Blocking

What Does Blocking Mean?

In IT, blocking can be used in many ways to talk about the prevention of some action or command, or the hiding of some visual element from an interface. When something is blocked, it does not function or “go through” an interface. Blocking can be a user preference, or an essential part of a hardware and software system.

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Techopedia Explains Blocking

One example of blocking is the use of write blocker tools. These allow for evaluating the contents of the drive, without allowing the accidental damaging or rewriting of contents. Where read commands are let through, write commands are effectively blocked.

One of the most common uses of the term blocking in IT relates to the dominant Facebook social media platform. Here, users can access controls to block another user from their feed. They will then not see that user’s posts on their personal feed.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…