How to block Pinterest on your network
Pinterest looks like one website, but it runs on dozens of country domains, a separate image domain and a short link domain. Block only pinterest.com and pins keep appearing all over the place.
This guide is for IT admins in schools and businesses, MSPs and filtering vendors. It covers the domain family, every enforcement point, side effects, bypass routes and a repeatable test plan.
Why organisations block Pinterest
Pinterest is rarely the first site anyone blocks, but it shows up on many lists. Each audience has a different reason, which also tells you whether a partial block is enough.
Schools
Image heavy feeds can surface content that is not suitable for younger students, and image search results lead straight into pins.
Workplaces
Endless boards for home, fashion and food are a classic time sink on staff networks.
Small links
Large images and video pins add up on guest Wi-Fi and branch links with little capacity.
Image rights
Some marketing teams restrict saving and reusing images found on pins, to reduce copyright risk.
Remember who uses it for work. Designers, merchandisers, marketers, event planners and many teachers use Pinterest for inspiration and planning. A role or network based block avoids a long queue of exception requests.
Pinterest is an image engine, not just a site
Users reach Pinterest content in three different ways. A good block covers all three, and a good test checks all three.
Direct visits and apps
The website, the mobile apps and the desktop web app. This is what most admins think of first.
Search results
Pins rank well in web and image search. Users click through from search without ever typing the address.
Embeds and buttons
Blogs and shops embed pins and save buttons. The browser extension adds a save option to every image.
The Pinterest domain family
These domains are well known parts of the service. Pinterest, like any large platform, adds hostnames over time, so treat this as the core of your rule, not the whole of it.
| Domain | What it does | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
pinterest.com | Main site, web app, login and API hostnames | The core of the block. Include all subdomains. |
| Country domains | Local versions of the site on country code domains | Users are redirected to the local one, so blocking only .com can leak. |
pinimg.com | Image and video delivery for pins | Without it, pins still render inside other sites and in cached pages. |
pin.it | Short links used when sharing pins | Shared links in email and chat stop resolving. |
Examples of country domains
Pinterest uses many country code domains. A few common examples are below; there are more.
Wildcards stop at the dot. Most DNS filters and firewalls let you block *.pinterest.com, but not "pinterest dot anything". That is why country domains are the most common Pinterest leak, and why a category rule is the cleaner answer.
To see how any Pinterest related hostname from your logs is categorized, paste it into the domain category lookup tool.
Full block or partial block?
Decide by audience. Pinterest is a good example of a site where the same organisation often wants both answers.
Block it for
- Student networks and student device groups, especially in primary and middle schools.
- Shared terminals, kiosks and reception PCs.
- Contact centres and shop floor devices.
- Guest Wi-Fi in youth facilities.
Keep it open for
- Teachers and staff, who often use it for lesson ideas and displays.
- Design, marketing, merchandising and events teams.
- Ecommerce teams that publish product pins.
- Guest Wi-Fi in hotels, cafes and retail spaces.
For a broader look at how to give some teams social access while restricting others, see our guide to blocking social media at work with partial access.
Methods, one recipe per enforcement point
Pick the recipes that match your environment. A small office may only need the first two; a school district or managed fleet needs all of them.
Router or small office gateway
Basic- Open the router's content filter, parental control or domain block page.
- Add pinterest.com, pinimg.com and pin.it, plus the country domains your users reach.
- Set the router to hand out only your chosen DNS server, and block other DNS servers if it allows.
- Reboot test devices or flush their DNS cache before testing.
DNS filter
Recommended- Block the Social Networking category, or add a custom block list with the domain family.
- Apply it to the student or staff policy only, as decided above.
- Block outbound port 53 to other servers and known public DNS over HTTPS endpoints.
- Check the filter's query log for country domains you missed.
Firewall or secure web gateway
Recommended- Create a custom URL category for the domain family, or use your firewall's social networking category.
- Add your firewall's Pinterest application signature where one exists.
- Apply per source network or user group, with the rule above general allow rules.
- Clear existing sessions after deploying.
Microsoft Intune and Edge
Managed Windows- Create a settings catalog profile with the Edge URL block list policy.
- Add the domain family, including country domains.
- Block extension installs, or allow only approved extensions, to stop the save button.
Google Admin console
Chromebooks- Go to the Chrome user and browser settings for the student organisational unit.
- Add the domain family to the URL blocklist.
- Block the Pinterest extension and the Android app if Play apps are enabled.
- Leave staff units unchanged if teachers keep access.
MDM for phones and tablets
Managed mobile- On supervised iPhones and iPads, block or hide the app through your MDM.
- On Android Enterprise, block it in managed Google Play.
- Push a DNS or web filter profile so the block also works off site.
- Accept that unmanaged phones on mobile data are out of scope.
Pinterest in schools: pair the block with safe image search
In schools, the concern is usually images rather than Pinterest itself. Students meet pins through image search, so the block works best alongside enforced safe search on the search engines you allow.
Enforce safe search
Most large search engines support a forced safe search mode set by DNS or by browser policy. Turn it on for student networks so explicit images are filtered at the source.
Block for students
Apply the Pinterest block to student units and networks. Older students may get access in art and design classes through a timed exception.
Keep it for staff
Teachers use boards for displays, crafts and lesson ideas. Give staff networks their own policy so they keep access.
Write it into the filtering policy. Note why Pinterest is blocked for students, which year groups or classes may get exceptions, and who approves them. Clear reasons make annual reviews and parent questions much easier.
For MSPs and filtering vendors
If you manage many tenants or build a filtering product, Pinterest is a good test of whether your policy model is flexible enough. These are the features customers ask for.
Policy templates
- School template: social networking blocked for students, open for staff.
- Office template: social networking open with security categories blocked.
- Kiosk template: everything outside a short allow list blocked.
- Per site overrides that do not change the shared template.
Reporting customers value
- Top blocked categories by network, not by individual.
- Blocked requests on country domains, to show the category rule working.
- Exceptions in force, with expiry dates.
- Export per tenant for monthly service reviews.
More planning notes are on the MSP web filtering page, and the master guide on how to block websites by category shows how category rules behave on each platform.
Side effects to expect
A Pinterest block is low risk, but users will notice a few changes. Knowing them in advance saves helpdesk time.
Empty embeds
Blogs, recipe sites and shops that embed pins or boards show blank boxes where the pin would be. The rest of the page works.
Save buttons disappear
Share and save buttons that load from Pinterest domains fail silently on third party sites.
Search listings
Pinterest pages can still appear in search results and some thumbnails may still show. Clicking through is blocked.
Shared links in chat
Links to pins shared in email or team chat open a block page. Tell exempt teams to use their own network policy for those.
Design tools
Online design tools that let users import from many sources keep working, though any Pinterest import option inside them will fail.
Other image sites
Stock photo libraries and design tools are unaffected unless you block their categories too.
Bypass routes to plan for
These are the usual reasons a Pinterest block leaks. They are listed so you can close them, not as instructions.
- Country domainsThe most common leak. Use a category rule or add each country domain your users reach.
- VPN and proxy appsBlock the VPN / Proxy / Anonymizers category and VPN application signatures.
- Encrypted DNSBrowsers with their own DNS over HTTPS skip your resolver. Disable it by policy.
- Image proxies and mirrorsThird party pin viewers and downloaders appear on new domains. A daily refreshed category feed catches them sooner.
- Cached pagesTranslation and cache services can show a copy of a page through another domain. Most filters treat these separately.
- Mobile dataPhones off Wi-Fi are outside network control. Only MDM reaches managed phones.
Test plan
Run these tests from a normal user account on each affected network. Keep the table and repeat it after policy or firmware changes.
| Test | Expected result | If it fails |
|---|---|---|
| Open pinterest.com in a new browser profile | Block page | Check rule order and that the policy applies to this network |
| Open a country domain, such as pinterest.co.uk | Block page | Add country domains or switch to the category rule |
| Open a pin.it short link from an email | Block page | Add pin.it to the rule |
| Load a blog page with embedded pins | Page loads, pins empty | Add pinimg.com to the rule |
| Launch the app on a managed phone over Wi-Fi | App fails or is hidden | Check MDM rule and app signature |
| Repeat as a teacher or designer account | Pinterest works | Check group membership and exemption order |
| Try a common VPN app on a managed device | VPN blocked | Block the VPN category and signatures |
| Click a Pinterest result from a web image search | Block page on click through | Check that country domains are covered |
| Install the browser extension on a managed browser | Install refused | Review the extension policy for that browser |
| Review DNS logs one week later | No unblocked Pinterest hostnames | Add new hostnames or rely on the category feed |
Category based blocking with our database
A category rule solves the country domain problem in one step, and keeps up with new hostnames, viewers and mirrors. Our data also ranks several categories per domain, which helps with platforms that mix social, shopping and lifestyle content.
Illustration: how ranked categories describe a visual discovery platform
This is an example of how ranking works, not a statement about any specific domain.
A filter that blocks on the primary category treats the platform as social networking, while marketers and analysts can still see the secondary topics. Related categories include Arts and Entertainment and Shopping.
Licensed data runs inside your own systems as CSV, Parquet or JSON, with a lookup API included. Exports for DNS RPZ, hosts files and firewall lists are covered in blocklist formats, and schools can read our notes on K-12 school web filtering.
Pinterest blocking FAQ
Why does Pinterest still show images after I blocked pinterest.com?
Pinterest serves images from pinimg.com and runs many country domains such as pinterest.co.uk or pinterest.de. Block pinimg.com, the short link domain pin.it and the country domains, or use a Social Networking category rule that already covers them.
Can I block Pinterest for students but not for teachers?
Yes. Apply the block to student networks or student organisational units only, and leave staff policies open. Teachers often use Pinterest for lesson ideas and classroom displays.
Will blocking pinimg.com break other websites?
Only the Pinterest parts. Blogs and shops that embed pins or show Pinterest widgets will display empty boxes, while the rest of the page works normally.
Does blocking Pinterest stop it appearing in search results?
No. Pinterest pages can still be listed in search engines, and some image thumbnails may come from the search engine itself. Clicking through to Pinterest will be blocked.
Should I also block the Pinterest browser extension?
If you want a complete block on managed browsers, yes. Use your browser management policy to block extension installs or allow only approved extensions.
How do I keep a Pinterest block current?
Pinterest adds hostnames and country domains over time. A category feed with daily updates covers these without manual edits, and a quarterly review of DNS logs catches anything unusual.
One category rule instead of fifty country domains
License ranked category data for 120 million domains, updated daily, for your filter or gateway. Starter database tiers from $999; enterprise and OEM licences are quoted per deployment.
Pinterest is a trademark of Pinterest, Inc. Microsoft, Intune and Edge are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Google, Chrome, Chromebook and Google Play are trademarks of Google LLC. Apple, iPhone and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc.
These names are used here only to identify the products discussed. Web Filtering Database is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by any of these companies.