10 of the Easiest Ways to Unblock Websites (2024)

Internet service providers (ISPs), government agencies, and workplaces can all restrict access to URLs they deem unsafe or otherwise problematic. However, with the right tools and tricks, you can easily unblock websites and access their blocked content. By the end of this guide, you will know how to unblock websites in numerous ways, ensuring that you can access any URL you desire.

1. Virtual Private Network (VPN)

If you want to quickly learn how to unblock websites, a virtual private network (VPN) is the only tool you need. A reliable commercial VPN with a zero logs policy is the best way to override ISP/government censorship, as it encrypts your IP traffic and routs it through a remote VPN server.

AES-256 is the current encryption standard most reliable VPNs use. They also use the hashing algorithm SHA for maximum anonymity.

If you’re new to VPNs and wish to access blocked domain names, first download its installer from its official website or App Store/Google Play, if using a phone or tablet. Choose an overseas VPN server to browse the website.

Some of our top VPN recommendations include ExpressVPN, NordVPN, SurfShark, Private Internet Access, Privado, and Ivacy.

While VPNs are very effective in accessing blocked websites, there are many other browsing options if your ISP or government decides to ban VPN services.

2. Mirror Sites and Alternate URLs

If some domain names are ISP-restricted, you can regain access using their mirror sites and alternate URLs. Currently, all major VPN providers maintain mirror sites in the event their official site is banned. For example, NordVPN can be downloaded from its official site nordvpn.com as well as a mirror site nord-help.com. Use a search engine to browse such mirror sites.

If you’re unable to access YouTube, Vimeo, and other video sites on your network, try using alternate mirror links, such as Safe Share TV. Enter the video URL to watch the restricted content.

Tip: all major VPN providers have an Onion link in the deep/dark web.

3. Use Google Cache

Google used to have a cached button for search results. It’s been discontinued, but you can still type the cache: prefix before a URL on the address bar or search engine to view the caches. Make sure there are no spaces between the colon symbol and the URL.

This method won’t work with websites that disable web page caching, such as premium news sites hiding behind paywalls.

If you only want to read an article without images and videos, type the article’s URL into a search engine, and you may discover other websites with the same article content.

Tip: learn how to copy text from a blocked website on Chrome.

4. Free Web Proxies

Using an anonymous web proxy has always been a popular alternative to VPN services. Just like a VPN server, it can hide your IP address and encrypt your connection to ensure privacy and anonymity. While ISPs block free web proxy servers from time to time, the new ones will easily show up in a Google search.

Among the latest free proxy server options, ProxySite and CroxyProxy are extremely reliable websites giving excellent site rendering. Both of them support multiple proxy servers based in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Israel, and other such locations, with the least amount of geo-restriction.

FYI: learn how to use Tor properly.

5. The Tor Network

The Tor Network ensures user privacy through its unique onion routing, where the traffic data is encrypted and hopped through multiple intermediary nodes.

While the Tor browser can be slightly slower, it’s absolutely ban-proof. If your ISP has blocked the official Tor Project download link, you can easily get past the restriction using alternate Tor downloads hosted at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and The Calyx Institute.

You can also download multiple Tor browser links from some of the safest software sources, such as SourceForge or GitHub. Tor supports an email unblocking service, where you can send an email to gettor@torproject.org, specifying your operating system (and location). For example, “Windows es” (Spain), “Windows IN” (India), and “Windows zh_CN” (China).

If you use Gmail, they respond almost immediately, listing one of their available providers, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or GitHub, and the download links.

FYI: learn how to see a password in your browser instead of dots.

6. Switch From HTTP to HTTPS

While https is the default standard for most websites these days, some older sites may continue to use the http variation. In that case, change the URL on the address bar to have an “https://” prefix before the “www.”

If you want to learn how to unblock websites in school or work networks, this is the best way to go. Across these networks, many administrators continue to manually block websites. Do remember that websites starting with http are far less secure than https. It’s always better to avoid them.

Tip: in a world of changing IP addresses, these are some of the best dynamic, free DNS providers.

7. DNS Settings

ISPs can use their DNS addresses to impose restrictions on websites and their IP addresses. Such a problem can be overcome by using a public DNS service. You can always find Google’s Public DNS IP addresses using Google search. You can search for other free DNS providers online. Many also function as proxy servers.

To change the DNS settings on a Windows device, visit Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change Adapter Settings. Right-click on the network you use, and select Properties -> Networking.

Select Internet Protocol Version TCP/IPv4/IPv6) from a drop-down menu. This will open a new pop-up window, where you can change the IP and DNS server addresses.

Currently, Google’s public DNS server IPv4 addresses are “8.8.8.8” and “8.8.4.4.” Its IPv6 addresses are “2001:4860:4860::8888” and “2001:4860:4860::8844.” Enter the details in the Use the following DNS server addresses column. Click OK to finalize the changes.

Tip: is TikTok banned in your country? Try these other short video sharing sites.

8. SSH Tunneling

Secure Shell (SSH) tunneling is a classic maneuver used to remotely transfer files and data to servers around the world. But that same SSH tunneling technique can be used as a de facto VPN. Try Rebex Buru SFTP Server. It’s free, easy to use, and can be quickly installed on a Windows device.

After installation, you will need to register the SSH server as a Windows service. Check Start immediately, and use your local Windows system account (your computer credentials and password) to log in to the interface. Once logged in, create a new user for web administration.

After you create credentials and log in, you’re in a position to share files and Web content with remote users worldwide.

Tip: to use SSH tunneling to unblock websites, you need access to a remote SSH pipe in another country.

9. Use Incognito Mode in Your Browser

If you want to know how to unblock websites that track your cookies and caches, incognito mode can be a great help. This browser mode deletes all the cookies stored in previous sessions, so you can start a new session.

The main disadvantage of incognito mode is that the website would not know who you are. Thus, it prevents you from accessing any information that requires going past a login screen. However, this method will work in your favor if you, for example, want to go incognito on sites like Reddit.

10. Wayback Machine

We have saved the easiest method for the last. The Internet never forgets any information you post online. The Wayback Machine is one of the best examples of such a long and distant memory. Almost all web pages are cached, and at least one of their snapshots is stored in The Wayback Machine. You can easily find many more, as this is the single largest repository of archive contents.

If your ISP or government pulled the plug on a website, and it is no longer available online, you can still view the archive snapshots using date-wise search.

Using these methods to unblock websites, you can again access them, whether the sites are unavailable due to geo-restrictions or government/ISP policies. There are also some browser extensions that claim to access the blocked sites, but in our experience, they rarely work.

Instead, check out our recommended extensions for Google Chrome that enable features such as HTTPS everywhere, cookie autodelete, and unshortening URLs. In addition, look into a few useful Chrome extensions to automate boring tasks.

Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Sayak Boral.