How to Restrict a Visitor in MyWatchtower

How to Restrict a Visitor in MyWatchtower

In rare cases you may need to block an individual or business from entering. MyWatchtower supports two kinds of restrictions:

• Property-level restrictions — prevent a visitor from being admitted for your specific property. Any property member who can manage guests can create these.
• Community-wide (global) restrictions — ban a visitor from the entire community. Only community staff can apply these.

When a restricted visitor arrives, gate staff see a clear deny indicator and refuse entry.

Restricting a visitor at your property

Restrictions are created through the creation wizard in one short pass — because a restricted visitor is a deny-list entry, there are no dates, schedules, or entry codes to set.

• Step 1: Sign in and open your Property page.
• Step 2: Select the Restricted tab. This lists everyone currently restricted at your property.
• Step 3: Select Restrict Guest.
• Step 4: Choose the type — Visitor (an individual) or Vendor (a business or delivery service).
• Step 5: Enter the visitor's First and Last Name (or the Vendor Name), and optionally add Notes explaining the restriction (for example, trespassing or a rule violation). Notes are visible to gate staff. If your account has photo permission, you can also attach a photo of the person — a photo makes it much easier for gate staff to recognize a restricted visitor at the gate.
• Step 6: Select Submit.

The visitor is now blocked at your property and stays blocked until you remove the restriction.

Community-wide restrictions (staff)

Community staff create global restrictions in the same wizard by ticking the globally-restricted option, which applies the restriction community-wide instead of to a single property. Staff can also start this flow from the community's Restricted list. A globally restricted visitor is denied entry regardless of which property they claim to be visiting.

If you're a resident and believe someone warrants a community-wide ban, contact your community's management office — they can apply it for you.

Restricting an existing guest or vendor

If the person is already on your guest or vendor list, you don't need to re-enter their details: open them from the Guests or Vendors tab, mark them as restricted, and save. They move to your Restricted list and are denied entry going forward.

Removing or changing a restriction

If circumstances change — say a misunderstanding is resolved:

• Step 1: Go back to the Restricted tab.
• Step 2: Find the visitor in the list. Open them to edit the name or notes, or select the trash can icon to remove the restriction entirely.
• Step 3: Confirm your choice.

Once removed, the visitor is treated like anyone else. If they should have regular access, add them as a normal guest or vendor with appropriate dates.

Best practices

• Use restrictions judiciously, and document the reason in the notes so gate staff have context.
• For serious incidents, notify property management — and law enforcement where appropriate — in addition to applying the restriction.
• Leave community-wide bans to community staff; they affect every property in the community.

Managing restrictions carefully keeps unwanted visitors out while letting your authorized guests and vendors through without hassle.