How to unblock YouTube and watch videos blocked in your country?

Some YouTube videos are only available in select regions due to licensing rights or censorship. Likewise, many schools and offices have blocked YouTube to prevent students and employees from slacking off. Not fair!

Luckily, there is help at hand. In this guide, we’ve pulled together a lot of tips and tricks to help you unblock YouTube and watch the video content you want. Whether you choose to watch YouTube using a VPN, proxy, or something else – we've got you covered! So read on for everything you need to know about unblocking YouTube.

Quick guide: How to watch blocked YouTube videos?

1. Pick a VPN that suits you. We recommend NordVPN (now 63% OFF).
2. Install the VPN.
3. Connect to a server located in a country where the video is unblocked.
4. Go on YouTube and grab some popcorn.

How to unblock YouTube videos in your country – the easy way

The most effective and reliable way to watch banned YouTube videos is with the help of a VPN. A virtual private network will trick YouTube by changing your local IP address. This will make them assume that you are watching the video from a foreign country. Therefore, you will not only have a secured network but also access to your desired content.

1. Get a reliable VPN. We recommend NordVPN, a global leader in VPN services.
2. Download and install the app.
3. Connect to a server in the correct region. A VPN works by hiding your computer’s IP address. It does this by routing your internet traffic via a different region, which allows you to view blocked or region-restricted content on your computer. However, if your VPN is routing your traffic through a region that can’t access the YouTube video you’re trying to view, you won’t be able to access it. Luckily most VPNs let you choose what region you’d like your traffic to be routed through. To find out how to do this, take a look at our handy guide on how to change your VPN’s location.
4. Make sure your traffic is being routed through your VPN. Open up your VPN app and toggle it on to make sure your VPN is activated for your current internet connection.
5. Go toYouTube and find the video you want to unblock. Open your YouTube app or go to www.youtube.com and search for the restricted video you want to watch. So long as the video you want isn’t blocked in your VPN's regional location, you should be able to find the video or channel you’re after without any difficulties. If, for whatever reason, you can't find the content you’re looking for, try changing your country information and refreshing the page again.
6. Click on the video you want to watch. If the video is allowed in your VPN’s region, the video should start playing. If it doesn’t you might need to check your VPN’s regional settings.

VPN for YouTube: most important features

If you want to use a VPN to unblock YouTube videos, there are some really important features to look out for, including:

• The speed of a VPN: YouTube videos require fast speeds for smooth streaming, so it’s important to choose a fast VPN.
• Security credentials: Particularly if you’re in a country that has banned YouTube, you’ll want to make sure you have a VPN that protects your online identity.
• The hardware it supports: If you want to watch unblocked YouTube videos on your mobile phone, smart TV, streaming stick or games console, make sure that you choose a VPN that works on the devices you’re planning to use.
• The VPN’s reputation: It’s always important to choose a VPN that has a good reputation and a solid customer support offering in case you have any problems.

Visit NordVPN

How do you unblock YouTube at school or work?

If your school or work place has blocked YouTube videos, the best way to do it is to use a VPN to unblock the restricted content. Simply follow the step by step instructions above that’ll talk you through how to do this. However, if your school or office administration team has blocked YouTube videos, sometimes, you may find it difficult to get a VPN too.

1. Unblock YouTube with a proxy

A proxy server works in a similar way to a VPN, as it routes your traffic through a server to make it appear as though you’re in a different location. This will let you bypass firewalls and geographic content restrictions.

However, unlike VPNs, most proxy servers don’t encrypt your data, so they’re not as secure. This means that someone could snoop on your online activities. And you’ll be more vulnerable to data hacks and other online threats.

But, if all you want to do is watch some region restricted YouTube videos, a proxy server is certainly an easy way to do this.

There are three main types of proxy servers:

• Web proxies
• Browser add-ons
• SOCKS proxies you can manually setup on your browser

There are loads of proxy websites that are easy to use. In fact, using a proxy server to unblock YouTube is one of the most straightforward methods, although, as we’ve said, it’s not the most secure.

2. Unblock YouTube using browser extensions

Using a browser extension such as Unblocker for YouTube is another really simple, easy way of unblocking YouTube videos. Simply download a browser extension and use it to watch banned YouTube videos.

3. Download YouTube videos directly

There are lots of sites out there designed to help you download YouTube videos so you can watch a particular video offline. Of course, this requires some planning as you’ll need to decide what you want to watch ahead of time.

Why are YouTube videos blocked?

There are a number of reasons why YouTube videos might be blocked, including:

• Restrictions on broadcasting rights that may mean that the video isn’t available in your region. This is usually due to an organisation not having permission to broadcast the video content in your country.
• Your network has blocked YouTube because your school or work administrators have added YouTube to its blacklist.
• Technical issues with the video can prevent it from playing on your computer.
• Video owners have placed restrictions on the content, thereby preventing it from playing in your region.
• National censorship that’s been set up by the government to prevent anyone in the country from accessing certain videos or the YouTube website and app.

How safe are free YouTube unblockers?

Free YouTube unblockers are a simple and easy way of accessing blocked YouTube content. But they’re not necessarily a secure way of doing it. Some are very shady and none will give you any degree of anonymity. So using a free YouTube unblocker might not be all that sensible if you’re concerned about security, particularly if you’re trying to access content in a country where the government has strict blocks on YouTube.

For a more secure way of unblocking YouTube videos, we’d recommend using a VPN. But if you just want to watch an occasional video that’s not available in your region, a free YouTube unblocker might be a good solution for you.

You may also like to read:

• How to unblock Facebook
• How to unblock WhatsApp
• How to unblock websites and access restricted content
• How to get cheaper YouTube subscription with VPN

Is unblocking YouTube legal?

It depends where you are. It’s not illegal to bypass a network firewall set up by your school or workplace, although you might get in trouble for doing it. But depending on the country you’re in, accessing region restricted videos that are blocked because of national censorship could be viewed as illegal.

Whatever your reason for wanting to unblock YouTube, it’s a sensible idea to use a VPN to keep your online identity and activity private. So it's one of our most trusted ways to unblock YouTube content.

Youtube unblocking FAQs