Parent Guides

How to block AI on a Chromebook: home and school devices

5 min read · Updated November 5, 2026

To block AI on a Chromebook at home, supervise your child’s account with Family Link and add each AI site under Blocked sites, or choose Only allow approved sites to block everything you have not approved. There is no single switch for all AI. On a school-issued Chromebook, administrators decide, and Family Link cannot manage a school account.

The first question is who manages the Chromebook. If the school issued it or your child signs in with a school account, the school’s settings decide and you have little say. If it is a family Chromebook with your child’s personal Google account, you can do this yourself with Google’s free Family Link app. For other devices and apps, see parental controls in every AI app.

On a home Chromebook

You need your child’s personal Google account supervised in Family Link, with ChromeOS 71 or higher. Then choose how strict you want to be.

Option 1: block named AI sites

1. Open the Family Link app on your phone and select your child.
2. Tap Controls, then Google Chrome and Web.
3. Under Manage sites, tap Blocked sites, then Add a website.
4. Enter each site you want blocked, one at a time.

A sensible starting list is chatgpt.com, gemini.google.com, claude.ai, copilot.microsoft.com, character.ai, grok.com, meta.ai, perplexity.ai, poe.com, chat.deepseek.com, replika.com, talkie-ai.com and janitorai.com. No list like this is ever complete, because new AI sites appear all the time. Google says a blocked domain also covers its subdomains, while a specific address with www only applies to that exact form, so enter the plain domain.

Option 2: allow approved sites only

In the same Google Chrome and Web screen, choose Only allow approved sites, then add the sites your child needs. This blocks every AI site you have not approved, including new ones. It is more work, and it suits a younger child better than a teenager doing research for school.

Also block AI apps and Gemini

• Apps: in Family Link, tap Screen time, then Time limits, then App limits. Select an AI app and tap the Allowed toggle so it changes to Blocked. Google says this applies across your child’s Android devices and Chromebooks, usually within about five minutes.
• Gemini: for a supervised child, go to Controls, then Gemini, then Gemini Apps, and turn it off. Gemini parental controls has more.

The gaps to close at home

• Guest mode and new users. Google says that if you allow guest mode or adding new users, your child may be able to use the Chromebook without Family Link settings applying. Do not allow them on your child’s Chromebook.
• A school account added the wrong way. A school account added as a second account, with your permission, stays under your controls. Google says one added as a new user on the sign-in screen does not.
• AI inside other sites. Blocking gemini.google.com does not take AI out of Google Search or of other sites that build it in. There is no single switch for all of it.
• Other devices. These settings do not reach an iPhone or a Windows PC. How to block ChatGPT on iPhone covers the iPhone side.

On a school Chromebook

You cannot do this yourself. Google says Workspace for Education accounts cannot be managed by Family Link, and that administrators determine which Google services students can use on school accounts and school-issued Chromebooks. Your route is to ask the school what it allows and whether it can block a specific site.

Google’s own AI tools are about to become a clearer choice for schools. On November 3, 2026 Google said Gemini and related products will be off by default on K-12 student accounts until administrators turn them on, and it has not published a start date. That does not cover other companies’ AI sites, which remain the school’s filter to manage. Google’s new school AI rules has the detail and questions to ask.

Tell your child why

A block with no explanation invites a search for a way around it, and a different device is rarely far away. Tell your child what you have blocked and why, and what would change your mind. Family AI rules has a simple way to set this up, and if your child is using AI for homework helps if schoolwork is the worry.

What TeenCue shows on a Chromebook

TeenCue is a different kind of tool: it does not stop anyone using an AI site. On a computer where it is installed, TeenCue shows you what a chat on a supported AI website was about as a category, a topic and a concern rating, never what was typed. It works in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Brave on a computer, and your teen will know it is installed. School-managed Chromebooks usually block extensions the school has not approved, so TeenCue often cannot be installed on one, and we cannot change that. Set it up on a home computer instead. The TeenCue iPhone app is coming soon. How TeenCue works lists the supported services.