After Google, YouTube is the most visited website in the world and beats Facebook in visitors.
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What was just a website for video sharing, it has transformed into its own ecosystem.
Communities build-up and there are thousands of creators that amass huge numbers of subscribers.
However, not everyone has access to all the content, and different regions can find they get a cut down version of the content, which is available.
In this quick guide, we will show the best ways you can unblock YouTube to gain access to the content you want to watch.
Why is YouTube Blocked?
Three countries block YouTube entirely. These are China, North Korea, and Iran. (See our best VPN for China guide here)
The reason is to prevent their citizens from becoming influenced by western culture. For the remainder of the world, the internet, to a certain extent, is free.
When you find you can’t get access to YouTube videos, it means someone has blocked them. Businesses, universities, and schools are the main culprits for this.
There are some families where parents stop access to videos online, and video sites in general as a way to save on bandwidth.
There is also the content, which is unsuitable for younger children. Yet, the popular video site doesn’t particularly care who uses YouTube.
Luckily, bypassing these blocks is very easy, and it doesn’t matter who enforces them. Be it your school, company, or YouTube itself for geographical reasons.
Here are the easiest ways you can unblock YouTube sites from anywhere.
YouTube Unblocked with a Proxy
A web proxy can be the simplest method to get YouTube unblocked. Once you find an SSL web proxy site, and there are many, all you need to do is enter the URL of YouTube into the search box.
From here, you can search, as normal, and the proxy website will make it appear as if you are in a different geographical location.
It should be noted that a YouTube proxy site won’t encrypt your data, so network admin, ISP’s, and censorship agencies can see what you are watching.
It may be called an anonymous proxy, but this is only for bypassing geo-restrictions set on your regions YouTube content.
To make things easier for users, you can install browser add-ons, which create links between your browser and a proxy server. Saying this, you will be limited in choice depending on your device and browser.
A video proxy site may appear a good option, but they are not secure. If you use one, be sure it uses SSL encryption (HTTPS) and not just HTTP.
Unblocking YouTube Using HTTPS
This can be another easy way, but it is slowly changing the more areas change over to the HTTPS protocol.
For admin, they often only block the HTTP part of the address. You can take the URL and type it into the URL box with an included “S.” As an example, you can type https://www.youtube.com instead of http://.www.youtube.com.
Download Videos from YouTube
There are a lot of websites that allow you to download videos from various sites, including YouTube. This method is much slower than using proxy sites and is just as unsecure compared to the final method.
For these to work, search for your video in any of the major search engines, and when you find the blocked video, copy the link.
On your downloading video site, paste this URL into the conversion box, and the website will offer a few options for your download.
Hit the download option, and wait while it finishes. This is another method that benefits from a VPN. If the content is copyrighted, you can get in more trouble for downloading it.
Access all YouTube Content with a VPN
A VPN is the best way to unblock YouTube videos. They install on a wide range of devices, and mask your IP address and replace it with one of their own.
When you want to get past a YouTube restriction, a server that is blocking access won’t see the IP address, you are searching for because it is encrypted.
These VPN’s keep your location and identity private. No one can trace your activity back to you because you appear to be in another region.
When you look at the VPN reviews, you will see ExpressVPN is nearly always at the top. It deserves this position, and if you wish to test how good, they are to unblock videos?
You can sign up and try the VPN and all its features for 30-days.
The 30-day money-back guarantee acts as a free trial, and if you are not convinced, then you can cancel just as quick.