Authorities block access to specific websites – like social media websites – to ensure people don’t access those websites in their premises. Even governments block websites that don’t adhere to their regulations or for other violations.
If your favorite website is also blocked, then you can easily access it using different methods. Here we list four methods to access blocked website content.
Warning: The websites are blocked for a reason, and accessing blocked websites may result in a violation of rules. Please read the rules and penalties stated by the authority that blocked the website before accessing any blocked website. You will be solely responsible for any actions taken against you.
1. Use a Proxy Website
Using a Proxy website is one of the most common ways to access a blocked website. A proxy website works as a moderator that makes your web surfing anonymous using their servers. You will access the website from the Proxy servers, not your ISP’s. In exchange for this service, proxy websites put ads on your Internet surfing to make money.
Browsing the Internet through proxy websites may also be slower compared to normal browsing, so it might not be a good idea for slower connections. There are tons of proxy websites available; a simple Google search will help find good proxy websites. Some of the good ones include ProxFree, Kproxy, Proxify and HideMyAss.
2. Use Website IP to Access a Blocked Website
Sometimes only the URL of a specific website is blocked by the authorities, so the website can still be accessed via other means. You can use the website IP address to access the blocked website instead of its URL. This trick might not always work because either there is a chance that the website may not allow access via IP address or more than one website is hosted on the same IP address.
To get a website’s IP address, go to Command Prompt in Windows by typing cmd in the Run (Window + R) dialog. Type:
nslookup (domain name)
For example, nslookup www.maketecheasier.com. You will see the IP address of the website; you can enter it in the browser search tab to access the website.
3. Access Cached Website
If you want to access only the content of a blocked website, then you can see its cached version. You will not be able to interact with any videos and other flash-based content, but you will see all the images and text. Google keeps cached versions of all the websites, and they can be viewed anytime, even if the website is down.
To access a cached version, type the name of the website in “Google Search,” and you will see all the results related to it. Here at the end of the URL (in green), you will see a tiny upside down arrow. Click on it, and then click on “Cached.” The latest cached version will load.
4. Translate the Website
Authorities might have blocked the website, but most probably they will not have blocked Google Translate. So you can translate the website in Google Translate and view its content. All you have to do is enter the URL of the website in Google Translate and select the language which you can easily understand. Google Translate will provide a link that you can click on to access the translated version of the website.
Conclusion
Above are some handy ways to access content of any blocked website. While they do have some conditions and limitations, one of the methods should work out for you. Otherwise you can always use a VPN service like Hotspot Shield to access blocked websites.