Freedom allows you to block email apps on desktop and mobile devices, and also allows you to block email in your web browser. Here's a video overview of how to block email using Freedom:
Block Email on Windows/Mac
To block email on Windows or Mac, you can block your email app or block the URL for your email service.
Method 1: Block your email app
To block your email app from being opened, use app blocking to block your email client. To learn how to block apps, please see How to Block Apps on Windows or How to Block Apps on Mac.
Note: On Windows, desktop app blocking will quit blocked apps. Please use caution with this, as desktop app blocking will quit the app, potentially losing unsaved work if a Freedom session starts while you are working in an app you wish to block (e.g. drafting an email).
Method 2: Block the URL of your email service
To block access to email via the browser, you will need to add your email provider's URL to your website blocklist. For more information on adding websites to your blocklist, please see Adding custom websites to a blocklist.
Block Email on iOS
To block email on iOS, you can block your email app or block the URL for your email service.
Method 1: Block your email app
The most efficient way to block email on iOS is to use app blocking to block your email application. For instructions on how to set this up, please see How to block apps on iOS.
Method 2: Block the URL of your email service
You will need to block your email by URL if one of the following apply:
You are using the older version of Freedom (5.0), which blocks iOS apps using URLs
You want to block email accessed through your iOS device's browser
In these cases, you will need to identify your email address' IMAP and SMTP servers, and add those URLs to your blocklist to block incoming and outgoing mail.
Here are the URLs for common email providers:
AOL: imap.aol.com, smtp.aol.com
iCloud: imap.mail.me.com, smtp.mail.me.com
MSN: mail.outlook.com, mail.outlook.com
Microsoft 365: outlook.office365.com, smtp.office365.com
Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Live.com: outlook.office365.com, smtp.office365.com
Yahoo!: imap.mail.yahoo.com, smtp.mail.yahoo.com
Gmail: We have a premade filter for blocking Gmail, so you don't have to enter the URLs. To block the Gmail app and Gmail accounts in the iOS Mail app, simply add the Gmail filter to your blocklist.
If your email provider is not on this list, a simple web search should be able to help. If your email is through your company or school, you may need to contact your IT department to determine the correct IMAP and SMTP server URLs.
Block Email on Android
To block email on Android, just add your email app to your blocklist. It will then be blocked any time you run sessions that include that blocklist. For more information, please see How to Block Apps on Android.
If you access your email through a browser on Android, you will need to add the URL of your email provider to your website blocklist. For more information, see Setting up your website blocklist.
Having trouble?
If you're having any difficulty, please feel free to contact us. We're happy to help!