How to unblock YouTube and watch videos from anywhere

Get your video fix and side-step any YouTube bans with a VPN

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It’s no revelation thatYouTubegets alotof traffic. In fact, it’s the second most popular website in the world, second only to – you guessed it – Google.

There’s a staggering amount of YouTube content watched on a daily basis, but not everyone can partake in the video watching fun.

You may find when you go to watch YouTube that you’re blocked from doing so – maybe even on a permanent basis. This might be the case in an office, college or school, or when visiting a foreign country with a ruling regime that censors the internet (e.g. China, Iran, and Syria).

So how do you unblock YouTube?

Luckily, there’s an easy solution. Hook yourself up with one of thebest VPN servicesand you’ll be able to stealthily sneak around any restrictions, and get back to enjoying your fix of music videos or cute pets in no time. Or, simply use one of thebest free YouTube downloader appsbefore you leave home.

Unblock YouTube with ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN - the top VPN to unblock YouTubeSitting at the top of many of our buying guides, ExpressVPN is the best in class when it comes to unblocking YouTube, as well as other streaming platforms such as Netflix and iPlayer. An intuitive, smart interface, it also host to a bunch of great security features, making this our choice for a VPN to unblock YouTube.

Why do I need to unblock YouTube?

There are a number of reasons why somebody may have spoiled all the fun and put a block on YouTube, and therefore why you’ll need thebest YouTube VPN. Two places where it’s prevalent are in offices and schools, where bosses and principals are fed up of employees and students wasting time watching YouTube videos. They can then enact a blanket blockage at an IP address level so that YouTube just doesn’t show.

Perhaps more malevolently, YouTube is no stranger from being completely censored in certain countries around the world, too. This can be done in part - where only certain content is prevented from being viewed - or entirely, which is what the likes of China, North Korea, Iran and Turkmenistan have done (hence whyVPNs for Chinahave become so popular).

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In some cases, live streaming videos on YouTube are blocked due to rights reasons. For example, one country may be showing a certain event for free on YouTube, but in another country a particular broadcaster has paid for the rights. In cases like that, YouTube will be stopped from broadcasting the live stream in the country where the broadcaster had bought the rights.

Why would I want to unblock YouTube?

As we’ve just touched on, there are a few possible scenarios in which YouTube could be blocked. The main suspects are employers banning the video service, or governments cracking down on YouTube and blocking it completely – plus some content might be restricted on a regional basis due to rights issues.

Offices and universities

It’s not uncommon for companies or universities, colleges, or schools, to implement a ban on YouTube for an obvious reason – the addictive nature of browsing the unfathomably large library of videos means the service is quite the time-sink. So preventing access to the potential distractions of YouTube is seen as a must in terms of keeping people focused on their work or studies.

Going abroad

When you travel, you might find yourself in a country where YouTube is completely banned. Such countries include China, where not only YouTube but allGoogleservices are banned (this is one reason whyVPNs for Chinahave become so popular), and other usual suspects like North Korea. Iran has also blocked YouTube, and the video service has been banned (or at least partially blocked for certain content) temporarily in a whole host of countries in the past, including Germany and Pakistan.

Copyright problems

Sometimes a livestream video is being shown on YouTube in one country, but not others. This is usually because another broadcaster in other regions has bought the rights to the stream, in which case in that nation the YouTube video will be blocked.

Whichever of these types of scenarios you run into, they all have the same simple solution – get yourself aYouTube VPN. This be used to change your apparent location, and therefore get around any geo-restrictions and local blocks.

How to unblock YouTube - step-by-step guide

It’s worth noting you’ll only be able to install a VPN if you have administrator rights on your device. This process may therefore not work if your computer is supplied by an employer or school.

Unblock YouTube: what VPN should I use?

ExpressVPNis our first choice as the provider which is most suitable for those looking to side-step YouTube restrictions. And not least because this service has been top of our list of thebest streaming VPNsfor a good long time now, an achievement that reflects the quality on offer here.

This VPN boasts a whole raft of features, and a large number of servers worldwide (in 90+ countries) to make it easier to find a fast one nearby.

It has excellent unblocking powers – not just for YouTube, but other services like Netflix – and you get a wide choice ofVPN protocols, including ExpressVPN’s own Lightway protocol, which proved itself to be impressively speedy in our testing (even with distant servers).

And of course, when it comes to streaming video content – particularly at higher resolutions – having plenty of performance on tap is a major benefit. Support for a wide variety of different devices that you might watch videos on is also key, and ExpressVPN offers that in spades.

Our second pick for a VPN to use with YouTube isSurfshark, which also offers great speeds for a slick streaming performance, and represents superb overall value for money - it’s right up there among our picks of the today’s topcheap VPNs. A ‘camouflage mode’ also hides that you’re using a VPN to stop your ISP potentially throttling any streaming activity (if the ISP engages in that practice).

For more high-quality options for a VPN to unblock Google’s video service, head on over to ourbest YouTube VPNguide.

Is it illegal to unblock YouTube with a VPN?

While it’s not unlawful to get into YouTube by using a VPN when you can’t access it otherwise, and Google doesn’t specifically forbid using a VPN to watch YouTube, thetermsof usage do state that you cannot: “circumvent, disable, fraudulently engage, or otherwise interfere with the Service … including security-related features or features that: (a) prevent or restrict the copying or other use of Content; or (b) limit the use of the Service or Content.”

So, as you might expect, circumventing content which isn’t available due to rights issues wherever you are is not permissible. Of course, it’s not the action of unblocking using a VPN, but the nature of the content you’re unblocking which is problematic. There’s nothing illegal about watching normal YouTube videos with a VPN to get around restrictions put in place by an employer or a ruling regime.

That said, in the latter case, while from the perspective of YouTube (or Google), it might be fine to use a VPN to evade a country-wide blanket ban put in place by a government, the authorities may have outlawed VPN usage itself – and that could get you into serious trouble, potentially.

So be sure to check the laws on VPN use in any country you’re travelling to, and if you go against those regulations, you obviously do so at your own risk.

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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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