Bollard help

How do I install Bollard?

Open Bollard's page on the Chrome Web Store and click Add to Chrome, then Add extension. Bollard asks for no access to your websites at install: Chrome asks you for access to a site only when you block it.

How do I get started?

The welcome page opens after install. Add your first distraction (type a site or pick one of the common picks), click Start a 25-minute session now to try it, then pin Bollard from the puzzle menu so your timer is always in sight. You can reopen the settings at any time from the Bollard icon.

How do I block a site?

Click the Bollard icon on the site and choose Block this site, or open Settings → Block list, type the site (for example youtube.com) and click Block site. Chrome then asks you to let Bollard act on that site: accept, it's how the redirect works. Subdomains are included (youtube.com also blocks m.youtube.com).

Nothing is blocked when I visit a site.

Blocking only runs during a focus session or a schedule. Check the popup: it says "Not blocking" otherwise. If a site shows Needs access in Settings, click Allow access (you may have dismissed Chrome's prompt, or removed access from Chrome's extension page).

How do focus sessions work?

Pick 25 or 50 minutes (or a custom length from 5 to 240) and click Start focus session. The toolbar badge shows the time left. Tabs already open on a blocked site switch to the block page. End session stops it early (unless the hard lock is on).

How do schedules work?

Settings → Schedules → Add schedule, pick the days and the times. They use this computer's time zone. If the end is earlier than the start, the schedule runs overnight and ends the next morning; the selected day is the day it starts. Same start and end means 24 hours. The free plan runs one schedule; extra ones need Pro.

What happens on the block page?

It asks what you came to do. After a short pause (5 seconds), Allow for 1 minute lets you through to the page you asked for. When the minute is over, the site is blocked again. Back to work takes you back.

What are cooldown and hard lock? (Pro)

Set a friction level per site in Settings → Block list. Cooldown timer: you wait 30 seconds to 5 minutes (Settings → Friction) before you can allow. Hard lock: no way through, and you can't end the session or remove the site until the session or schedule ends. It's a commitment tool: Chrome always lets you disable or remove extensions, and Bollard never tries to prevent that.

What is allow-list mode? (Pro)

Settings → During focus → Everything except my allow list. During focus, every site is blocked except the ones you allow. Chrome asks you once to let Bollard act on all sites; Bollard only uses it to redirect blocked visits.

Does it work in Incognito?

Only if you allow Bollard in Incognito: Settings shows a link to Chrome's extension page, where you can turn on "Allow in Incognito".

Why wasn't an embedded video blocked?

Bollard blocks whole-page visits, not content embedded in other sites.

Can I move my list to another computer? (Pro)

Settings → Block list → Export (JSON keeps friction levels, TXT is one domain per line), then Import on the other computer.

How much is Pro? Is it a subscription?

Bollard Pro is $29 including any VAT or sales tax, paid once, or $4.99 a month as a monthly subscription you can cancel anytime: you choose. The one-time purchase is not a subscription: nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, and it includes all updates of Bollard's Pro features for as long as we distribute Bollard. The free version has no limit on sites or sessions.

How does the monthly subscription work, and how do I cancel it?

Bollard Pro is also sold as a monthly subscription: $4.99 a month, including any VAT or sales tax, with no commitment and no free trial. It renews every month until you cancel it. To cancel, open Settings → License → Manage billing (the Lemon Squeezy customer portal; the same link is in your receipt e-mail and on the Support page of our website, and it stays there even when Pro is not active in this browser) and cancel the subscription there; the portal also changes your payment method and has your invoices. Pro stays on until the end of the month you already paid for; after that, Bollard works as its free version, and you can buy Pro again at any time. Removing the extension does not cancel the subscription. Monthly payments are not refunded (except when an update removes a Pro feature: see section 6 of the terms of sale), but the 14-day money-back guarantee covers your first purchase of Bollard Pro, one-time or monthly. The one-time purchase costs the same as about six months of the subscription.

How do I buy Pro?

Settings → Bollard Pro, then choose the $29 option (taxes included). You pay on the checkout page of Lemon Squeezy, our merchant of record, which calculates the tax included in the price for where you live and emails you a receipt and your license key.

How do I activate Pro?

Settings → License, paste the license key from your purchase email, click Activate. One license is for one person and works on up to 5 Chrome installations at the same time (each Chrome profile where you activate it counts as one), for example on your work and home computers.

Does Pro need an internet connection?

Pro checks your license with our license service about once a day when you're online. Offline, it keeps working for up to 30 days after the last successful check. After that, Pro features pause until the next successful check: Bollard keeps blocking as the free version, and your lists and settings are kept.

How do I move Pro to another browser?

In the browser you no longer use, Settings → License → Remove license from this browser, then activate the same key in the new one. If you can no longer open the old browser, write to us from the support page.

How do I remove my data or uninstall Bollard?

Settings → Privacy → Reset all data removes the license from this browser and deletes your block list, schedules, settings and stats. Site access you granted stays listed in chrome://extensions → Bollard → Details → Site access until you remove it there (Bollard does nothing with it once your list is empty). To uninstall, right-click the Bollard icon and choose Remove from Chrome, or use chrome://extensions: Chrome deletes everything Bollard stored on this device. If you have Pro, click Remove license from this browser first (Settings → License) so the installation no longer counts toward your 5.

Can I get a refund?

Yes. If Pro isn't right for you, ask within 14 days of your first purchase of Bollard Pro, without giving a reason: use the link in your receipt or write to us. The money goes back to your original payment method. A refunded license stops working, and Bollard carries on as the free version with your block list and schedules. Details are in the terms of sale. For a monthly subscription, the 14 days count from your first payment; later monthly payments are not refunded (except when an update removes a Pro feature: see section 6 of the terms of sale), but you can cancel at any time so that the next one is not taken.

Does Bollard see my browsing?

No. It asks for access only to the sites you block, uses Chrome's built-in rules to redirect them, and stores your lists and settings on this device. It keeps no history and sends nothing, except license checks (license key + a random installation id). Weekly stats (Pro) are counts per blocked site (in allow-list mode, any site outside your allow list that you tried to open), kept on this device; you can turn them off or clear them.