Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 for Families is a free public DNS resolver that blocks malware, phishing, and, optionally, adult content at the network level.^1 Change the DNS addresses on a home router or a single device and every connection that uses that resolver shares the same filter, with no app required on each phone or laptop.^1
Use 1.1.1.2 and 1.0.0.2 to block malware only, or 1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3 to block malware and adult content. IPv6 addresses and encrypted DNS over HTTPS or TLS endpoints are documented for both options.^2 When a domain is classified as malicious, the resolver returns 0.0.0.0 instead of the real address, so the device cannot connect, and Cloudflare provides test addresses so you can confirm the filter is working.^2 The family resolver also locks public search engines to Safe Search.^3 A free companion app, 1.1.1.1 with WARP, is on iOS and Android and can enable Families from its DNS settings when a device leaves home.^4 Setup guides also cover routers, Windows, macOS, Linux, and gaming consoles.^2
Cloudflare launched Families on April 1, 2020, saying the number one request since 1.1.1.1 launched was a version that filters out bad sites, and that home users wanted protection from security threats and a way to keep adult content from being accessed by their kids.^6 Families is built on the same site categorization and filtering technology as Cloudflare's Gateway product for businesses.^6 Cloudflare itself began in 2009, when Matthew Prince, Lee Holloway, and Michelle Zatlyn turned Project Honey Pot, their system for tracking spammers, into a service that stops Internet threats instead of only tracking them.^7
Families carries the same public-resolver privacy commitments as standard 1.1.1.1: Cloudflare says it will not sell or share Public Resolver users' personal data or use it to target ads, and that Public Resolver Logs are deleted within 25 hours.^8 In April 2026, Cloudflare published a fresh independent privacy examination by the same Big 4 accounting firm used in 2020, reporting that its core privacy guarantees remain unchanged and confirmed.^9 Some ISPs and network equipment providers also offer Cloudflare's resolvers built in at no cost, so a household may get this protection without a manual change.^3
The filter is a guardrail, not a full parental-control suite: it has no per-child rules, time limits, or usage reports, and a child who can change a device's DNS settings can change them back.^10
