Everything about Noor Shield for Windows

What is Noor Shield?

Noor Shield is a Windows app (with a Mac test version) built for families who want two things at once: a real technical barrier against adult content on a shared or a child's computer, and gentle Islamic reminders that speak to the reason for wanting that barrier in the first place — lowering the gaze, remembering the Ākhirah, and turning back to Allah through tawbah (repentance) and istighfār (seeking forgiveness).

Every computer can try it free for 29 days, with every feature switched on. After that, one product key keeps protection running on that computer.

It is not a spying tool. Its main job is to stop this PC from reaching known adult-content websites, whichever browser or app tries to reach them. Around that it gives parents simple time controls — bedtime, a daily screen-time allowance, a pause at each prayer time, and blocking games — and lets a parent see, only if they choose to check, what it has been blocking.

What it actually does

Everything below works together as one system:

What it can't do — please read this too

Being honest about limitations is part of what this app is for. None of the following are secrets — they're exactly what you should know before trusting it with something important.

• This is not antivirus software. It blocks known malware-distribution and phishing domains — the site itself never loads. It cannot scan files already on the PC, remove an existing infection, or watch what running programs do. Keep Windows' built-in Microsoft Defender turned on; that's what actually covers those.
• The website list is a starting point, not a complete one. No software can automatically discover every adult website that exists — new ones appear constantly. You can add specific sites yourself once you notice them.
• A determined adult user can turn it off. Windows itself only lets an administrator account stop or remove background services and change DNS settings — so this is a real, OS-enforced barrier for a child using a standard (non-administrator) account, but not against someone who has administrator access to the PC, including a parent who forgets they're signed in as one.
• Some technical bypasses exist. A site reached by typing its raw numeric address, or through a VPN or proxy app, can slip past this kind of filter. Browsers' own "Secure DNS", one of the more common gaps, is switched off by Noor Shield (on Windows, in Chrome, Edge, Brave and Firefox).
• Blocked apps are programs, not websites. A game played in a browser isn't an app Noor Shield can close — block its website instead. And a renamed copy of a game gets past the preset list until you add its new name.
• The activity log only shows what the filter actually blocked — it is not a record of every website visited, only the ones that were stopped.
• Emailing yourself a report sends that list to your email provider. Choose a recipient address you actually control, since that's now a second place this information lives.
• The reminder page on https:// sites needs a small local certificate. To show that page instead of a browser security warning, Noor Shield creates one certificate authority on your PC and adds it to Windows' trusted list — the same mechanism your browser already uses to trust every other website, just for one purpose here: signing a certificate for whatever blocked site you tried to reach, so the reminder page can load normally. It is never used for anything else, and can't see or affect traffic to any site that isn't already on the blocked list — DNS only ever sends an already-blocked domain there in the first place. It's removed automatically when you use "Remove protection completely" in Parent settings, or when you uninstall Noor Shield.

Installing it

1. Click Download for Windows on the homepage — the file is Noor-Shield-Setup-0.22.0.exe.
2. Once downloaded, right-click the installer file and choose Run as administrator. (If you just double-click it, Windows may ask you to confirm elevation anyway — say yes. The app needs this to install its background service and adjust DNS settings; it can't do either as a normal user.)
3. Windows will likely show a blue "Windows protected your PC" screen. This appears for any app that isn't digitally signed yet, not because anything is wrong. Click More info, then Run anyway.
4. Follow the installer's prompts (choose an install location if asked, or accept the default), then click Finish — this just closes the installer window.
5. Open Noor Shield from the Start Menu. This first launch installs the background service (Windows will ask you to confirm elevation again — say yes) and is where you'll set the parent password — see the next section.

A code-signing certificate that removes the SmartScreen screen entirely is on the roadmap — the installer isn't signed yet simply because that's a separate, paid step, not a security shortcut. It's a security app, so trust matters here more than most; this is being fixed.

Verifying the download (optional, for the technically inclined)

A checksum file sits next to the installer on the download link (Noor-Shield-Setup-0.22.0.exe.sha256.txt). If you want to confirm your download wasn't corrupted or altered in transit, open PowerShell and run:

Get-FileHash "Noor-Shield-Setup-0.22.0.exe" -Algorithm SHA256

The result should match the value in that checksum file.

Installing on a Mac (test version)

Noor Shield for Mac works on macOS 12 (Monterey) or newer, on both Intel and Apple-chip Macs. It's a test version: please try it on your own Mac first, and tell us how it goes.

1. Click Download for Mac (test version) on the homepage. The file is Noor-Shield-0.22.0-Mac.pkg.
2. Double-click the downloaded file. Because it isn't signed by Apple yet, your Mac will say it can't be opened, or that Apple couldn't check it. This is expected. Click Done (or OK).
3. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll down. Next to the message about Noor-Shield-0.22.0-Mac.pkg, click Open Anyway, then confirm with your Mac password. (On macOS 12 to 14 you can instead hold Control, click the file, choose Open, then Open again.)
4. Follow the installer. It asks for your Mac password once, to set up the part of Noor Shield that protects the whole Mac.
5. Open Noor Shield from Applications and set the parent password, as in the next section.

One difference from Windows: when a blocked site starts with https:// (most do), it simply won't load, instead of showing Noor Shield's reminder page.

First-time setup

1. Set a parent password. This is the one password that matters — it protects the filter settings, the activity log, and the email settings from being changed or viewed by anyone who doesn't know it. On the same screen, choose whether to show Islamic reminders (you can change this later in Parent settings).
2. Write down the recovery key shown right after. This is shown exactly once. If the parent password is ever forgotten, this key — and only this key — can reset it. Keep it somewhere the password itself needs protecting from (not saved in an obviously named file on the same PC).
3. Noor Shield will automatically request Windows' one-time permission to install its background filtering service. Approve it.
4. The dashboard should now show Protection: Active. That's it — the filter is running.

Using it day to day

Checking it's working

Open the app any time to see the dashboard. "Protection: Active" means the filter is running; a warning banner appears instead if something needs attention (for example, if the app isn't running as Administrator).

Closing vs. quitting

Closing the window sends Noor Shield to the notification area (the small icons near your clock) rather than quitting it — protection keeps running either way, since it lives in a separate background service, not the window itself. Right-click that tray icon for "Open Noor Shield" or a quick "Repair DNS" option.

Adding a blocked site

Go to Blocked sites, type in a website address (just the domain, like example.com — a full link works too), and click Add. It takes effect immediately, without needing to restart anything.

The activity log & email reports

Viewing the log

Open the Activity Log tab and enter the parent password if asked. You'll see a list of blocked attempts with dates and times, and a count of how many total. A Clear log button is available if you want to reset it.

Setting up email reports

1. In the Activity Log tab, find Email settings.
2. Enter your email provider's SMTP server details. For most personal Gmail or Outlook accounts, this means generating an app password from your email provider's security settings (search "[your provider] app password" for their exact steps) rather than using your normal login password.
3. Enter the address you want reports sent to — this can be the same account or a different one you check.
4. Click Save email settings.
5. Whenever you want a copy of the activity log in your inbox, click Send report now. Nothing is sent unless you click this — there is no automatic schedule.

If your internet stops working

Noor Shield works by telling Windows to send DNS lookups (the "phone book" that turns website names into addresses) through its own filter first. If the background service ever stops unexpectedly without cleaning up after itself, the PC can be left pointed at a filter that isn't running — which looks like "the internet is down."

1. Reopen Noor Shield. It automatically checks and repairs this on every launch.
2. If that doesn't help, right-click the tray icon (near the clock) and choose Repair DNS. This step does not need the parent password — a broken internet connection shouldn't have to wait for whoever set up the app.
3. As a last resort, an administrator can open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

   Get-NetIPInterface -AddressFamily IPv4 |
     ForEach-Object { Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceIndex $_.ifIndex -ResetServerAddresses }
   Clear-DnsClientCache

Removing it completely

Simply closing the app does not remove Noor Shield — that's deliberate, so it keeps protecting the PC without needing to be reopened. To actually remove it:

1. Open Noor Shield and go to Parent settings.
2. Enter the parent password when asked.
3. Click Remove protection completely and confirm.

This restores your normal Windows DNS settings and fully uninstalls the background service — not just the app window.

Uninstalling directly from Windows Settings / Control Panel (without opening the app first) also works and restores DNS automatically.

Questions & getting help