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Website URL rules let you directly control access to specific sites, paths, and subdomains within a filtering policy. Rules are managed in the Website URLs section of any policy in GoGuardian Admin.

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Understand URL Rule Basics

Before adding rules, review how GoGuardian Admin interprets URL entries. No protocol or prefix needed. Enter a domain in plain format: youtube.com, not https://www.youtube.com. The www prefix, http://, https://, and trailing slashes are not required and should be omitted. Paths are included, but subdomains are not. A rule for google.com also covers google.com/search, google.com/maps, and any other path under that domain. It does not cover shopping.google.com or mail.google.com. Those subdomains must be added as separate rules. Subdomains require their own rules. To block or allow a subdomain, add it directly: sites.google.com, help.goguardian.com. Allow rules override block rules at the same URL. If a URL is blocked by a rule or a category, adding an allow rule for a specific path creates an exception. For example, if youtube.com is blocked, adding youtube.com/kids as an allow rule permits access to that path while keeping the rest of the domain blocked.
All URL rules have an implicit wildcard at the end. Blocking website.com is equivalent to blocking website.com*, which means the rule also covers all paths and query strings under that domain. To restrict a rule to an exact URL, use a wildcard pattern that does not extend past the intended endpoint.

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Add a Website URL Rule

  1. In GoGuardian Admin, go to Filtering > Policies, then open the policy you want to edit.
  2. In the policy, select the Website URLs section.
  3. Type the domain, subdomain, or path you want to filter, for example, instagram.com or sites.google.com.
  4. Choose Block to prevent access or Allow to permit it.
  5. Click Save to add the rule to the policy.
  6. The new rule appears in the Website URLs list. The rule takes effect immediately for all users assigned to that policy.
Wildcard rules use asterisks to match patterns across multiple URLs, for example, *.mlb.com to block all team subdomains. For full wildcard syntax and examples, see Use Wildcard Rules in Policies.

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Filter Search Results

To block search results for a specific term on Google or YouTube, add a block rule using this pattern:
Replace term with the keyword you want to filter. For example, *search*guns blocks searches for that term across both Google and YouTube.
Avoid search terms of 3 to 4 characters. Short terms produce unintended matches because the pattern *search*term matches any URL containing that string anywhere after the search parameter. For example, *search*tit would match URLs containing “title,” “subtitle,” and similar words.
google.com is not blocked by GoGuardian Admin’s category filtering, so you do not need to add it as an allow rule in most policies. Adding google.com as an allow rule is appropriate only when the policy uses Restrictive Mode, where all sites are blocked by default and specific domains must be explicitly allowed. In any other policy, adding a direct allow for google.com disables search filtering, including *search*term rules and Google Images blocks.

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Block Google Images

To block Google Image searches without blocking all of Google, add both of the following as block rules in the Website URLs section:
One of these two strings appears in every Google Images request. Adding both rules ensures complete coverage.

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Block Categories of Websites

GoGuardian has categorized millions of websites and adds hundreds of new sites daily. In the Website Categories section of a policy, you can block a category or sub-category to block the thousands of websites that belong to it, without adding each URL by hand. An allowed Website URL rule creates an exception to a category block. If a site is blocked by its category, add an allow rule for that site to permit it. For example, instagram.com belongs to two categories, Social Networking and Photography. If your organization blocks the Social Networking category but wants to allow Instagram, add instagram.com as an allowed Website URL rule. The allow rule creates an exception and permits Instagram despite its blocked category. To block any site that GoGuardian has not yet categorized, such as new proxy, gaming, or inappropriate sites, block the Uncategorized category. For details on category filtering and the Uncategorized category, see Website Categories.

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Understand Policy Priority

When two or more policies apply to a user’s org unit, the policy type affects the filtering outcome:
  • Assigned (locally applied) policies outrank Inherited policies. This is the one exception to the rule that an allow rule always beats a block rule. If an Assigned policy blocks a site that an Inherited policy allows, the site is blocked.
  • Same-type policies fall back to allow-beats-block. When two Assigned policies or two Inherited policies are in effect, an allow rule supersedes a conflicting block rule.
If you apply more than one policy per org unit, keep Inherited policies less restrictive and make Assigned policies more targeted to the org units they cover. For the full precedence model, including the Restrictive Mode exception, see How Filtering Rules Interact.
If a policy appears greyed out, your account does not have org unit access to the org unit the policy is assigned to. A GoGuardian Super User can adjust account permissions and OU access.

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Import Rules via CSV

To add a large number of URL rules at once, import a CSV file directly into the policy.
  1. In the policy, click the 3-dot menu in the top-right corner.
  2. Select Import CSV of URLs from the menu.
  3. Select a CSV file or drag and drop it into the upload area. To download a CSV template or review formatting requirements, click the Need help? dropdown.
  4. After the import completes, the imported rules appear in the Website URLs list. Review the list to confirm all rules were added correctly.
CSV requirements:
  • Two required columns: action and url
  • Use block or allow in the action column
  • The optional type column is required when importing YouTube video rules. Without it, every entry is treated as a website URL rule and YouTube video-specific entries will not behave as intended.
  • Maximum file size: 3 MB
  • Maximum URL length: 255 characters per entry
  • Maximum rules per import: 10,000
URL format in the CSV follows the same rules as manual entry — google.com and http://www.google.com are treated the same.
Understand URL Rule Basics Understand URL Rule Basics A CSV file demonstrating the 'Action' and 'URL' column headers which are required for Policy, CSV uploads

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Close Bypass Routes in GoGuardian Admin

Students who want to work around policy-based filtering often rely on a small set of browser modes and account types. The settings below close the most common bypass routes. Some live in GoGuardian Admin; others live in Google Admin Console (covered in the next section). Apply them together to give your filtering policies the best chance of holding.

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Block Consumer Google Accounts

This setting locks each device to the Google account used during initial device sign-in, typically the student’s school email. When enabled, it blocks:
  • Adding new accounts at accounts.google.com
  • Signing out of Google
  • Switching between Google accounts
  • Signing out of YouTube
  • Switching between YouTube accounts
This is a global setting. It applies to all users who have GoGuardian installed and only affects access to Google Apps accounts.
  1. In GoGuardian Admin, go to Filtering > Advanced Config.
  2. Find the Block Consumer Google Accounts toggle. Turn it on. The toggle turns green when the setting is active.
  3. Verify the result: The toggle displays green. Students on devices with GoGuardian installed can no longer sign into or switch to personal Gmail accounts.

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Restrict YouTube Live Chat

YouTube Live Chat allows real-time interaction on live streams that falls outside standard YouTube content filtering. This setting disables Live Chat within YouTube for users in the policy you select.
The Block Live Chat toggle is disabled by default. You must enable it for each policy where you want to restrict Live Chat.
  1. In GoGuardian Admin, go to Configuration > My Policies, then select the policy you want to update.
  2. Within the policy, select YouTube.
  3. Turn on the Block Live Chat toggle.
  4. Verify the result: The toggle is on. Users assigned to this policy can no longer participate in or view YouTube Live Chat.
Configure GoGuardian Admin Restrictions

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Close Bypass Routes in Google Admin Console

These settings require Google Workspace administrator access and are configured in Google Admin Console, not in GoGuardian Admin.

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Disable Guest Mode

Guest Mode allows users to browse without signing in to a Google account. Because GoGuardian extensions do not run in Guest Mode, filtering is inactive for any student browsing in that session.
  1. In Google Admin Console, go to Devices > Chrome > Settings > Device.
  2. Select Sign-in Settings.
  3. Under Guest mode, select Disable guest mode.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Verify the result: Guest mode is no longer available on managed Chrome devices. Students must sign in with a recognized account before browsing.
Google Admin Console page highlighting the steps to get to the Device Settings page. Device > Chrome > Settings > Device

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Turn Off Incognito Mode

GoGuardian browser extensions do not load in Incognito mode, which means GoGuardian Admin does not filter an Incognito browser session. Disabling Incognito mode through Google Admin Console prevents students from opening a session that bypasses filtering entirely.
  1. In Google Admin Console, go to Devices > Chrome > Settings > Users & browsers.
  2. Under Security, find the Incognito mode setting.
  3. Select Disallow incognito mode.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Verify the result: The Incognito option is no longer available to users on managed devices. New Chrome windows open in standard mode only.

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Prevent Access to Developer Tools

Chrome Developer Tools can be used to interfere with GoGuardian Admin filtering. Blocking access to Developer Tools removes a technical bypass route that more technically adept students may attempt.
  1. In Google Admin Console, go to Devices > Chrome > Settings > Users & browsers.
  2. Under User Experience, find the Developer Tools setting.
  3. Select Never allow use of built-in developer tools.
Google Admin Console dashboard highlighting the Developer Tools setting
  1. Click Save.
  2. Verify the result: Developer Tools are disabled for users on managed devices. Keyboard shortcuts and menu options that open Developer Tools are no longer functional.

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Restrict Device Sign-In to School Accounts

Students who sign in to a school Chrome device with a personal Google account bypass the filtering and policies applied to student accounts. Restricting device sign-in to approved accounts ensures GoGuardian Admin policies apply to everyone who uses the device.
  1. In Google Admin Console, go to Devices > Chrome > Settings > Device.
  2. Select an OU containing student accounts.
  3. Using the Restrict sign-in dropdown, select Restrict sign-in to list of users. In the text field, enter your school’s domain using a wildcard, for example, *@yourschool.edu. Add multiple domains or subdomains as needed, separated by commas.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Verify the result: Students can no longer sign into school Chrome devices with accounts outside the approved domain list.
The Sign in Restriction Google Admin Console setting being set to "Restrict Sign in to a list of users" and the… The "Save" button being demonstrated while on Google Admin Console

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Resources

Use Wildcard Rules

Block or allow URLs by pattern using asterisk wildcards.

Create a Filtering Policy

Set up a new policy and apply it to an org unit or custom group.

Configure YouTube Filtering

Set up filtering rules specifically for YouTube content and categories.

Understand Filtering Contexts

See how GoGuardian Admin applies filtering across different network environments.
Last modified on July 16, 2026