cocloc is in early access.

What the build does

• Network blocking. A 121-domain blocklist written into your Windows hosts file, so blocked domains fail to resolve in every browser, including private windows, and in apps that are not browsers.
• DNS-over-HTTPS turned off in Chrome, Edge, Brave and Firefox, so those browsers cannot resolve around the hosts file.
• A pill — a small widget docked to a monitor edge, which you can drag.
• A tray icon.
• An instant pause from either one. No wait, for as long as you like.

Free has no gate. That is the honest description of it: a real filter with the pause button right there. cocloc Lock is the version where the pause takes 24 hours. It is not on sale yet either, because no payment processor is live.

Windows 11, 64-bit, desktop or laptop · about 30 MB · 18 and over. Windows 10 has never been tested and is not supported.

What to expect when your build arrives

The file you are sent is an ordinary Windows installer, and the rest of this page is the whole of what it does. We would rather you read it before the file lands than while it is sitting in your downloads folder with a warning on top of it.

Windows will warn you. Here is why, and what to click.

The installer is not code-signed. A code-signing certificate costs money we have not spent yet, and SmartScreen reputation is earned one download at a time, so a new unsigned installer starts with none. Until that changes, Windows treats cocloc as an unknown program and says so twice.

Both warnings below are expected. Neither one means something is wrong with the file. It is also a reasonable moment to be suspicious of a stranger’s executable, so: the only place we send it from is cocloc.com, and we will tell you it is coming before it arrives.

1. Run the file you were sent.

   A blue window appears: Windows protected your PC. There is no obvious way forward, which is the point of the screen.

2. Click “More info”.

   It is the small link in the body of the blue window. It expands to show the app name and the publisher, which will read Unknown publisher.

3. Click “Run anyway”.

   The button only appears after step 2. The installer starts.

4. The Windows permission prompt appears.

   It asks whether you want to allow this app to make changes, and names the publisher as Unknown. cocloc installs a background service, so it does need this.

5. Click “Yes”.

   That is the only permission prompt in the whole install.

If Microsoft Defender flags it

Defender may quarantine a new unsigned installer on sight. If it does:

1. Open Windows Security.
2. Go to Protection history.
3. Find the cocloc entry.
4. Choose Actions, then Allow on device, then run the installer again.

If your antivirus is not Defender, the equivalent is usually called a quarantine or a vault. We have no certificate to point you at, and we are not going to tell you to switch your antivirus off.

First run

1. Install.

   One permission prompt, the one above. Nothing else asks.

2. The service arms itself.

   A background service installs, locks its own files, and registers to start before you log in. Your Windows account is not changed. You stay an administrator.

3. Network blocking turns on.

   The blocklist goes into the hosts file and the DNS-over-HTTPS policy is applied to Chrome, Edge, Brave and Firefox. Open browsers may need a restart before it bites.

4. The pill and the tray icon appear.

   The pill docks to a monitor edge and can be dragged. Both show whether blocking is on, and both can pause it.

5. Done.

   There is nothing to configure for the screen layer, because it is not built. No partner to name, because that is not built either. No sensitivity to set, because there is nothing yet for it to set.

Setup is about five minutes, and most of it is Windows asking you whether you are sure.

After that

The tray icon and the pill both show whether blocking is on, and either one pauses it instantly. There is no wait on Free.

Updates are not automatic. While the build is unsigned we will not have your machine silently install anything, so a new version arrives the way the first one did: a file from us, which you choose to run. The changelog says what changed.

If something is wrong, write to us. Include your Windows version and what you were doing. We cannot see your screen or your traffic, so there is nothing on our side to look up.

cocloc Lock

Not purchasable. No payment processor is live.

Lock is the same software with the 24-hour gate: pausing, unblocking a domain, turning a layer off and uninstalling all become a request now, confirmable tomorrow. Tightening stays instant.

Pick Lock in the form above and you get one email when payments open. The pricing page has the exit terms and the refund policy, which are worth reading before that email arrives.