Few things can match the amount of frustration you get when a YouTube video you are about to watch is blocked. You may be familiar with the annoying “Video unavailable: The uploader has not made this video available in your country.” error message that is displayed in such cases. While there are many reasons as to why these videos are blocked, most of these have a very easy fix. So, in this article, we will go through a few of these methods and show you how to unblock these videos.
🥇TLDR: A good VPN can unlock any blocked video on YouTube! If you’re in a hurry ExpressVPN is the Best VPN!🥇
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Table of Contents
How to unblock YouTube Videos?
There are many ways in which one can unlock a YouTube Video. These are a few of the most common and easiest ways to do so.
1. Using a VPN
This is probably the best and the easiest way to unblock YouTube. In most cases YouTube blocks a video because the uploader of a video restricts the video to only a few specific countries. So, if you try to access the video from any other countries, you will be welcomed with the following error message. “Video unavailable: The uploader has not made this video available in your country.” A VPN will easily solve this error. Using a VPN you can easily change the country you are browsing from. Hence, by choosing from one of the countries where the video is available, you can easily access it. There might also be cases where YouTube may be blocked by your administrator which is more common in Colleges and Schools. Even in these cases, a VPN can unblock the blocked videos.
Here are the steps associated with this method.
Unblocking YouTube using a VPN:
- Install the VPN client on your device. It can be anything as most VPNs support all types of devices.
- Once you have installed the client, you just have to connect to a server in the region where the video is not blocked.
- And that’s it. You can now access any video on YouTube even if it is blocked.
However, a VPN is not only limited to this. There are a lot of other useful benefits of using a VPN. Be it in terms of Privacy and Security or in terms of functionality. This is why VPN is the most effective way to unblock a YouTube video. We will also be recommending you the best VPNs that you should use, towards the end of this article.
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2. Using a Proxy
You can also unblock YouTube by using a proxy which is somewhat similar to a VPN. But it is far less secure than a VPN and has very little functionality. It is less secure in the sense that by using a proxy you might manage to unblock a video but your WiFi administrators, ISPs or anyone who is responsible for blocking the video can still monitor your activity. So, there’s that risk associated with a proxy.
You can use a proxy in many ways. The most common one is to use a proxy website. You just visit the website, enter the url of the video and you will be able to access the video. The second way of using a proxy is to manually connect to the browser and then use that browser to access the video. The final method of using a proxy is by installing an addon which will also let you unblock the video.
So, in this way you can access blocked YouTube videos using a Proxy.
3. Using Tor Browser
Tor is an Internet browser which is associated with secure browsing and may have heard of people using it to access dark web and onion sites. But you can also use Tor Browser to access blocked YouTube Videos. However, Tor has been designed by keeping the security in mind and hasn’t been optimised for streaming videos. Tor also doesn’t encrypt your data, so here also your WiFi administrators, ISPs or anyone who is responsible for blocking the video may still be able to monitor your activities. So, it is recommended to use a VPN along with Tor which will give you the best of both worlds, a secure browsing experience and a buffer free streaming experience.
Other than these, there are a few other methods like downloading a video or modifying the url etc, but those are not successful in most cases. This is why we didn’t find it useful to include them. If you still want us to include those, then leave a comment and we will do so.
Now that we have seen the different way by which you can unblock YouTube videos, let’s take a look at the best VPNs for this, as promised.
Best VPN to unblock YouTube
1. NordVPN
When it comes to VPNs, there is no bigger name than NordVPN. It is one of the most reputable VPN with a large user base. Other than being able to unblock YouTube, it also delivers a secure and private connection to the user, has a strict no logging policy and offers great speeds. Here are a few of its highlights.
Get 70%+ Discount With NordVPN
Highlights
VPN Protocols
NordVPN supports the following protocols:
- OpenVPN
- IKEv2/IPsec
- L2TP/IPsec
- PPTP
- SSTP.
Kill Switch: NordVPN has a Kill Switch that instantly blocks all kinds of traffic and connects the user from the Internet in case the VPN connection is interrupted or fails. What this means is that, in such cases where connection is interrupted or the connection fails, NordVPN will stop any kind of traffic from entering or leaving the device. This will ensure that none of the users’ private data leaves the network. This includes the users’ IP address which won’t be exposed to the ISP or other third parties. Hence, the users’ identity will remain protected.
Private DNS: NordVPN has established encrypted tunnels on their own private Domain Names System(DNS) through which all of the users’ DNS queries are routed. NordVPN resolves these queries on the same VPN server to which the user is connected to ensure that there won’t be any activity or connection logs. It will also prevent DNS blocking and stop third parties from spying on the users.
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES): NordVPN uses AES Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) along with a 256-bit key to encrypt all of the users’ connections and a 4096-bit RSA key to communicate with other devices privately. AES-256 is impossible to crack, which means the users’ privacy is also protected.
Double VPN: NordVPN routes the users’ traffic data through multiple servers and also encrypts this data in each of these servers. This adds an extra layer of encryption at each server, which keeps the data protected and ensures that it can’t be decrypted.
Strict No Log Policy: NordVPN has a Strict No Log Policy. According to their claims, they don’t log any of the users’ online activities and neither do they store connection timestamps, session information, used bandwidth, traffic data, IP addresses, or other data from the user.
Servers: NordVPN has a total of about 5679 servers which are spread across 59 countries.
Pricing
NordVPN offers 4 different plans.
- Monthly: This plan is priced at $ 11.95 for one month and offers the least value amongst all.
- 1 Year plan: This plan costs a total of $ 83.88 for a full year and comes with a 41 % discount which saves about $ 59.52. The per month cost for this plan is $ 6.99 and is billed once every year.
- 2 Year Plan: This plan costs a total of $ 83.76 for 24 months and comes with an additional discount of 70% for a limited time and saves about $ 203.04. The per month cost for this plan is $ 3.49.
- 3 Year Plan: This plan is priced at $ 125.64 for 36 months and provides the best value. It comes with a 70 % discount and will save you a total of $ 203.04. The per month cost for this plan is also $ 3.49.
2. ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is the other big VPN on our list. It also comes with many features and has a huge user base. It is a little expensive as compared to the other VPNs, but more than makes up with its high speed servers and other features. Here are its highlights.
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Highlights
VPN protocols
ExpressVPN supports the following VPN protocols:
- OpenVPN with UDP
- OpenVPN with TCP
- L2TP/IPsec
- PPTP
IP address Masking: ExpressVPN masks the users’ IP address by using an encrypted tunnel to establish a connection between the device and the internet. Instead of using the users’ IP address ExpressVPN masks it with their IP address which makes it impossible to trace the internet activity of the users back to them.
Network Lock: ExpressVPN also has the Network Lock function which is there to protect the users’ privacy and security in the event where the VPN connection is dropped. What this means is that, whenever the VPN connection is disturbed or is lost, Network Lock blocks all internet traffic from entering or leaving the device which prevents the IP address from being exposed. It also ensures that the privacy and security of the user isn’t compromised in such cases.
Zero-knowledge DNS: ExpressVPN has its DNS that it runs on each of its servers. That means that your activities are private. This is because your personally identifiable data is never stored on any server. So there will be no activity logs, no connection logs, no DNS blocking and no third parties.
Zero-knowledge DNS: ExpressVPN uses a Zero-knowledge DNS which is run on each of their servers. These DNS requests are routed through the VPN’s encrypted tunnel which makes the users’ browsing activities private. This ensures the user’s identity remains anonymous and neither the ISPs or other third-parties knowledge about the user and their activities.
VPN split tunneling: ExpressVPN also has the VPN split tunneling feature which it uses to exclude certain traffic from being encrypted and protected by the VPN. So, only those applications that have been specified by you will use the VPN connection and will be encrypted by it, while the remaining apps won’t be protected and encrypted by the VPN and will use the default connection.
Best-in-class Protection: In order to encrypt the users information and data, ExpressVPN uses the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with 256-bit keys which is known as AES-256.
Bypass ISP throttling: Using ExpressVPN you can bypass the Internet speed throttling that is imposed by ISPs. So you get to use the full bandwidth that your original connection is capable of without being throttled by the ISP.
Servers: ExpressVPN has around 3,000+ VPN servers in 160 VPN server locations in 94 countries.
Pricing
ExpressVPN has three different plans.
- Monthly: This plan is priced at $12.95 and would cost $155.4 for a full year.
- 6-month plan: This plan is priced at $59.95 for 6 months. The per month cost for this plan is $9.99.
- 12-month plan: This is priced at $99.95 for 12 months and provides the most value to the user. The per month cost for this plan is $8.32.
3. Surfshark
Compared to the other two VPNs, Surfshark is a comparatively new VPN provider but it has established itself as a good competitor. It has all of the great features along with an aggressive pricing which makes it a very good option. Here are its highlights.
Get 83% Discount on Surfshark VPN
Highlights
VPN protocols: Surfshark supports the following protocols.
- IKEv2
- OpenVPN
- Shadowsocks
Geo Unblocking: All of the servers of Surfshark are capable of unlocking contents that are restricted by Geo-Locking. This includes services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. You can access all these services from different regions using SurfShark VPN. The streaming speed is also top notch, so you get a better-free streaming experience.
Logging Policies: Surfshark also has a strict no-logging policy that it really follows. They don’t collect any of the sensitive user data which compromise you or your privacy in any way and also mention exactly what they collect and why they need to collect it. This is what’s mentioned in their website about their logging policy.
“Personal information that we collect
- Email address and encrypted password
- Basic billing information and order history
Anonymous information we collect for diagnostics
- Aggregated, anonymous performance data
- The frequency of use of our services
- Crash reports on apps
- Unsuccessful connection attempts”
Other than this, Surfshark also accepts Cryptocurrency as a mode of payment which you can use to make your payment if you want to completely hide your identity.
VPN Kill Switch: Surfshark also comes with a VPN Kill Switch function that protects the users identity by blocking all traffic if the VPN connection gets interrupted or the connection drops unexpectedly. How it works is that whenever the connection drops, Kill Switch disconnects the user from the internet by immediately stopping any kind of traffic from either entering or leaving the device. This ensures that even when the VPN connection fails, Surfshark protects the users privacy and keeps their identity safe. These are a few of the benefits as per their website:
- “Protect your sensitive data in case your VPN connection drops
- Make sure your traffic is always encrypted
- Guard your identity against hackers and snoopers
- Make sure you’re secure in a heavily restricted country
- Make sure your torrent downloads are invisible to your ISP”
MultiHop Double VPN: Surfshark uses the MultiHop feature to make the connection even secure. MultiHop connects the user to multiple countries or servers where each of the country will be acting as an individual security layer as the data is encrypted once in each of the layers which will ensure that the data will be encrypted multiple times .This will add additional security to the traffic. In this way, MultiHop adds an extra layer of security for the user by connecting to multiple VPN servers.
CleanWeb: Surfshark has a CleanWeb feature through which it protects the user from malicious websites as well as intrusive ads. Cleanweb makes the web very clean for the user. It blocks intrusive pop ups & ads i.e it prevents annoying ads and pop-ups from blocking the complete screen of the user. Cleanweb also discards suspicious links by filtering all malicious websites and allows only safe and malware-free websites to go through. It also prevents phishing attempts by blocking fake websites that are created for phishing purposes. It will also reduce the data that is used because it removes all the unnecessary ads and websites. So this will result in not loading any of these websites and ads which will in turn reduce the wastage of the users’ data.
NoBorders: Surfshark has a NoBorders which it uses to bypass countrywide restrictions or VPN blocking. This feature reshapes the users’ traffic in a way to make it as if the user is not using any VPN or anything. Since it seems like the user isn’t using any VPN, it is easily able to bypass the anti-vpn firewalls. This mode is specially useful to access restricted contents in China.
Camouflage Mode: Camouflage Mode makes sure that the users’ connection always remains private. It makes it so that even the user’s internet provider can’t tell that they are using a VPN.
Independent Audit: Surfshark is one of the few VPNs that had an independent audit to verify their claims by security experts. For this purpose, they hired independent web security testers Cure53 to examine their browser extensions. Here are the results as written on their website.
“Two members of the Cure53 team, who examined the scope in November 2018, can only conclude that the tested applications make a very robust impression and are not exposed to any issues, neither in the privacy nor in the more general security realms.”, the report concludes.
“To sum up, Cure53 is highly satisfied to see such a strong security posture on the Surfshark VPN extensions, especially given the common vulnerability of similar products to privacy issues.” – Dr. Mario Heiderich, Founder & CEO of Cure53
So, it’s safe to assume that Surfshark not only makes claims, but fulfills them too.
Whitelister: Surfshark has a Whitelister feature that allows the user to exclude specific apps or websites from connecting via VPN by creating separate tunnels on the same network. Using this you can exclude certain traffic from using the VPN which means that the VPN will protect all connected devices or applications except for those that have been specifically excluded by you. There will be two tunnels, one leading through a VPN which makes it secure with all of the VPN features. The other tunnel is just like a regular connection and has no VPN protection. By using these tunnels a part of the traffic will be sent through the encrypted VPN tunnel while the remaining traffic will be routed through the regular tunnel with no protection.
Servers: Surfshark has a total of 1040+ servers in 61+ countries which are spread across all continents. All of these servers have a Private DNS and are very P2P-friendly with a strict no-log policy.
Pricing
Surfshark offers three different subscription plans. These are:
- Monthly: This is the plan with the smallest duration and also provides the least value. It costs $11.95 and is billed monthly and will cost $143.40 for a full year.
- 1 Year Plan: This plan costs a total of $71.88 for a full year and has a 50 % discount which saves a total of $71.52. The per month cost for this plan is $5.99. This plan is billed once every year.
- 2 Year Plan: This plan costs a total of $47.76 for 2 years. The per month cost for this plan is $1.99. This plan is billed once in 2 years.
Unblocking YouTube Videos
YouTube may block the videos for many reasons and there are many ways of unblocking it. The most common and effective way of doing that is using a VPN which also comes with a few other benefits as well. And if you want the best VPN, then you can choose from any of three VPNs we have listed in this article. They will not only unblock your YouTube Videos, but will also provide you with a private and secure browsing experience.
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