You can improve your computer’s security, and your own privacy in several different ways. From making sure that you operating system and applications are up to date, to running security software, and using your brain when you are on the Internet and working with your PC.

One of lesser known options is to block specific servers in the hosts file of the operating system. While you can edit the hosts file directly, a program like HostsMan is often preferred, as it adds automatic options to the program that a manual edit does not offer, obviously.

Just visit the HostsMan website and download either the stable version or the latest beta version of the application. You won’t notice a change right away, as you need it to download hosts lists from the Internet first before it starts to block these hosts from connecting to your computer. This is done with a click on the update button in the main program window.

If you are inexperienced, you may not know if you should pick one, some or even all of the available hosts. The only viable option here is to research the list on the Internet, to see what it blocks, and what it does not block. Some reveal what they block in the title, while others do not.

Once you have marked at least one hosts lists, you can click on the update button to download and add it to your system’s hosts file. Once added there, it is active immediately. You can test the list by visiting websites that you visit regularly. First to make sure that the sites still display fine in your browser, and second to see if contents are blocked that you do not want to see.

You can also use the main management window to disable the hosts file which is useful if you need to access a site that is blocked fully or partially, and to edit the hosts file manually.

All in all, HostsMan is an excellent application for users who want to have more control over their hosts file.