Unblock Websites - 10 Effective Ways You Can Access Blocked Websites

Online blocked content can be frustrating.

While some websites have a solid reason to block content for people outside a specific country, there are also lots of situations when blocked websites are abused in schools and workplaces. Also, you might find yourself living in a country where certain services, such as Netflix, haven't been implemented yet.

So how do you unblock websites to watch your favorite shows or freely browse the internet at school or at work?

We'll go through the easiest and most efficient ways to access blocked co tent online in the following article.

There are a lot of situations when you might need to unblock blocked websites, the following being the most common.

Unblock websites to watch videos - You may have noticed when surfing around YouTube that you are not able to watch some of the videos. That's because some videos are restricted outside a specific country, meaning those who live outside the said country are not allowed to watch them. You may want to unblock YouTube videos so you have access to your favorite content.

Unblock streaming videos - Another reason to want to unblock websites on your computer is also about videos, but on websites like Netflix. Why would you want to unblock Netflix? Well, there are two reasons for it. First, Netflix is not yet present in many countries so if you live in one of those countries, by unblocking Netflix on your computer you'll be able to watch your favorite TV shows. Another reason to unblock Netflix is to get access to the US version because it has the most extended library of TV shows and movies.

Unblock websites at work - It is common for workplaces to use a firewall to block employees' access to certain websites. Usually, blocked websites are YouTube, social media platforms like Facebook, and even email clients in many cases.

Unblock websites at school - Same as in workplaces, schools also use firewalls to block students' access to online content. And, as a student, you might need to send an email to a teacher, or, to be real, quickly check your Facebook page or play an online game.

Unblock websites in campuses - If you live on campus, you have even more reasons to wanna unblock the content you're not allowed to access. After all, you spend a lot of the time on your computer there and blocked websites can be a great inconvenience. Not to say, downloading torrents is usually blocked.

Unblock websites from other countries - Some websites are open to only the people living in specific countries. If you found a foreign website you don't have access to, you would want to unblock it.

Unblock websites when you're traveling - Websites from your own country can also be blocked. While this isn't a problem when you're home, you won't have access to those websites anymore when you're on the road.

As you've seen above, there are various reasons why one would want to access blocked websites, meaning there are more situations when you don't have access to certain online content. What they all have in common is the use of your IP address.

Some websites (like Netflix and Freeform) analyze your IP address when you access their websites so they know where you're connecting from. Netflix, for example, is available only in 160 countries and they won't let someone who doesn't connect from one of those countries access their content. Moreover, they have a dedicated library of movies and TV shows for each country, the US residents having access to the most extended library. If you want to unblock Netflix so you can watch the shows on the US version, you must connect to their site from the US. Because you can't travel to the US just so you watch the last episode from your favorite TV show, this can be easily taken care of by changing your IP address with an IP address from the US.

Another reason for you to not have access to certain content is because your school, workplace, or campus use a firewall to block your access to certain online content (such blocked content is often social media platforms, torrenting sites, and even YouTube). In this case, the firewall is set up to block your access also by using your IP address.

I'll walk you through the best ways to access blocked websites. Some of them are easy ways to get access to blocked content such as articles, and some can be used to unblock websites like YouTube or Netflix.

When you're accessing a website, you see its URL in the address bar. But for each URL there's also a corresponding IP address. You'll find that some websites are only blocked based on their URL and not also based on their IP. In these cases, accessing blocked websites can be easily done without any piece of software. All you need is the IP address of the website.

To get the IP address of an URL, follow the next steps:

• Access the Command Prompt
• Write the command "ping www.website.com"
• Hit enter and it will return the IP address of the URL
• Copy paste the IP address in the browser's search bar

While this is a quick and easy solution, oftentimes it is not very effective. Some websites have the IP addresses hidden, meaning you won't be able to get their IPs with this method, and you may find that sometimes the IP will get you on a completely different website. Not to mention, you must be lucky to find a blocked website that is not also blocked based on the IP.

Another quick and easy way to unblock websites in school or at the workplace is by using Google Translate. For some blocked websites, it works if you translate the website in another language that it gives access to.

If you're in need to unblock websites at school, using the Google Translate tool to access blocked content might quickly help you to bypass some website filters. It doesn't work on every website, but you can try this method first before you jump to other ways that require dedicated software.

To unblock blocked websites on browsers like Chrome or Firefox, you can use dedicated extensions.

Proxmate is one of the extensions that will help you bypass regional filters, and even get access to websites like Facebook or YouTube in schools or workplaces. The extension works similar to a proxy, routing your network connection through their proxy servers and changing your IP address. Proxmate has a 3 days trial so you can test it yourself.

The method above went over adding extensions to your browser. But what do you do when your school or workplace restricts you from adding any extension?

Well, you can use a portable browser directly from your USB drive without installing it on Windows. You can do this with Chrome, Firefox, or Opera. You get a Google Chrome portable app on a USB stick, add the extensions to unblock websites, and use the USB stick when you want to freely browse the internet at school or at work.

If you haven't heard about it till now, Wayback Machine is a platform where different versions of a website are stored over time. For example, you can access the YouTube version of when it first launched in 2005.

By going to a website version through the Internet archive might give you access to some restricted content on certain websites. While this is a less convenient way of accessing a blocked website, it can turn to be a pretty useful way, and it's also amazing if you're looking for content from websites that changed or have been taken down.

HTML to PDF converters are extremely useful when you need text content from a blocked website. For these kinds of tools, such as PDFCrowd, you only need the link to the content without having to access it. Just copy the link on the PDF converter's page and it will give you a PDF file containing the content.

While this method won't work to unblock websites like Netflix or Facebook, it's an efficient way to get your hand on text resources from blocked websites.

This is another method to get access to text-based content on blocked websites. If you add a blocked website to an RSS feed, you'll get updates with the new content on a regular basis. If you never used an RSS feed service before and don't know how it works: you create a profile on an RSS feed site like Feedly, add the websites you're interested in, and you'll get the content from those websites directly on your profile without having to access the website. Some websites don't have an RSS feed, but there are online tools that will create the feed for you.

The Tor browser is a powerful way to browse the internet anonymously. Not only it will help you access blocked content, but it also makes your online browsing almost untraceable.

Although the Tor browser sometimes gets a bad reputation because a lot of individuals use it for illegal purposes, it is also highly used by people who just want to keep their privacy safe and not worry about third-parties collecting data about their online behavior and whereabouts.

The Tor browser is almost as efficient as a VPN service, although, you get the best protection when you use both of them. You can check our post about Tor vs VPN if you're interested in keeping your online experience private.

To access blocked websites without a dedicated software, an easy and efficient way is to use a proxy server.

With a proxy, the connection to the internet will be made through the proxy server so you'll be using the proxy server's IP address instead of your real IP. Proxy providers have servers all around the globe and you can choose to use a server from a specific country based on your needs. For example, if you want to access Freeform, you'll choose a proxy server located in the US. From there, you get the proxy credentials (IP and port) from your provider and set up your browser to use that proxy. If you have blocked websites in various countries, you'll need a different proxy for each location.

Keep in mind that a proxy won't keep your online browsing completely anonymous. If you want more privacy and security, using a VPN service is the way to go.

A VPN service creates a secure tunnel for your network connection, encrypting the data sent and received by your device. When you connect to the internet using a VPN, the connection won't be made through your ISP (Internet Service Provider) server, but through the VPN's server, meaning your real IP address is not visible and no one is able to see the websites you access online.

Using a VPN service is the most efficient way to surf the web anonymously. And also the most efficient way to unblock blocked websites. With this method, you'll be able to access blocked content in any situation you might be in. You can unblock YouTube restricted videos, Netflix, Freeform, streaming websites, games, and much more.

Unlike proxies, when you register for a VPN service you install their dedicated software on your computer. From the client, you'll be able to switch between various servers location without having to get a different proxy or to change the settings in your browsers.

The DrSoft VPN service provides powerful encryption, makes you anonymous online, and allows you to access blocked websites and freely watch your favorite TV shows on platforms like Netflix. The pricing plans are affordable so anyone can benefit from an online experience without boundaries.

Warning: Although it might sound tempting to use a free VPN service, I advise you not. You'll get a slow internet connection (inefficient for tasks like watching video content) and you have no guarantee that the VPN providers won't use your private data maliciously.

As you have seen above, a VPN service is the most efficient way to unblock websites. Especially if you are in need to unblock websites on a regular basis.

I also showed you some easy ways to unblock websites without a VPN or proxy, which can be useful if you need to quickly get access to specific content as a one time thing.

In the long run, the VPN still remains the easiest and most stable way of freely browsing the internet without restrictions while also protecting your privacy to great extends.