Questions and answers for parents. Last updated: 12 October 2026 · QuietWeb 0.4 for Windows and Mac
QuietWeb only opens the websites you chose. Nothing else.
That one sentence is the whole idea. Everything below explains how it works, how to use it, and, just as plainly, what it can't do.
A web browser for children. A parent saves the websites a child may use. Those open. Every other website, and every link, redirect or pop-up that leads somewhere else, simply doesn't load. Instead, the child sees a calm message: "This site isn't in your list."
The makers of QuietGuard™, the phone safety app where only trusted contacts can ring. QuietWeb follows the same idea for the web: only what you chose gets through.
Nothing for personal and family use. QuietWeb is free, with no adverts and no account. It doesn't sell anything inside the app.
Not the free version: it is for personal and family use only (see the terms of use). If you'd like to use QuietWeb in an organisation, write to us at support@quietguard.io.
Windows 10 and 11, and Mac (macOS 10.15 or later, on both Intel and Apple-chip Macs). Versions for Android and iPhone are being built from the same code and will follow once they've been properly tested.
Yes, and we'd encourage it. Save one website, then try to open a different one: type a link into a saved site's search box, click a link that leads off the site, or use the search bar. It won't open. That's the point: a promise you can test yourself in a minute, not one you have to take on trust.
Normal browsers open everything unless something stops them. QuietWeb opens nothing unless you saved it. There is no address bar to type into, no way to open new tabs or windows, and no downloads.
Most filters work from a block list: they try to recognise bad websites and stop them. The internet is far too big for that to ever be complete, so new or unusual sites slip through, and harmless ones get blocked by mistake.
QuietWeb works from an allow list: your list. It doesn't need to judge any website, because anything not on the list doesn't open. That's why it is simple, and why it is predictable.
No. QuietWeb doesn't read, scan, record or judge pages. It checks one thing: is this address on your list? That keeps it simple, private and honest about what it does.
It suits younger children best, and any child who uses a fixed set of websites: school sites, a few games, an encyclopedia, some films. Older children who need the open web for research may find the list too narrow; for them, the search bar with parent approval (see below) helps, but you may prefer a different approach.
Download the installer from quietweb.io and open it. Windows may show a blue box saying "Windows protected your PC". This appears because QuietWeb's installer isn't yet signed with a paid code-signing certificate, which Windows uses to recognise publishers. Click More info, then Run anyway. The installer itself is the same either way.
On a Mac, open the downloaded file and drag QuietWeb into the Applications folder. The first time you open it, the Mac asks whether you want to open an app downloaded from the internet: click Open. QuietWeb for Mac is signed by us and checked by Apple.
You'll see the welcome screen with QuietWeb's promise. Press Get started, then choose a parent PIN of 4 to 8 numbers. Then you can add the first websites.
Yes, until someone ticks Don't show this again under the button. After that, QuietWeb opens straight on the sites.
Everything a child shouldn't change: adding or removing sites, the time limit and extra time, search on or off, the language, clearing cookies, the usage report, and any link that leaves QuietWeb (for example to QuietGuard's website or our social pages). Light or dark mode can be switched by anyone.
After 5 wrong tries, QuietWeb waits 60 seconds before accepting another one. The PIN is stored only as a one-way code, never as the numbers themselves.
For safety there's no "reset" button a child could use. A parent can start fresh by closing QuietWeb and deleting the file quietweb.json in the folder %APPDATA%\io.quietguard.quietweb (paste that into the File Explorer address bar). QuietWeb then starts again from the welcome screen, with no sites and no PIN.
Press Parent on the start page, enter the PIN, type the address (for example bbc.co.uk/bitesize) and, if you like, a name. Press Add site. The site appears as a tile on the start page. You can save up to 200 sites.
Saving a site allows the whole of that website, including its sub-sites. Saving bbc.co.uk allows www.bbc.co.uk and news.bbc.co.uk, but not bbc.com, which is a different website. If you only want one page, use "This page only" (next section).
Yes. Websites are built from parts that come from elsewhere: pictures, fonts, video players, sometimes adverts. QuietWeb lets a saved page load its own parts, otherwise most sites would break. What it controls is which pages open: a child can't go from that page to another website.
Yes. In the parent settings, choose a picture for any tile. Children often find their sites faster by picture than by name. The picture stays on this computer.
Yes. Use the arrows next to each site in the parent settings. The start page follows the same order.
In the parent settings, press Remove next to it. It stops opening straight away.
Yes. Saving a whole site allows everything on it, and on YouTube that means every video, comment and suggestion. That's why QuietWeb warns you when you save a whole "open platform" such as YouTube, TikTok, Reddit or Instagram, where anyone can post anything.
Tick This page only when adding an address, and only that one page opens, not the rest of the website. It's ideal for one article, one game page or one film. QuietWeb ticks it for you when the address points at a single page on an open platform. You can save several single pages from the same website.
Save the film's address (from the address bar or the Share button on YouTube) with "This page only". QuietWeb then plays that film in its own simple film page, using YouTube's official player in its privacy-enhanced mode. There are no suggested videos, comments or search around it, just the film.
No. Another film, YouTube's home page, search and "Watch on YouTube" all stay closed. At the end of a film, YouTube's player may show a few more videos from the same channel; they won't open. If you want a second film, save it as well. Each one gets its own tile.
Then films open on YouTube's normal page, because you allowed the whole site. Most parents will want single films instead.
If you switch the search bar on (it's on the start page), children can search with DuckDuckGo. QuietWeb asks for strict safe search and the plain text-only results page, so there are no pictures or videos in the results. Opening a result is a different matter: see the next question.
If the website is on your list, it opens. If it isn't, QuietWeb shows Ask a parent. A parent can enter the PIN and choose Add this page only or Add the whole site, and the page opens. Or the parent can simply say no. Nothing opens without the PIN.
They can. Safe search reduces this a lot, but no search engine can promise perfect results, and result titles and short descriptions are written by the websites themselves. If you'd rather avoid this, switch the search bar off in the parent settings.
No. Searches go to DuckDuckGo, which doesn't track or profile people. QuietWeb keeps nothing of the search itself.
Yes. In the parent settings, choose a daily limit: 30 minutes, 1, 1½, 2 or 3 hours, or no limit. Only time with a website on screen and QuietWeb in front counts; time on the start page doesn't. The toolbar shows how much time is left.
The page closes calmly and QuietWeb shows "That's all for today". It opens again the next day. A parent can add 15, 30 or 60 extra minutes for today with the PIN.
How long QuietWeb was used today and on each of the last 7 days, the time spent on each saved site, and which other sites someone tried to open. It's kept for up to 30 days, stays on this computer only, and a parent can clear it at any time.
It's deliberately simple: times and website names, no screenshots, no page contents, no typing. Many parents look at it together with their child, for example to choose which sites to add next.
Nothing. There is no account, no cloud and no tracking. Your list, PIN code, settings and report stay on this computer. The full details are on the privacy page.
Only to ask downloads.quietweb.io whether a newer version exists. That's a plain request for a small file; it carries nothing about you or your use of the app. Everything else is the websites you chose, the search (if switched on) and the YouTube player for saved films.
Yes, as in any browser: that's how sites remember logins and settings. QuietWeb tells the browser engine to block cookies from other sites (the kind used to follow people across the web). A parent can clear all cookies and website data in the settings; QuietWeb's own list and settings stay as they are.
To play a film, YouTube (Google) receives the request for it, like any video player on any website. QuietWeb uses YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com), which YouTube says doesn't use viewing to personalise the experience. QuietWeb itself shares nothing with YouTube.
Not in QuietWeb. Websites you save may show their own adverts, as they would in any browser.
QuietWeb starts in light mode. The sun/moon button on the start page switches to a soft dark blue, which is easier on the eyes in the evening.
In the parent settings there are three calm colour styles and four children's styles with their own picture and colours: Space, Sea friends, Dinosaurs and Magic.
English, Polish, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi and Urdu. QuietWeb follows the computer's language; a parent can choose another one in the settings.
When a new version exists, a small note appears on the start page. Press Update now. Every update is digitally signed by us, and QuietWeb refuses any update without that signature.
We'd rather tell you plainly than have you find out later.
No tool can promise that, and we won't pretend otherwise. What QuietWeb does is narrow and testable: inside QuietWeb, pages that aren't on your list don't open. Your choices, your conversations with your child and the device's own settings still matter.
No. A saved site opens as it is, including its adverts, comments and anything its users post. Choose sites you trust, and prefer "This page only" for open platforms.
No. QuietWeb is a safe browser, not a lock for the computer. Other browsers and apps on the same computer still work as normal. To close those doors, use it together with Windows' own controls (next section).
Not from inside QuietWeb: there's no address bar, no new windows and no downloads, and a page that isn't on the list doesn't load. But a child who can use other apps, or who has administrator rights on the computer, could open another browser or remove QuietWeb. A standard Windows account for your child prevents that.
Not yet for the public. A test version for Android exists and is being checked. We'll only release them when they work as well as the Windows version. For phones today, there's QuietGuard.
Windows looks after the computer; QuietWeb looks after the web. Each does one job.
Some sites send you through another website to log in (for example a "Sign in with Google" page). That other website isn't on your list, so it doesn't open. Add the login site too, ideally with "This page only" where possible. QuietWeb's "not in your list" message and the usage report show which site was needed.
It most likely leads to a different website. That's QuietWeb doing its job. If you're happy with that site, add it.
Downloads are switched off in QuietWeb on purpose, so nothing new can be installed through it.
Enter the PIN and add 15, 30 or 60 minutes for today, or change the daily limit.
Write to support@quietguard.io.
See also: Privacy · Terms of use · Open-source credits