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How to unblock and access Blocked or Restricted Websites

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Websites can be blocked at three levels: Computer level, Network level, or the ISP/Governmental level. Some DNS services, such as Open DNS, also provide options to block certain types of websites for different users sharing the computer. Then, there are some software other than the built-in “Restricted Websites” in Internet Options that help in blocking a website. We’ll not be talking about how to block a website. Rather, we’ll focus on how to access a website that is restricted on your workstation by network admins and ISPs (Internet Service Providers).

Access Restricted Websites

How to access Restricted Websites

To unblock or unrestrict blocked websites, try using a VPN service or utilize a proxy server. You can also use the Tor browser to access blocked sites. Configuring DNS settings can also help. Another option is to use a web-based proxy or browser extension. Switching to HTTPS or employing a mobile data connection might work too.

The article expands our other article on what to do when a website does not open. Some of the tips may be repeated in this article. So if you find that you are unable to open or access some websites, here are a few things you may want to try out.

Is The Website Down?

You may not be able to access a particular website due to some outages. Check with these website monitors. Then check – Is a website up or down?  It will tell you if a blog or website is working, online, up, down right now, or not to anyone or everyone.

Read: How to blacklist or block websites in Chrome, Edge, Firefox on Windows.

Access Blocked Websites Blocked on a Computer

There are different options to access a website, depending on the mode used to block the site. For example, Open DNS employs a category system, and if you wish to go to a category that your parents have chosen to block it for you, it will provide a notification.

HTTP and HTTPS

The first thing to try is to add or remove an “s” to the “HTTP” preceding the website URL. For example, typing in https://www.facebook.com may open it for you because only “http://www.facebook.com” was blocked. Likewise, if it was “https” blocked, you can try “HTTP” only to see if you can access the website. The term “HTTPS” represents a secure connection, while the “HTTP” is the unencrypted version of the website URL.

Internet Options – Restricted Websites & Content Advisor

If toggling between HTTP and HTTPS does not help, check the error message you are getting when trying to access. If it says “Due to Restrictions On This Account”, it could be a Family Safety Software. Not much can be done in this case except to try portable browsers that do not need to be installed and offer a proxy as well. We’ll get to that in a while.

If there is no account-related message, probably the site has been blocked using Internet Options. Go to Internet Options in the Control Panel, and on the Security tab, click on Restricted Websites in the Internet Security Zone, and then on the button labeled “Sites” (See image below). Check if the URL of the website you wish to access is listed there. If yes, select the URL and click Remove. You’ll be prompted for confirmation. That said, the website should open without any problems on any of your browsers.

There is yet another method to block certain types of websites from opening – using the same Internet Options dialog box. Click on the Content tab. Based on your version of Windows, you might see “Content Advisor” or “Family Safety” button. This option is used to restrict certain types of websites from opening for different users. That means you can use the option to block websites at the user level. If you know the password, you can click the button and change the settings. If not, you will have to ask permission from your parents or network admin. Here too, you can use a portable browser to bypass restrictions.

Using A Portable Proxy Browser To Access Restricted Websites

You can download a portable browser that doubles up as a proxy such as KProxy. This product has both portable and installation type versions. The best thing about the website browser is that it offers online browsing without actually typing the website address in the main URL bar. Instead, you type the URL in the text box given in the middle of the KProxy website.

Related: How to block a website in Microsoft Edge.

Using A Different DNS

When some website is banned in an area, it is the ISP blocking traffic to and from that website. Changing DNS settings from your ISP to something different might help you access the site. For example, you can change your DNS to Google Public DNS. To change DNS, right-click the network icon in the taskbar and select Open Network and Sharing. In the Window that appears, double-click on your network. It will bring up a dialog box and there you can change the DNS under IPv4.

Read: How to unblock YouTube videos.

Use a Proxy To Access Restricted Websites

Proxy websites are accessed only after entering the URL in your browser, and they will allow you to browse other websites by using the internet connection on that website. A Proxy server is like a proxy site – the difference being – you will be given an IP address that will get set up in your browser using which you will be able to surf the internet.

You may use proxy websites or programs to access websites blocked in your area. One such proxy is UltraSurf. This was specifically designed to allow the population of a certain country to access social networking sites. There are some websites that let you easily access and open blocked websites. OpenBlockedWebsite.com and HideMyAss.com are two such websites you may want to check out. They act as free web anonymizers that aim to unblock blocked websites and offer free anonymous web surfing. Also, check out Hola Unblocker.

Read: Best free Online Web Proxy Sites to unblock websites

These are some methods that will help you access websites restricted on your home network, corporate LANs, or the ones banned in your country.

Read this post if you cannot open a particular website in Chrome, Edge or Firefox.

If you have any ideas or tips to share, please use the comments box below.

ArunKumar@TWC

Arun Kumar has been a Microsoft MVP (2010-12). He is obsessed with technology, especially the Internet. He deals with the multimedia content needs of training and corporate houses.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Gregg L. DesElms says

    BILAL AHMED WROTE: whats’s new in this article???

    MY RESPONSE: This website can’t — no website, in fact, can — assume that all of its visitors have your kind of expertise. Some articles are for beginners, which I say is okay…

    …but, hey… that’s just me. [grin]

    __________________________________
    Gregg L. DesElms
    Napa, California USA
    gregg at greggdeselms dot com

    Veritas nihil veretur nisi abscondi.
    Veritas nimium altercando amittitur.

  4. Arun Kumar says

    True. The article is for beginners and people with some knowledge of proxies, DNS etc. And, put to scrutiny by experts who might have other answers to the topic.

  7. muzammil says

    There are many restricted websites on the web and they access easy if you used proxy because if you access this websites then you used this websites in your normal life<a href="http://www.proxypk.com/“>Unblock YouTube

  8. Cesar Phillips says

    hello i would like to know if ive been blocked from a certain website by the admin for whatever reason is there a workaround to get unbanned without switching my internet provider

  9. xtremeaff says

    You can use a VPN to encrypt and tunnel all the traffic from and to your computer. VPN can also be used to bypass DNS and geo blocking. Although you can use DNS unblocking service to bypass geo blocking as well, but it doesn’t encrypt your traffic.

  10. linda carter says

    I have tried many ways, free and paid ways to open blocked websites, I think vpn works better than others, this is what I can recommend,try the service before you pay for it!

    I ordered my account from http://saturnvpn.com the price is great. 1Months $3.3 , 3Months $7 and 12 Months $16

    It has free test account and you can try the service for free.

    http://saturnvpn.com/free-test-account/

    It supports all protocols(PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN), And you don’t have to buy different accounts for different devices(use 1 account to connect on your computer and your mobile at the same time)

  12. dinesh kumar says

    sir on my system all non official web has blocked by IT Department so tell me the procedure how it will be work?

  15. L. Prakaas says

    You can use Hotspot Shield to access any websites…but, there’s a catch…Free version which Pop up ads every few minutes or Paid version…

  16. linda carter says

    I have tried many ways, free and paid ways to open blocked websites, I think vpn works better than others, this is what I can recommend,try the service before you pay for it!

    I ordered my account from http://saturnvpn.com the price is great. 1Months $3.3 , 3Months $7 and 12 Months $16

    It has free test account and you can try the service for free.

    http://saturnvpn.com/free-test-account/

    It supports all protocols(PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN,CiscoVpn), And you don’t have to buy different accounts for different devices(use 1 account to connect on your computer and your mobile at the same time)

  17. sadiq khan says

    sir im in uae duabai here i installed hotspot shield but its asking for payment wall in windows 8.1 what can i do now tell me the software i can install and use freely here some sites are restricted..

  29. linda carter says

    The best method to access blocked websites is to use a vpn service,

    saturnvpn.com is the best you can get,

    1Month only $3.3 | 2Months $5 | 3Months $7 | 6Months $10 | 12Months $16 |

    It has totally FREE test account.

    http://www.saturnvpn.com

    Works on: Windows, iPhone, Android, Mac, Linux

  30. Ana schmidth says

    Web based proxies works better then VPN, i generally use free proxies to Unblock YouTube

  33. BilalAsif1900 says

    @annmoroz:disqus I agree with you, VPN is not only allow to get access to restricted sites but also provide security. I always use vpn for my Internet freedom. I found a list of Best VPN Software Providers of 2015, which you can use for your Internet freedom.

  42. Night Fury says

    that’s explained everything, but i am not a big fan of proxies. specially with Hola unblocker i had really bad experience with them when i was in Canada, trying to access Netflix us with Hola and i got really poor quality and speed. i would rather prefer to test your VPN or proxies through speed test before buy it. ExpressVPN would be the great choice or private internet access, check their speed test statics here http://www.fastestvpn.net/

  48. David Clark says

    I am living in UK and using as a US citizen by just connecting a US VPN. Now everything is open for me which was restricted for me here in united Kingdom.

  50. Arun Kumar says

    If they allow use of pen drive, download Ultrasurf to it. Run it once from pen drive and you can access any site using any browser. You don’t neeed to install Ultrasurf

  53. Hardworker50 says

    On my home computerS, I cannot access any FB page (only FB) through my router/server. The site is there outside of my house server/computer. I tried my Hand phone as a portable Wifi hotspot onto my computer without luck.

  54. Hardworker50 says

    I just tried Ultrasurf – Went to FB:
    “Sorry, something went wrong.
    We’re working on it and we’ll get it fixed as soon as we can.
    « Back to Home”

  56. Arun Kumar says

    Try variations of the URL like https://facebook.com or m.facebook.com. If it does not work, use a free VPN service such as SpotFlux or Cyberghost if you have privilege to install software on your machine. If not, then use portable version of Ultrasurf. Copy it to your computer, run it and open browser and then type facebook.com. One of these methods should work.

  58. Arun Kumar says

    You need not install UltraSurf. You can run it directly from pen drive. Once opened, it bypasses local restrictions because the IP would change. Then open any browser and reach the site you want.

  60. Pooja Kashyap says

    Big issues, please help. I made a site and the site is working when access by others but that site I cannot access in my laptop.. what is the issues?? I cannot edit any thing though FTP and Server working good.
    Please help its urgent.

  66. mackenzie dawes says

    My school administrator blocked pinterest and all the working proxies, its on a chromebook. Please help.

  73. Nishath says

    Please help me……That in my computer facebook is blocked and see that this should not repeat another time.Please help me………………

  74. Nishath says

    please……………………………………………………help……………………………..me………………………….

  75. ajam pathan says

    I am using company provided Internet And server with broadband but my admin blocked some social networking website. so can you suggest me how to unblock these website by self. Also I have admin username And password to login in system

  76. Musafar Nasari says

    hello Dear Sir!
    dear sir i am working in one of technology company. but the block every web. they also block my Psiphon 3 software and i can’t access any web site with out bbc. just access bbc. please tell me some ways to access facebook. please please please.

  77. Amin Nasari says

    hello Dear Sir!

    dear sir i am working in one of technology company. but the block every web. they also block my Psiphon 3 software and i can’t access any web site with out bbc. just access bbc. please tell me some ways to access facebook.

  83. Sr. Jammie Lewis says

    The best and easy option is to use a VPN. I use ivacy vpn to unblock Geo restricted content. They are offering dedicated IP address for clean streaming.

  84. Adam Dale says

    Unblock proxies is not a secure link. You can get tracked by the government agencies if you are streaming illegal content. I prefer using a paid vpn service to hide my IP address and unblock Geo restricted content. There are a number of vpn offering these services some of which are express vpn and ivacy vpn.

  86. Svetlana Kondaurova says

    As for me I prefer to use croxyproxy to unblock sites, it’s very easy to use and free of charge proxy

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