How to Block Threads on iPhone (Without Touching Instagram)

Threads started as the calmer text app next to Instagram. For many people it has turned into the same thing as every other feed: open it for a second, look up twenty minutes later.

Because Threads is tied to your Instagram account, a lot of people assume they can't block one without the other. You can. Here's how.

Quick answer: on iPhone, the most reliable built-in way to block Threads is Settings → Screen Time → App Limits, with Block at End of Limit on and a Screen Time passcode someone else holds. Add threads.net and threads.com to the blocked websites so the browser isn't a back door. If you want a block that holds even when you're mid-scroll, use a dedicated blocker (more below).

Why is Threads so hard to put down?

Threads mixes accounts you follow with a heavily recommended For You feed, so there's always more. Posts are short, replies are endless, and the app borrows Instagram's social graph, so it feels familiar and personal from the first scroll. It's also light — text loads instantly — which makes "just a quick look" frictionless.

How do I block Threads with Screen Time App Limits?

These steps work on iOS 16 through iOS 26.

1. Open Settings → Screen Time. If it's off, turn it on.
2. Tap App Limits → Add Limit.
3. Find Threads — open the categories or use the search bar — and select it.
4. Set a time. To block it almost completely, choose 1 minute; to cap it, choose something like 15 minutes.
5. Turn on Block at End of Limit. (You need a Screen Time passcode for this — Settings → Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings, or Use Screen Time Passcode on iOS 16.)

When the limit hits, Threads greys out on your Home Screen. Without a passcode, though, the limit screen just offers Ignore Limit — which is why the passcode matters. See how to remove "Ignore Limit".

How do I block Threads at certain times?

For a time window — nights, work hours, dinner — use Downtime:

1. Settings → Screen Time → Downtime.
2. Turn on Scheduled and pick your hours (e.g. 9:30pm → 7:00am).
3. Under Always Allowed, make sure Threads is not on the list.

Because Threads is a separate app from Instagram, Downtime can block one and allow the other — useful if you want Instagram DMs at night but not the Threads feed.

How do I block Threads in Safari and other browsers?

An App Limit only covers the app. Threads works perfectly well in a browser, so close that door too:

1. Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions (turn it on).
2. App Store, Media, Web & Games → Web Content → Limit Adult Websites (on iOS 16 to 18.0, the first menu is called Content Restrictions or Store, Web, Siri & Game Center Content).
3. Under Never Allow, add threads.net and threads.com.

This blocks the site completely in Safari and in apps that use Apple's web view. It's all-or-nothing — there's no time limit option for websites here.

Does Threads have its own time controls?

Threads has very few. You can reduce its pull:

• Switch the feed to Following at the top of the home screen, so you see posts from people you chose, chronologically.
• Turn off notifications you don't need in the Threads Settings → Notifications.
• Mute or hide accounts and words that pull you into long threads.

There's no Threads-specific daily limit, so for a real block you need Screen Time or a blocker.

Can I lock Threads behind Face ID?

Yes. On iOS 18 and later, long-press the Threads icon, tap Require Face ID, and confirm. You can also choose Hide and Require Face ID to move it into a hidden folder in the App Library.

It adds a second of friction and stops other people opening the app — but your own face unlocks it instantly, so it won't stop you.

Why don't these blocks hold?

Threads blocks tend to leak through the website and through Instagram, which links to Threads posts. And because Threads feels lighter than video apps, it's easier to tell yourself it doesn't really count — so the limit comes off quickly.

More broadly, every built-in method has the same weakness: you set it, so you can undo it. The App Limit has an "Ignore Limit" button or a passcode you know; Downtime has "Ignore Limit" too; the website block can be switched off in Settings; Face ID is your own face. We cover every gap in Screen Time loopholes.

And a daily limit is the wrong shape for Threads. Threads use tends to be many short opens that occasionally become one long scroll. A daily total can't tell those apart.

What's a way to block Threads that actually holds?

Detox is an iPhone and iPad app built for the moment the built-in tools fail: mid-scroll, low willpower.

• Consecutive-usage limit: open Threads to see one post a friend shared — that's fine. Once you've been scrolling Threads continuously past your limit (say 20 minutes), Detox hard-blocks the Threads app for a cooldown. Step away for about a minute and the counter resets, so quick checks never add up to a lockout.
• Schedules: block Threads completely at set times — e.g. every night from 9:30pm.
• Focus sessions: a countdown block for deep work or study.
• Websites too: add threads.net and threads.com so the browser isn't a way round.
• Strict mode: while a block is active you can't edit or delete it, and Detox can stop you deleting the Detox app itself during a strict block. The emergency unblock is capped at one per 24 hours.

Detox blocks the whole Threads app, not individual parts of it. It's iOS only, paid, with a free trial.

Which method should you use?

The bottom line

To block Threads on iPhone, set a Screen Time App Limit on the Threads app (it's separate from Instagram), turn on Block at End of Limit, and add threads.net and threads.com to Never Allow. Switching to the Following feed helps too. If Threads has become your new doomscroll, limit continuous sessions so quick looks stay possible but the spiral doesn't.

Related: How to block Instagram on iPhone · How to block X (Twitter) on iPhone · How to block social media