In the warning prompt, uncheck the box Always ask before opening this file, and Open or Run the file. If prompted by UAC, click on Yes (if administrator) or enter administrator password. How to Unblock app or file in Windows SmartScreen. Open the unknown or blocked app/file to trigger the Windows SmartScreen.

The problem with most website blockers is that they do not help you block the time-wasting applications on your computer.

Instead of taking an extreme approach and deleting them all, Focus can help you block access to all distracting local apps for a set period of time.

Put them aside from work, and regain access to them when all your tasks are done.

How To See The Apps That Are Currently Being Blocked By Focus

To access the list of local applications that Focus will block when it gets activated, click the Focus menubar icon, click Preferences and then click on the Blocking tab.

Underneath the Blocking tab, make sure that the Applications tab is selected:

Any program on this list will not start, run or be accessible when Focus is activated.

How To Block A Distracting App With Focus And Stop Yourself From Accessing It

There are two ways that you can add local applications to the block list.

DRAG AND DROP

With the Preferences window in Focus still open (under Blocking -> Applications), launch a new Finder on your Mac and go to the Applications folder:

Select the desired application and drag its icon to the block list. Once Focus is activated, the app you just dragged into the block list will not be accessible.

ADD THE LOCAL APP WITHIN FOCUS

With the Preferences window in Focus still open (under Blocking -> Applications), click on the '+' icon at the bottom of the Applications blocklist and you will activate Finder:

Navigate towards the folder locating the app you want to block (if it does not automatically appear), select the app and it will be added to the list.

How To Stop Focus From Blocking A Mac App

Whatever your motivations are, you've decided that you no longer need to block yourself from access an app.

Here's how to remove that app from the block list in Focus:

With the Preferences window in Focus still open (under Blocking -> Applications), highlight the app you want to remove and click on the '-' icon. It's that simple!

How To Update An App In The Focus Blocklist If It Has Changed

Whether the filename of the app has changed or its location has changed, you can still block it!

With the Preferences window in Focus still open (under Blocking -> Applications), remove the listing for the app and then re-add the app to the list with the '+' icon.

Use the Finder window that opens to locate the new app and add it to the blacklist.

How To Manage Your Focus Blocklist For Distracting Apps

Focus takes your app-blocking game to the next level by allowing you to save the list of apps you want blocked.

You can also import a list of apps to block into Focus, or simply reset Focus to its default list of apps to block.

Here’s how to make all 3 things happen with ease.

EXPORTING THE APP BLOCKLIST OUT OF FOCUS

To export the app blocklist you already have in Focus, simply access the Blocking tab with the Preferences window (make sure the Applications sub-tab is highlighted) and click on the “gear” icon:

Select the “Export applications” option. You will then be able to choose the folder on your computer where you want your app blocklist to be exported:

Once you have selected your folder, click the “Open” button and you will see the following screen:

Your app blocklist will be available in the form of a .txt file, and it will appear like this when you open it:

IMPORTING AN APP BLOCKLIST INTO FOCUS

To import an app blocklist into Focus, simply access the Blocking tab with the Preferences window (make sure the Applications sub-tab is highlighted) and click on the “gear” icon:

Click on the “Import applications” option:

NOTE: To ensure that your app blocklist successfully imported, they must be in the form of a .txt file where each entry follows this specific format:

/Applications/[app name].app

So your .txt file would look something like this…

“/Applications/Spotify.app

/Applications/Mail.app

Etc.”

Please see the visual in the “EXPORTING THE APP BLOCKLIST OUT OF FOCUS” section on this page to see how your .txt file should look like. For your convenience, you should keep all of your apps in the Applications folder of your Mac.

You will then have the option to select the .txt file containing your app blocklist:

Open the file, and you will see the following message pop up in Focus:

Don’t worry about accidentally uploading the same app twice - Focus will be able to detect if any duplicate apps are being uploaded by mistake and notify you as such.

RESTORING THE DEFAULT APP BLOCKLIST PROVIDED BY FOCUS

To restore the default app blocklist that comes with Focus, simply access the Blocking tab with the Preferences window (make sure the Applications sub-tab is highlighted) and click on the “gear” icon.

Click on the “Reset to defaults” option:

You will see this notification pop up immediately:

Focus will remove any existing apps you have on your current blocklist of apps, replacing them with the default collection.

NOTE: This CANNOT be undone, so make sure you’re good to go before pressing the “OK” button!

The problem with social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and others is that most of them are blocked in office, school and corporate environments. Facebook is surely the most popular social networking site and not being able to access Facebook when its blocked is very frustrating.

Another annoyance is that you have all your friends, family members and colleagues on Facebook. When Facebook is blocked behind a firewall, you can neither open Facebook when its blocked in office nor chat with Facebook friends, which may be really disturbing for people who work all day in office and want to keep with with their Facebook friends from workplace.

In such cases, you have to look for workarounds to open Facebook when it is blocked. Here are some options you can use to unblock Facebook when its blocked.

Check your System’s Hosts File

The hosts file in your computer is the first thing you need to check; this is the most common way anyone can block any website on your computer.

If you’re using Windows operating system (Window XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8), go to C:windowssystem32driversetc , double click the hosts file and open it in a text editor. You should see something like this:

If you see facebook.com is listed at the end, delete that line and save the hosts file.

If you’re using MAC OSX, here is how to open the hosts file and check to see if it has been modified to restrict access to Facebook or other social sites.

Go to Applications > Utility > Terminal and type the following command in the terminal window

$ sudo nano /etc/hosts

This will open your osx hosts file in the same terminal window and you will see something like this:

If you see that facebook.com is listed at the bottom of the hosts file, delete that line completely and save the file (Command + o). Restart your system and you should be able to browse Facebook without any difficulty.

Access Facebook with a Secure Web Proxy

How To Open Blocked Apps On Mac School District

The easiest way to access Facebook when it is blocked is using a secure web proxy. Using proxy sites, you can unblock facebook and can use it at your convenience. Some of the proxy sites are not free and requires you to pay an amount before you can actually use them. But given below is a list of free proxy sites and addresses you can use to access Facebook when its blocked behind a firewall:

Securitales – There are a whole host of proxy sites out there but not all of them are specially optimized to open blocked sites. I checked a lot of proxy sites and all I can say is that Securitales is one of the best of the lot.

Securitales lets you securely access any website from anywhere, it helps you override network restrictions and lets you open any website when it is blocked or filtered by your network administrator. With Securitales, you can open Twitter from Iran, watch YouTube videos that are blocked in your country and browse Facebook when it is banned or filtered by your ISP (internet service provider).

However, if you do not want to spend money on a full featured proxy server, here is a list of free proxy sites and servers you can use to access Facebook, Twitter and other websites if they are blocked.

1. Facebookoxy.com

2. ProxyUs.org

3. USAproxy.org

4. 4Freeproxy.com

5. Studylog.org

Note: Please be careful when using third party proxy sites or proxy servers. Some of the sites may be malicious.

The problem with proxy sites is that organizations keep an eye on the sites that are being accessed from the network and after some time, they may block the proxy site in the first place. Hence, it is a good idea to keep a huge list of proxy sites at your disposal and switch between them every once in awhile.

Note to readers – If you know of a good Facebook proxy for office or school, please post it in the comments section. We will add your suggestion to this list.

Create Your own proxy server with Google App engine

If you are a geek and have a web server of your own, it might be a good idea to create your own proxy server and use it to open Facebook in office, college, school or anywhere when you see that the website is not accessible. If you do not have a web server, you can use Google app engine to create your own proxy server. Watch the following video and follow this tutorial to setup your proxy server with Google app engine:

There are some advantages of using your own proxy server, rather than relying on third party proxy sites for accessing blocked sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo and others. First, since your proxy server has a unique address, the chances of the proxy site being blocked is almost zero. These days, corporate companies, schools and organizations block proxy servers itself so creating your own is the best way to get around it.

Second, since you have your own proxy server at hand, you don’t have to find a proxy server, create an account or pay a monthly fee. It’s yours and you can use it anywhere!

Access Facebook.com Using IP Address

To open Facebook using an IP address has its advantages. Chances are that the administrator has blocked Facebook from the Windows host file. Following are the steps involved to open Facebook with an IP address:

1. Open the command prompt and type “Ping facebook.com”

2. You will see the IP address as shown in the above image. Just enter the IP address in the browser address bar and if you are lucky, Facebook may open.

Note: If you do not have administrative rights in the computer and you are unable to open command prompt for any reason, try to find the IP address of Facebook with this Online tool.

Access Facebook With Opera Mini Browser

If the above method doesn’t work you can use the web version of opera mini browser to open Facebook. Just open the Opera mini demo link in your browser and you can open Facebook homepage.

Opera mini is meant to surf the web from mobile phones and it is a great way to access blocked websites. You can access the mobile version of Facebook from http://m.facebook.com. [Related: Block Websites Using OpenDNS for Better Parental Control]

Try the mobile version of Facebook

Do you know that Facebook has a lighter mobile version of the site, which can be accessed from a regular web browser? Enter http://m.facebook.com/ in your web browser and you should see the mobile version of Facebook.

Now it is possible that your network administrator has blocked only www.facebook.com and the mobile version is not included in the list of blocked sites. If you’re lucky, you might be able to slip through it.

The best thing about Facebook’s mobile version is that it is lightweight and uses a different address. You can go through your Facebook news feed, read and reply to messages, chat with friends, like posts, status updates and post comments. It is unlikely that you will be able to browse the mobile version of Facebook when the main Facebook domain is blocked at your workplace. But it never hurts to try and check to see whether this one works or not.

Switch To OpenDns or Google Public DNS

Changing the DNS server that your computer is using to connect to a network is another way to check whether you can get on Facebook when it is blocked. I agree that DNS servers or mappings cannot help you access sites that have been blocked from the network. However, I have seen instances when changing the DNS server has worked wonders for me and allowed me to open a restricted site which was otherwise not accessible.

Please read the following tutorials to switch to OpenDns or Google Public DNS

• Switching to OpenDNS servers in Windows, mac

Check your system’s task manager for suspicious programs

Once in awhile, peek into your system’s task manager to see all the processes that are currently running. Do you see any suspicious processes or services being executed? Do you see a program or a service running in Windows task manager which is not related to the operating system and neither related to any program installed in your system?

If the answer is “Yes”, try killing that service and check whether you can access blocked sites. Very rarely, some programs install malware in your system which might prevent access to specific websites on your computer.

Use TOR browser or Opera VPN

Mac Apps Open On Startup

Sometimes, using a VPN works pretty well. There are tons of free proxy or VPN are available in the market. However, two browsers called TOR browser and Opera provide free VPN alongside the browser. In TOR, there is no need to enable any VPN or so. However, you need to enable VPN in Opera as that is turned off, by default.

Use Decimal code to open blocked Facebook

• To convert IP address to decimal code, you need to use any online converter. There are several such tools are available in the market. Therefore, get the IP at first. For that, open Command Prompt or Terminal, enter ping www.facebook.com and hit Enter. Therefore, copy the IP address.
• Now, open any IP or decimal converter, enter the IP address and convert it to Decimal.
• Therefore, open browser and enter the decimal code with http://.

Use Fonetwish to access blocked Facebook

Can't Open App On Mac

If you have a mobile, you can certainly use Facebook when blocked in office, school or college. This is possible to use Facebook on a mobile where internet is not available as well. Therefore, get a mobile, and enter a code: *325#. By using this unique USSD code, you can certainly use Facebook when blocked in office or any other workplace.