How to Unblock Blocked Websites? — 12 Easy Ways to Bypass Them
Given the current scenario where governments in almost every country are trying to stop the citizens from accessing some websites by blocking them on the ISP level, it is getting harder to practice the right to freedom of speech and expression. Though the blocked addresses should not be visited due to legal reasons there are some websites little torrents which are unnecessarily blocked fearing piracy in many parts of the world.
In some countries like China social media websites like Facebook, Twitter and even Google are blocked. In India, the government has blocked many URLs which may cause financial damage to an industry and content which may create disruption in the communal harmony. In all this, genuine content often gets blocked. Some websites like CBS etc. block the content for some particular geographical locations which is impossible to access without additional help. In this article, we will explain how to unblock websites safely.
Get a Virtual Private Network or VPN
Virtual Private Network is a service that allows you to access blocked websites by changing your IP to a faraway land. That means if you are accessing a URL from India, the server where that website is located will record the visit from another country say Australia. This makes it easy for the users to access content which is blocked in their country but allowed in many other countries.
VPN Sites :
Proxy websites
When you are in a professional environment your company may not allow you to access certain websites which may create obstacles in your work and concentration. Most of the companies do not allow their employees to access social media websites like twitter; facebook etc. and even personal email IDs are not allowed. In such cases, you can use proxy websites like HideMyAss to access these websites.
Proxy Sites Examples :
Use IP and not URL
Many students want to know how to access blocked websites at school. Here is one of the easiest ways for you. Each website has a unique IP address which you can access. Most of the ISPs only block the URLs and not the IP address of the website. It is very easy to know the IP of any website. Open the command prompt by typing CMD in the Start Menu search bar. Type Ping WEBSITENAME.com and press enter. It will show the IP of the website and you can use that IP to access the website on your web browser.
Change Network Proxy In Browsers
If you want to know how to access blocked websites at college, this is the method for you. Most of the college and institutes that provide Wi-Fi to their students often block some websites. In case you want to access those websites, you can do it by disabling the proxy in the settings. The thing is some websites are blocked on one proxy but they are available on other. By disabling proxies all together you can bypass the block and access the websites.
Use Google Translate
Most of the institutes do not block Google Translator as it can be used as an educational tool. It is fairly easy to open a website via Google translate by translating it into another language that you may know. All you need to do is to open Google Translate, type in the web address and change the language. You can use Bing Translator as well.
URL recasting method
Some websites are accessible by just recasting the URL. You can use http:// instead of https://. It will give the certification error but you can bypass it by clicking on Proceed Anyway.
Go to Internet Archive — Way back Machine
Way back machine is an interesting service that provides you the little older version of the website. It saves the content of the website on its servers for a while and can show you the content even if the website is offline or blocked in your area.
Use the RSS Feed of site
If you know about RSS feeds, you must be aware of the fact that these feeds are the easiest way to get the latest content from the internet. Just get the RSS feed URL of the website that is blocked and adds it to your RSS reader. In case RSS feed is not available for a website you can use services available over the internet that can create an RSS feed for you. Feedly is one of the services to get content from trusted sources.
Use IP Anonymizer like TOR
If you want to know how to bypass blocked websites, this browser will be the answer. TOR is one of the finest web browsers for those who are privacy advocates. If you do the setup properly for the web browser, you can access blocked websites via this browser as well. TOR will not only provide you anonymity while surfing the web but it will also let you access the blocked content as well.
Use HTML to PDF converter
There are services like SodaPDF which provide you a PDF version of the website without even accessing the website. You just need to punch in the website URL in the text box on this like and SodaPDF will convert the page for you to PDF and let you download it.
Use Extensions
You can install some browser extensions to bypass the imposed block. Some of these extensions which are quite popular are Hola and ProxMate. These extensions can even defeat high-end firewalls like Light speed.
Use Firefox from a USB drive
For those who want to unblock websites at schools that take advanced steps to block certain URLs, this method suits the best for them. You can use Firefox on your USB drive by coupling it with some unblock proxy services.
The Internet is a fascinating place. You can learn a lot over the internet and browse some of the best content you can ever come across. You can get movies, music, books, educational material and much more over the internet. However, institutes, governments, schools, and offices often want to stop you from accessing certain URLs which they think are not appropriate. With the help of the methods mentioned above, you can access these websites without any hassle.
