Just about everything on YouTube is free to watch, but that doesn’t mean it’s free for everyone to watch. Some YouTube videos are geo-blocked, meaning you can only watch them if you’re in the right country – but don’t worry, there is a way around it.
You’ll know that a video has been blocked in your country if you try to watch it only to see a very annoying message: ‘The uploader has not made this video available in your country’.
This is particularly common with film, TV, and game trailers, which are often locked by the licenses in certain markets, but you may also spot the message on music videos and others. On the rare occasions when whole films or TV episodes are uploaded to YouTube to stream for free, it’s also likely that they’ll be restricted to specific countries, as will live sport events.
That means that sometimes you won’t be able to watch a video at all in your country. Other times, but just as irritatingly, you might have to pay to buy or rent a video that’s free to watch elsewhere in the world.
Luckily, there are ways to bypass YouTube’s regional filter and watch videos that are blocked in your country – or access YouTube if you’re in a country that’s blocked the service entirely. Here’s how to do it.
Watch region-blocked YouTube videos with a VPN
Usually the best way to get around the region filter is simply to use a VPN. This is a service which lets you browse the web as if you were in a different country. You can sometimes manage this with a free VPN, though we recommend a paid service such as NordVPN, which we think is the best VPN right now.
A paid-for VPN like Nord offers faster connection speeds and more server options than a free one, and doesn’t place limits on how much data you can stream via the service. Make sure you choose a VPN that has servers in the country you want to pretend to be in, though a major VPN like Nord will cover just about everywhere.
Simply install the Nord (or other VPN) app on the device where you’re watching YouTube. There are typically apps for PC, Mac, Android, and iPhone/iPad as well as smart TVs and streaming sticks.
Make an account with your chosen VPN service (it’s easier to do this on a laptop or phone than on your TV) then launch the VPN app, log in with the details you entered during the signup process, and look through the location/country list to pick a server that’s in the correct region to access the video in question. That’s normally the location of the video’s creator or uploader. You might have to try a couple if you’re not sure.
Then all you have to do is head back to the YouTube app or website and go back to the video you want to watch. YouTube should now think that you’re located in the right region and play the video.
This is usually the quickest and easiest way to get past the region block on YouTube videos, especially if it’s a problem you run into repeatedly. But, there are other options…
Use a proxy to unblock YouTube
If you don’t want to use a VPN, the next best thing is a proxy server. This has a similar effect to a VPN – allowing you to browse as if in a different country – but is less secure and doesn’t encrypt your traffic, which is why we normally recommend a VPN over a proxy.
If you just want to watch music videos on YouTube, encryption and security might not be your biggest concerns, but if you’re trying to access YouTube from a country with a repressive government that bans certain videos, a VPN is definitely the better option.
As with VPNs, there are free proxy servers around, but they’re often so limited that a paid service is worth it, especially if you can find one with a free trial. You’ll typically have to access the server through a web browser extension, and once again make sure to select a server located in a country you think will have access to the video in question. Then load up YouTube and start watching.
Download the YouTube video
If all else fails, you might be able to download the YouTube video and thus get around the region-blocking entirely. We have an entire article dedicated to how to download YouTube videos to your phone, PC, tablet, or anything else, so we won’t run through the specifics here.
Do bear in mind that while it isn’t illegal to download videos from YouTube, it is technically against Google’s terms of service, and is arguably immoral since you’re circumventing the adverts that help fund the site and – more importantly – the content creators.
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Author: Dominic Preston, Deputy Editor
Tech Advisor's Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming - plus he's a regular fixture on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.