How do I block Twitter (X) on my iPhone?

Use Screen Time. On iOS 27, go to Settings, Screen Time, Time Allowances, add the Social Media category and set it low, then add a Screen Time Schedule that leaves Social Media out of the hours you want X blocked. On iOS 26 or earlier, go to Screen Time, App Limits, Add Limit, select X under Social, set 1 minute, turn on Block at End of Limit, and turn on Block at Downtime. Set a Screen Time passcode you do not know, and remove X from Always Allowed.

Can you block Twitter in Safari and Chrome on iPhone?

Yes. Go to Settings, Screen Time, Content and Privacy Restrictions, turn it on, open App Store, Media, Web, and Games, then Web Content, choose Limit Adult Websites, and add both x.com and twitter.com under Never Allow. The filter works system-wide, so it applies to Safari and other browsers that use Apple's web engine, including Chrome. Test it in a private tab afterwards.

How do I block Twitter forever on my iPhone?

Delete the X app, block reinstalls by setting Installing Apps to Don't Allow under Content and Privacy Restrictions, iTunes and App Store Purchases, block x.com and twitter.com in Web Content, and let someone else set the Screen Time passcode. Without that last step you can undo all of it in a minute.

Does locking X with Face ID block it?

No. Since iOS 18 you can lock X or hide it in the locked Hidden folder, but your own face opens it instantly. It adds friction and keeps the icon out of sight, which helps with reflex opening, but it is not a block.

What if I need X for work?

Keep X on a computer during set work hours and block it on your phone with Screen Time or an exercise gate outside those hours. Separating a work account from a personal one and blocking the personal one on mobile also works well.

How to Block Twitter (X) on iPhone: 6 Ways for iOS 27

To block Twitter (X) on an iPhone, use Screen Time. On iOS 27, put X under a Social Media Time Allowance with a Screen Time Schedule. On iOS 26 or earlier, add a one-minute App Limit with Block at End of Limit, plus Block at Downtime. Then close the browser route by blocking x.com and twitter.com, and protect it all with a Screen Time passcode someone else holds.

That covers the app, Safari and Chrome. The six methods below go from lightest to strictest, and each one says exactly how you get around it, because the way out is what decides whether a block works.

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Key takeaways

iOS 27 replaced App Limits and Downtime with Time Allowances and Screen Time Schedules, so most older guides now show menus you will not find.
Blocking the X app alone does nothing if x.com still loads in Safari or Chrome. Block the app and the website together.
Every Screen Time block is only as strong as its passcode. If you know it, you will type it at 11pm.

Person in bed at night scrolling an endless social media feed on an iPhone, face lit red by the screen — The scroll that was meant to be one notification.

Which iOS version are you on?

Check before you start, because the menus changed in iOS 27. Go to Settings > General > About and look at iOS Version. On iOS 27 or later, use Method 1. On iOS 26, 18 or 17, use Method 2. Methods 3 to 6 work on both.

Method 1: Block Twitter on iPhone with Screen Time (iOS 27)

On iOS 27 Apple groups limits by category. You set a Time Allowance for a category such as Social Media, and a Screen Time Schedule decides which hours that category is available at all (Apple, iPhone User Guide for iOS 27).

Create a Social Media allowance

Open Settings > Screen Time > Time Allowances. Tap Manage Categories, tap + and add Social Media if it is not already there. Tap the category to confirm X is listed inside it.

Set the allowance as low as it goes

Back on Time Allowances, tap Social Media and drag the slider to its lowest setting. Once that allowance runs out, Social Media apps stay closed until the next day or the next allowed window.

Add a schedule

Go to Screen Time > Screen Time Schedule, turn on Schedule, tap Add Schedule and pick your days. In each time window, leave Social Media unselected for the hours you want X gone, such as work hours and after 10pm. Then turn on Match Screen Time Schedule under Time Allowances.

Check Always Allowed

Open Screen Time > Always Allowed and make sure X is not on the list. Anything there ignores every allowance and schedule.

Lock it with a Screen Time passcode

In Settings > Screen Time, set a Screen Time passcode, ideally one a friend types so you don't know it. Without a passcode, allowances are a suggestion.

One change helps you here. Apple says that if an app declares an associated website, the Time Allowance covers both, so the Social Media allowance should also cover x.com. Add Method 3 anyway, because twitter.com and other browsers are where blocks leak.

The catch on iOS 27: Apple's guide only describes allowances per category. You cannot give X a stricter allowance than Instagram or WhatsApp if they share Social Media. If you only want X gone, pair the allowance with Method 3 or Method 6.

Method 2: Block Twitter with an App Limit (iOS 26 and earlier)

On iOS 26 and earlier, Screen Time still uses App Limits and Downtime. By default those limits can be ignored once you hit them, so steps 1 and 3 are what make it a real block (Apple, iPhone User Guide for iOS 26).

Set a Screen Time passcode

Go to Settings > Screen Time and set a Screen Time passcode that is different from your phone passcode. Without it, “Ignore Limit” is one tap.

Add a one-minute App Limit for X

Tap App Limits > Add Limit, tap Social to open the category, select only X, tap Next and set the limit to 1 minute. Use Customize Days if weekends should be different.

Turn on Block at End of Limit

Open the limit you just made and turn on Block at End of Limit. Without it, the limit screen still offers “One More Minute” and “Ignore Limit”. With it and a passcode set, more time needs the passcode.

Turn on Block at Downtime

Tap Downtime, set a schedule, then turn on Block at Downtime. Apple says that with a Screen Time passcode set, blocked apps then can't be opened during downtime. They show dimmed with an hourglass instead of a dismissible reminder.

Method 3: Block Twitter (x.com) in Safari and Chrome on iPhone

This is the step most people skip, and it is why their block fails. Delete or limit the app and x.com is still one search away. Screen Time's web filter works system-wide, so it applies to Safari and to other browsers that use Apple's web engine, including Chrome. Step 3 checks that.

Open the web content filter

Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn the switch on. Open App Store, Media, Web, & Games > Web Content and choose Limit Adult Websites.

Add both domains to Never Allow

Under Never Allow, tap Add Website and add x.com, then add twitter.com. Old links still use twitter.com, so blocking only one leaves a gap.

Test it in every browser

Open x.com in Safari, in Chrome and in a private tab. If it loads anywhere, put that browser under an App Limit or Time Allowance too.

That is Apple's documented path on iOS 26 (Apple, Block content with Screen Time). Content & Privacy Restrictions is still under Screen Time on iOS 27. If a submenu has moved, type “Web Content” into the Settings search bar.

Method 4: Lock or hide the X app with Face ID

Since iOS 18 you can lock an app behind Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, or hide it completely. Touch and hold the X icon, tap Require Face ID, then choose Require Face ID to lock it, or Hide and Require Face ID to move it into the locked Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library (Apple, Lock or hide an app on iPhone).

Be clear about what this is. It is a speed bump, not a block. Your own face unlocks it in under a second. Hiding helps more than locking, because an icon you never see is an icon you don't tap on reflex, and hidden apps also drop out of search.

Method 5: How to block Twitter forever on iPhone

If you want X gone for good, delete it and make reinstalling it hard.

Delete the app

Touch and hold X, tap Remove App > Delete App.

Block reinstalls

In Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > iTunes & App Store Purchases, set Installing Apps to Don't Allow.

Close the web route and hand over the passcode

Do Method 3 so x.com and twitter.com are blocked, then have a friend or partner type a Screen Time passcode you don't know.

The cost is that you can't install any new app without asking that person. For a 30-day reset that is a feature. As a permanent setup it is hard to live with.

Method 6: Block X until you exercise

Every method above has the same weak point: the way out is a tap, a glance or a passcode. A gate that asks for physical effort works differently, because the price of opening the app is something you have to actually do.

That is what RepUnlock does. You pick X as a blocked app. When you open it, RepUnlock shows a shield instead. You do push-ups, squats or another exercise in front of the camera, the reps are counted on your phone, and they buy you minutes of X. No reps, no timeline. It uses Apple's Screen Time framework underneath, so the block covers the app the same way Methods 1 and 2 do.

Here is the reasoning. The urge to open X is strongest right after you pick up the phone, before you have decided anything. Twenty push-ups take long enough for that impulse to pass, and when it doesn't, you got the exercise anyway.

Woman doing push-ups on a living room rug at night in front of an iPhone propped against a mug — With an exercise gate, the price of opening X is a set of reps.

Which method should you use?

Method	Blocks app	Blocks x.com	How you get around it
Time Allowance (iOS 27)	Yes	Declared site only	Screen Time passcode
App Limit + Block at End of Limit	Yes	No	Screen Time passcode
Web Content: Never Allow	No	Safari + WebKit browsers	Screen Time passcode
Lock or hide with Face ID	Friction only	No	Your face
Delete + block installs	Yes	With Method 3	Whoever holds the passcode
Exercise gate (RepUnlock)	Yes	With Method 3	Doing the reps

A good default for most people: Method 1 or 2 for the app, Method 3 for the website, and a passcode you don't know. If you keep finding your way back anyway, swap the passcode for the exercise gate.

The timeline never ends, so the ending has to be built. Volt, RepUnlock's battery mascot, is it: reps bank minutes of X, and he stays empty until you move.

Get RepUnlock

Make the block stick

Turn off X notifications in Settings > Notifications > X. Notifications are designed to bring you back in, and most of them are not about anything you asked for.
Log out on your phone. Having to type a password is extra friction, even if the app slips through.
Keep one place for X. If you need it for work, use it on a computer during set hours and keep it blocked on your phone.
Replace the first minute. The urge usually comes in a specific moment, like waking up, queues or the bathroom. Decide in advance what you do there instead.

Why blocking X is worth the effort

A 2022 study of 1,100 US adults by Bryan McLaughlin of Texas Tech University and colleagues, published in Health Communication, found that 16.5% showed severely problematic news consumption: compulsive news checking, the kind X's feed encourages. Those people were much more likely to report mental and physical ill-being than the other participants. The survey was taken at a single point in time, so it shows a link, not proof that the news habit causes the harm (the paper;ScienceDaily summary).

What the wider research does and does not support is covered in does quitting social media improve mental health. If X is worst for you late at night, how to stop doomscrolling is the more specific guide, and the same methods apply to Reddit in how to block Reddit on iPhone.