WasteNoTime is a browser extension which is designed to help you manage your time spent on the Internet more efficiently. As seen on CNet, PCWorld, Forbes, and Wired!

Time Tracker feature gives you reports on what web sites you spent most of your time. Instant Lockdown feature allows you to focus on your work for a period of time with limited Internet access. Time Quota feature automatically block selected web sites when you have spent a preset amount of time on them each day.

WasteNoTime extension is now available both on Safari (Update 06-01-2020: Version 13.0 and above are not supported. This may change after macOS 11 Big Sur is launched.) and on Chrome. You may share settings across multiple browsers or multiple computers.

This project is inspired by James N. Anderson's LeechBlock Firefox extension.

To download WasteNoTime Safari browser exension, click the link below. Then double-click the downloaded file to install it on Safari browser.

Current releases:

• WasteNoTime 3.4.2 for Safari

WasteNoTime is also available in the official Apple Safari Extension Gallery and in Google Chrome Store.

Release 3.5.0:

• Restructure the code to remove the need for content script and need for intrusive permissions
• Integrated with Chrome storage so settings can be sync'ed to Google account if enabled

Release 3.4.2:

• Fixed an issue that clock continues to run when browser window is minimized or new tab is opened

Release 3.4.1:

• Support loading block list from external URL
• Minor bug fixes

Release 3.4.0:

• Support blocking links from a site, useful for sites such as reddit and digg (Additonal user permission is required for Chrome)
• Solved a long-standing issue that settings may disapear in Safari when browser history is cleared by user or a third-party app
• Switch to external block page so it works in Chrome incognito
• instant lockdown for longer than 8 hours and at a specific time
• Added total time spent in Time Tracker
• Remove any username password which may appear in url before tracking

Release 3.3.6:

• Bug fixes. Make it available via Safari Extension Gallery.

Release 3.3.5:

• Display an alert when InstantLockdown period is over.

Release 3.3.4:

• Allow any protocol string such as "chrome://" in URL patterns. One use case is that users can now block system page such as "chrome://extensions" to prevent WNT extension from being disabled.

Release 3.3.3:

• Fixed issue with importing settings json file

Release 3.3.2:

• More strict validation when setting work hours time segments
• Minor bug fixes

Release 3.3.1:

• Adjusted idleness detection: Treat Chrome window being minimized or in background as idle.
• Minor bug fixes

Release 3.3:

• Updated to use Google Chrome manifest 2 format
• The black list can now be re-ordered by users which is necessary when you have per-site custom settings and want to control which pattern matches first.
• Minor bug fixes.

Release 3.2:

• Dynamic toolbar icon that indicates whether a web site is on the block list or allow list
• Show timer count down on toolbar icon when warning period is triggered
• Allow resetting Time Tracker historical data

Release 3.1:

• Support Private Browsing (Safari) and Incognito (Chrome) mode and provide option to disable tracking
• New Retina display compatible icon for Safari
• Chinese language localization

Release 3.0:

• WasteNoTime is now available for Google Chrome
• Added Time Tracker feature to report top sites in the past day, week, and month.
• Support import/export settings
• Per-site time limit is no longer count against global time quota

Release 2.2.1:

• Display a warning message before a web page is to be blocked
• Let user configure a password instead of a random challenge to prevent self from editing settings

Release 2.2.0:

• Support Safari 5.1 Popover feature, which is accessible through toolbar button and provides more information of the current site and timers status
• Support setting time limit on per-site basis
• Support 'Always Block' option
• Block List and Allow List are now sorted for easily locating a site
• Miscellaneous UI improvements

Release 2.1.6:

• Fixed an issue with Safari on Windows where challenge string is not displayed correctly.

Release 2.1.5:

• Disabled extension bar by default for new users
• Re-organized the menu items and made it more streamlined
• Updated default block page

Release 2.1.4:

• More extensive validation of time ranges
• Added support link in the settings page
• Added setting for idle detection
• Added more informative default block page instead of using about:blank

Release 2.1.3:

• WasteNoTime extension now supports Safari 5.1
• Added "Instant Lockdown" feature
• Added whitelist feature so users can use some cover-all blacklist and then unblock site-by-site.
• Changed timer behavior and timers now stop when the browser is minimized.
• WasteNoTime settings can now be accessed through context menu
• Fixed issue that the WasteNoTime Settings button appears to be disabled on some Safari versions.

Release 2.1.2:

• Fixed issue that status bar is mistakenly displayed when it is disabled. Now users can disable the status bar using standard View menu.

Release 2.1.1:

• Re-origanized View Settings page using tabs
• Cleaned up status bar and made it more informative
• Miscellaneous bug fixes

Release 2.1.0:

• Support using multiple time ranges to define work hours
• Enhanced extension status bar and it is now enabled by default
• Overhaul of the configuration page which is now cleaner and easier to navigate
• Added input validation

Release 2.0.1:

• Handling upgrade more gracefully
• Minor settings page style change

Release 2.0.0:

• Use more light-weight dialog box and reduced the extension package size by 70%
• More streamlined View Settings and Edit Settings pages
• New optional extension status bar
• Improved toolbar icon with anti-aliasing
• Change the default configuration to simple maxium-time-per-day without time ranges
• Miscellaneous bug fixes

Release 1.0.2:

• Display remaining time on settings page

Release 1.0.1:

• Initial public release
• Support toolbar button
• Support context menu
• Support separate time configuration for within workhours and outside of workhours
• Support wildcard matching

General Questions

• How do I use WasteNoTime Safari Extension?

  WasteNoTime extension adds an icon to Safari browser toolbar. Clicking it will display the WasteNoTime popover window, where you may check how much allowed time left, add sites to be block, and access Settings page.

  WasteNoTime extension provides a status bar, which is right below the address bar and bookmark bar if you have one. This status bar allows you to monitor in real-time how much time you have left for accessing sites on the block list. It also allows you to add sites to the block list easily by clicking a couple of buttons. Status bar can be enabled/disabled through,

  Safari-> View-> Show/Hide WasteNoTime Bar

  WasteNoTime also provides a context menu which allows you to add sites to the block list while you are browsing. Context menu can be enabled/disabled through,

  Safari Preferences...-> Extensions -> WasteNoTime -> Additional Options.

• Do you collect any information about my browsing history and habbits?

  Absolutely not. WasteNoTime extension simply tracks the amount of time that you spent on sites on the block list and it doesn't keep a record on what sites you have visited. No browsing history is transimitted off your computer.

• Where is WasteNoTime settings stored on the computer?

  WasteNoTime extension uses Safari browser HTML5 local storage to store settings. Current version sets the maximum allowable local storage to be 5 MB.

• How do I uninstall WasteNoTime extension?

  Go to Safari Menu/Preferences.... Click on the extensions tab. Choose the extension you want to uninstall. Click the Uninstall button.

  In Chrome, go to "chrome://extensions" page and click uninstall button next to WasteNoTime extension.

• How do I prevent WasteNoTime extension from being uninstalled or disabled?

  If someone is determined to remove an extension, he can always find a way to do that because WNT is a browser plugin which is designed to be easily removable. On Chrome, there is trick to make it harder to remove an extension. Add 'chrome://extensions' to the Block list and then click the customization icon to set the url to 'Always Block'. This way you won't be able to get to the 'chrome://extensions' page unless you can modify the WNT setting, which can be protected by a password.

About Configuration

• How do I access the Settings page?

  Use toolbar icon .

• How do I know how much allowed time is remaining?

  You have two options:

  • Click the toolbar icon. In Safari 5.1 and later, it will display a popover window which shows how much time is remaining and the status of the web site that you are currently visiting. In preious Safari versions, it will open View Settings page in browser window and the "Time Remaining" tab displays how much time is remaining.
  • If you enables WasteNoTime status bar, the time remaing is readily displayed there and updated in real-time.

• When do I need to use time ranges?

  By default, you simply set the time allowed per day. But sometimes you may want to relax it a little bit in the evening or in lunch break. WasteNoTime extension allows you to set two separate timers, one for within work hours and one for outside work hours. You use time ranges to define what is considered as work hours.

• How do I define work hours?

  If you have simple 8-to-5 work schedule, you may get away by defining only one time range: from 8:00AM to 5:00PM. If you allow yourself a lunch break, you may use two time ranges, for example, from 8:00AM to 12:00PM and from 1:00PM to 5:00PM. You can use as many time ranges as you want to define work hours.

• What happens when Allowed Time is running out?

  When you have reached the maximum time allowed, access to sites on the block list will be denied and the preconfigured block page will be shown instead. After midnight, all timers are reset and start counting again.

• How do I add sites to be blocked?

  You have multiple ways to add blocked sites.

  • In Blocked Sites section, you may enter multiple sites at the same time, one per line.
  • You may also add blocked sites using context menu while you are browsing.
  • Asterisk can be used as wildcard in any part of URL
  • Preceding http:// can be ommited if you don't want to be protocol specific.

• Can you give some examples on the URL patterns that I can use to add blocked sites?

  Here are some examples.

  • *.foo.com matches any subdomain of "foo.com", such as finance.foo.com or news.foo.com
  • foo*.com matches any site that starts with "foo" and ends with ".com", such as foobar.com or foo.xyz.com
  • foo.*.com matches any site that starts with "foo." and ends with ".com", such as foo.com or foo.xyz.com but it doesn't match foobar.com
  • foo.com/path matches any url under "foo.com/path", such as foo.com/path, foo.com/path/xyz, but it doesn't match foo.com/pathxyz.
  • https://foo.com matches any url under HTTPS site foo.com
  • */search?q=cache: matches any url that has path "search" and query string starting with "q=cache:". It effectively matches Google cache URLs.

• I really want to concentrate on work. How do I block ALL sites?

  Just add * to your block list. Or you may try the Instant Lock-down feature.

• Does the timer continues when the browser is minimized or stays in the background?

  When the browser is minimized the timer is stopped. Also if the extension detects that the user has been idle for a while (by default 30 minutes which is configurable in Advanced Settings), the timer will temporarily be stopped until the user comes back. WasteNoTime considers the user is idle when the browser is put to background or the user leaves the desk.

  Note: Prior to release 2.1.3, if the active window of the browser is on a site on the block list, the timer will continue to run even when the browser is minimized or stays in the background. You have to navigate away from the page to stop the timer.

• How do I configure custom time limit for specific sites?

  First, you need to add the site to Block List. On Edit Settings page and Block List tab, you may click the site which would bring up a dialog box with a number of options including "Always Block" and "Custom Time Limit", where you may set the time limit for this web site only.

  Notice that, for sites with custom time limit, the global time limit still applies. When either of them is used up, the site will be blocked.

• I forgot the password that I set and now I can't change the settings or modify the block list. What can I do to recover the password?

  Well, you can't recover your password but you can reset the settings to factory default and then you can have access to the settings.

  Go to your home directory and then subdirectory Library/Safari/LocalStorage. Find a file starting with "safari-extension_com.bumblebee.wastenotime-...". Remove that file and restart Safari, then you should have factory settings.

• How do I share the settings between Safari and Google Chrome?

  You may export the settings from one browser to a file and then import the file to another browser.

  Edit Settings -> Import/Export -> click "Export Current Settings" button. Keep note on the location of the exported file wastenotime-settings.json which is normally in the Download folder.

  In the second browser, Edit Settings -> Import/Export -> Select the file to import and then click "Import Settings". Remember to Apply Settings in the end.

Additional Help

• What if I have more questions? And how do I report bugs?

  You may reach us through email, twitter or Facebook. Please see Feedback page for details.

If you have any question or suggestion, please feel free to drop us a message on , find us on Facebook , or report to us via Chrome Web Store.

If you find WasteNoTime browser extension useful to you, please donate $10 to support the ongoing development work.

Shared block lists:

• Top 10 time wasting sites
• Top 50 time wasting sites