How to turn Google SafeSearch on or off

The Internet is a wild, wonderful place, providing access to just about any kind of content a person can imagine. But with that freedom comes plenty of weird, off-putting, and often outright awful material that you never want your children to find.

That's why Google's SafeSearch feature is a welcome way to filter search results. When enabled, SafeSearch greatly reduces the amount of content perceived as violent, pornographic, bigoted, or otherwise inappropriate from appearing after a browser search.

Alongside the benefits of a more approachable online experience, however, comes a lack of access to lots of content an adult user may wish to access. Long story short, as great as SafeSearch is, you need to know how to turn it off, too. Here's how.

How to turn Google SafeSearch off and on

1. Log into your Google account and navigate to the Google homepage.

2. Click the word "Settings" in the bottom right corner.

3. Click the words "Search settings" in the popup window.

Open your settings menu and select &quotSearch settings.

4. Click the box beside the words "Turn on SafeSearch."

Turn on SafeSearch.

5. Click "Save" in the blue box at the bottom of the screen.

When the box beside "Turn on SafeSearch" has a checkmark, search results will be filtered. When it doesn't, you'll see all search results.

If you want to lock SafeSearch on a computer, click the blue words "Lock SafeSearch" and follow the prompts.

You can lock SafeSearch as well.

And to turn SafeSearch on or off on your mobile device, go to the Google homepage, click the three parallel horizontal lines in the top left, click "Settings," then tap "Filter explicit results."