

Your calm self sets the rules, and your weak moment can't undo them. Lock your settings with a typing challenge. To remove a word or switch a protection off, you first type 10, 20 or 30 minutes of fresh random text by hand, in one sitting. Pasting doesn't work and the text is new every time, so there's nothing to write down and no shortcut back in. Adding words always works instantly. If someone you trust can hold it, you can use a password instead.

MORE PROTECTION, BUILT IN

• Forces SafeSearch on the big search engines, and Restricted Mode on YouTube.
• Optional: turn off image search. The Images tab takes you to the normal results instead, with a 10-minute pass behind a 2-minute wait for when you need it.
• Block whole sites, not just words.
• A note to yourself. Write down why you set Watchword up, and when it closes a search, a calm page shows your own words instead of a blank tab.
• Something slipped through? Report it from the Try it box. It opens your own email with the search filled in, and nothing is sent unless you send it.
• Step-by-step guides for the rest of your devices: Windows, Android, iPhone and your home router, using Cloudflare's free family filter.

PRIVATE BY DESIGN

No accounts need to be created, there are no ads and also no tracking. Every check happens on your own computer, and nothing you type or search is ever sent anywhere. Watchword is open source, so anyone can confirm it.

HONEST ABOUT LIMITS

Any browser extension can be removed in two clicks, and no extension can stop that on its own. So the top of Watchword's settings tells you plainly whether it can be removed right now, and walks you through locking it in place on Windows by making the Remove button disappear, and the key goes to someone you trust. For phones and other browsers, pair it with the device guides on the settings page.

It's free, with no paid version, and made for anyone who wants to guard their eyes.