Go to the Microsoft 365 Defender portal and sign in.

In the navigation pane, select Settings > Endpoints > General > Advanced Features .

Scroll down until you see Web content filtering .

Switch the toggle to On , and then select Save preferences .

Configure web content filtering policies

Web content filtering policies specify which site categories are blocked on which device groups. To manage the policies, go to Settings > Endpoints > Web content filtering (under Rules ).

Policies can be deployed to block any of the following parent or child categories:

Cults : Sites related to groups or movements whose members demonstrate passion for a belief system that is different from those that are socially accepted.

Gambling : Online gambling and sites that promote gambling skills and practice.

Nudity : Sites that provide full-frontal and semi-nude images or videos, typically in artistic form, and might allow the download or sale of such materials.

Pornography / Sexually explicit : Sites containing sexually explicit content in an image-based or textual form. Any form of sexually oriented material is also listed here.

Sex education : Sites that discuss sex and sexuality in an informative and non-voyeuristic way, including sites that provide education about human reproduction and contraception, sites that offer advice on preventing infection from sexual diseases, and sites that offer advice on sexual health matters.

Tasteless : Sites oriented towards content unsuitable for school children to view or that an employer would be uncomfortable with their staff accessing, but not necessarily violent or pornographic.

Violence : Sites that display or promote content related to violence against humans or animals.

Download sites : Sites whose primary function is to allow users to download media content or programs, such as computer programs.

Image sharing : Sites that are used primarily for searching or sharing photos, including those that have social aspects.

Peer-to-peer : Sites that host peer-to-peer (P2P) software or facilitate the sharing of files using P2P software.

Streaming media & downloads : Sites whose primary function is the distribution of streaming media, or sites that allow users to search, watch, or listen to streaming media.

Child abuse images : Sites that include child abuse images or pornography.

Criminal activity : Sites that give instruction on, advice about, or promotion of illegal activities.

Hacking : Sites that provide resources for illegal or questionable use of computer software or hardware, including sites that distribute copyrighted material that has been cracked.

Hate & intolerance : Sites promoting aggressive, degrading, or abusive opinions about any section of the population that could be identified by race, religion, gender, age, nationality, physical disability, economic situation, sexual preferences or any other lifestyle choice.

Illegal drug : Sites that sell illegal/controlled substances, promote substance abuse, or sell related paraphernalia.

Illegal software : Sites that contain or promote the use of malware, spyware, botnets, phishing scams, or piracy & copyright theft.

School cheating : Sites related to plagiarism or school cheating.

Self-harm : Sites that promote self-harm, including cyberbullying sites that contain abusive and/or threatening messages towards users.

Weapons : Any site that sells weapons or advocates the use of weapons, including but not limited to guns, knives, and ammunition.

Chat : Sites that are primarily web-based chat rooms.

Games : Sites relating to video or computer games, including sites that promote gaming through hosting online services or information related to gaming.

Instant messaging : Sites that can be used to download instant messaging software or client based instant messaging.

Professional network : Sites that provide professional networking services.

Social networking : Sites that provide social networking services.

Web-based email : Sites offering web-based mail services.

Newly registered domains : Sites that have been newly registered in the past 30 days and have not yet been moved to another category.

Parked domains : Sites that have no content or are parked for later use.

NOTE : Uncategorized contains only newly registered domains and parked domains, and does not include all other sites outside of these categories.

Create a policy

To add a new policy, follow these steps:

In the Microsoft 365 Defender portal , choose Settings > Endpoints > Web content filtering > + Add policy .

Specify a name.

Select the categories to block. Use the expand icon to fully expand each parent category and select specific web content categories.

Specify the policy scope. Select the device groups to specify where to apply the policy. Only devices in the selected device groups will be prevented from accessing websites in the selected categories.

Important

If you're using either Microsoft 365 Business Premium or Defender for Business, your web content filtering policy is applied to all users by default. Scoping does not apply.

Review the summary and save the policy.

In the Microsoft 365 Defender portal , go to Settings > Endpoints > Indicators > URL/Domain > Add Item .

Enter the domain of the site.

Set the policy action to Allow .

Dispute categories

If you encounter a domain that has been incorrectly categorized, you can dispute the category directly from the Microsoft 365 Defender portal.

To dispute the category of a domain, navigate to Reports > Web protection > Web Content Filtering Details > Domains . On the domains tab of the Web Content Filtering reports, you will see an ellipsis beside each of the domains. Hover over this ellipsis and select Dispute Category .

A panel will open where you can select the priority and add more details such as the suggested category for recategorization. Once you complete the form, select Submit . Our team will review the request within one business day. For immediate unblocking, create a custom allow indicator .

Web content filtering cards and details

Select Reports > Web protection to view cards with information about web content filtering and web threat protection. The following cards provide summary information about web content filtering.

Web activity by category

This card lists the parent web content categories with the largest increase or decrease in the number of access attempts. Understand drastic changes in web activity patterns in your organization from last 30 days, 3 months, or 6 months. Select a category name to view more information.

In the first 30 days of using this feature, your organization might not have enough data to display this information.

Web categories : Lists the web content categories that have had access attempts in your organization. Select a specific category to open a summary flyout.

Domains : Lists the web domains that have been accessed or blocked in your organization. Select a specific domain to view detailed information about that domain.

Device groups : Lists all the device groups that have generated web activity in your organization

Use the time range filter at the top left of the page to select a time period. You can also filter the information or customize the columns. Select a row to open a flyout pane with even more information about the selected item.

Known issues and limitations

Network protection does not currently support SSL inspection, which might result in some sites being allowed by web content filtering that would normally be blocked. Sites would be allowed due to a lack of visibility into encrypted traffic after the TLS handshake has taken place and an inability to parse certain redirects. This includes redirections from some web-based mail login pages to the mailbox page. As an accepted workaround, you can create a custom block indicator for the login page to ensure no users are able to access the site. Keep in mind, this might block their access to other services associated with the same website.

If you are using Microsoft 365 Business Premium or Microsoft Defender for Business, you can define one web content filtering policy for your environment. That policy will apply to all users by default.

See also