How to Unblock Websites on Chrome

Now you have to figure out if your ISP or Chrome is blocking you – or if there’s a whole other reason you can’t access a platform or website. Don’t know where to start? We’ll show you how to check whether Chrome is blocking a site, if the site is blocking you, or if your ISP is blocking it. We’ll also show you how to unblock websites on Chrome safely.

Why Are Some Websites Blocked on Google Chrome?

Google Chrome, like any responsible browser, prioritizes your online safety. It may block some websites because they could harm your device or leak your data. That said, sometimes it’s a bit overzealous and might block perfectly safe sites. 

External factors can also block some sites on Chrome. Changing your browser or its settings won’t unblock these websites, but further down this page, we list some things that might help you get around these blocks. 

Some of the most common reasons for websites being blocked on Chrome include:

• • Security: Chrome helps you stay safe online with built-in security features like Safe Browsing. It’ll warn you if you’re about to visit a suspicious website that might try to steal your personal information, harm your device with malware, or track you without your knowledge. Look for warnings like “This site may harm your computer” or “Deceptive site ahead.” Chrome typically blocks well-known dangerous sites completely with a big red warning.
  • Inappropriate Content: Websites that contain explicit or harmful content, such as adult material or malware, are also blocked to ensure you can enjoy a safe browsing experience, depending on your Chrome settings. 
  • User-Defined Restrictions: Besides Chrome’s blocking protocols, you can manually add websites to your Google blocklist. You can do this through your Chrome settings or by using an extension.
  • Administrative Controls: Google Admin Accounts can block websites on Chrome for managed devices. Organizations and schools use this to control access to certain websites, protect their network from potential threats, limit unproductive time, or reduce bandwidth usage.
  • Parental Controls: Parents can block websites on Chrome for their children using parental controls. This helps them manage their children’s online activities and protect them from inappropriate content.
  • Censorship: Some countries’ governments have strict internet censorship rules that can compel ISPs to block access to specific content or whole websites, search engines, and other platforms. 
  • Regional Agreements: Websites can be blocked in Chrome as a result of regional agreements through a process called geo-blocking. These agreements determine where content can legally be distributed. Your IP address, assigned by location, is how websites know where you are and what content to make available to you. While Chrome itself isn’t blocking you, the website’s servers are programmed to deny access based on your IP location when such agreements are in place.
  • Router Settings: Some ISP-supplied routers are set up to block or throttle certain websites. Chrome relies on your connection successfully reaching a website to function. If your router settings interfere with this process, Chrome might display an error message even though it didn’t block your access.
  • Host File Blocking Access: If you edited your host file at some point to block certain websites or pop-ups, this might be why you can’t access some websites anymore. 

Now that you understand the why, let’s move on to the how – namely, how to unblock websites on Chrome.

How to Check If Your ISP Has Blocked a Website

Sometimes, it’s not Chrome doing the blocking, but your ISP. They do this for various reasons, for example, to control bandwidth usage during busy times or because of government regulations. It could also seem like some websites are blocked when they’re actually just down temporarily due to a server issue or local network problems. Before we jump into the fixes to unblock a website on Chrome, first try the following:

1. Access the Website: Reload the website once or twice to make sure it wasn’t a temporary connection issue.

2. Check the Error Message: Do some sleuthing of your own. The error message you get when you try to access a website can give you some clues about why you’re blocked. For example, a message like “This content is not available in your country” suggests the website owner is blocking the site based on your IP address region.

3. Use a Tool Like isup.me or downdetector: Type the website’s URL into the lookup to see if it’s having issues. If the website is down for everyone, you’ll just have to wait until it’s up again.

4. Try Mobile Data: If your mobile service provider differs from your home ISP, you can test whether your ISP is blocking the website by connecting with your mobile data instead. Visit the website on Chrome; if you can access it, your ISP is likely blocking it.

5. Contact your ISP: If you suspect your ISP is blocking the website, contact them to find out about the block and request them to remove it. Be prepared that they might not be willing to disclose this information or lift the block, but it’s worth a try to gain some clarity.

Remember, ISPs may use different methods to block websites, such as DNS blocking, IP blocking, or deep packet inspection (DPI). The method your ISP uses will determine the best approach to bypass its block. That said, a reputable VPN can help you overcome all these blocks in one go, saving you the trouble of figuring it out. 

CyberGhost VPN reroutes your traffic to avoid DNS blocks. It’s also one of the best and most secure workarounds for IP blocks – just connect to a server from our extensive service network in 100+ countries. 

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10 Ways to Unblock Websites in Chrome

There are several ways to unblock websites in Chrome on your desktop and phone. Let’s jump into the fixes for both. We’ll start with the easiest and most obvious ones and then move to the more technical ones.

1. Reset Chrome Settings to Default

Before jumping to more complicated conclusions, you simply might not be able to access a website on Chrome because an extension you’ve installed is causing issues with your settings. There’s an easy fix for this:

1. On your computer, open Chrome. At the top right, click the three dots and then Settings.

2. Select Reset Settings. 

3. Click Restore Settings to change your options to their original defaults.

This isn’t a full reset – your custom bookmarks, fonts, and accessibility settings will remain unchanged, but it will remove all your extensions. After these steps, check if you can access the website. If you can, add back your extensions one by one to see which one is causing the issue.

2. Remove the Website from Chrome’s Restricted Sites List

Chrome lets you block specific websites. If the website you’re trying to access is on this list, you can remove it by following these steps:

On PC:

1. Launch Google Chrome, click the three dots in the upper right corner, and select Settings.

2. Go to Privacy and Security and select Site Settings.

3. Here, you can unblock the sites of your choice from the list and change site permissions too. Relaunch Google Chrome and see if you can access the website now. If it’s still blocked, let’s try the next method.

On Mobile:

1. Open Chrome and go to the website you’re trying to access. 
2. To the left of the address bar, tap View Site Information (the icon next to the URL). 

3. The exact setting you need to modify will differ slightly based on how the website is restricted:
   • If Chrome shows Connection Not Secure, you’ll have to look for the Safe Browsing setting and change it from Enhanced Protection to No Protection or Standard Protection. 
   • If the site is listed as Restricted, you’ll have to look for the Restricted label and change the setting to Allowed. 

3. Adjust Safe Browsing

If Chrome is just being overzealous and you know the website you’re trying to access is safe, you can change its settings by following the steps below. These steps are the same on PC and mobile: 

1. Launch Chrome, navigate to Settings, and choose Privacy and Security. 

2. Scroll down to Security and click on Safe Browsing. Choose the safety level you prefer. 

A word of warning, though: Think carefully before changing this setting, as it will make your browsing less secure.

4. Use a Cached Version of the Site

Google keeps local copies of the websites you visit, so they’ll load faster when you open them again. This is called caching and works just like your browser cache, only it’s on the server side. So, if you’re blocked from the original website, you may still be able to access the cached version in Chrome. It’s super easy. Simply type “cache:” before the website’s URL, e.g. “cache:https://siteyouwanttoaccess.com.”

5. Use a Proxy Server

One of the easiest ways to unblock websites is by using a web proxy. When you access a site that’s usually blocked with a proxy, it redirects your request through one of its servers before sending it to the website. The proxy server then works like a middleman, fetching the website for you and sending its data back to your browser. The website only sees the proxy’s IP address, not yours. So, the blocking rules set for your IP address wouldn’t apply.

Web proxies are convenient, especially when you’re using public devices or can’t install a VPN. They do have some downsides, though. A proxy can conceal your IP address to unblock sites on a browser like Chrome, but it can’t unblock apps. It also doesn’t encrypt your data either, so your online activity isn’t private or secure. Cybercriminals, your ISP, and other third parties may be able to snoop on and steal your data.  

6. Use a Google Chrome VPN Extension

A Chrome VPN extension redirects your traffic through a proxy server to mask your IP address. Unlike a proxy, it also encrypts your browser traffic, creating a secure tunnel between your device and the VPN server. This lets you get around blocks on Chrome while browsing more anonymously. 

Keep in mind, though, that the Chrome VPN extension only works with the traffic within your browser. Traffic from other apps, like Gmail, YouTube, Netflix, etc., remains unchanged and unprotected. To use the free CyberGhost VPN Chrome extension, you can follow these steps:

1. Visit the Chrome Web Store and search for CyberGhost VPN.

2. Click Add to Chrome to install the extension.

3. Once installed, click on the CyberGhost VPN logo in the extensions list at the top of your Chrome browser page.

4. Choose one of the countries where servers are available. Click the ON/OFF button to enable the extension.

CyberGhost VPN’s Chrome extension secures your browser traffic to boost your online privacy and digital freedom. With it, you can steer clear of cybercriminals, your ISP’s prying eyes, and annoying 403 errors. Best of all, it’s super user-friendly and completely free – it doesn’t even require account sign-up. Just a few clicks, and you’re good to go!

7. Connect Using a VPN

While there are many ways to unblock websites on Chrome on both desktop and mobile, a VPN is by far the safest way. Our Chrome VPN extension is secure, lightweight, and convenient, but it can’t compete with our full VPN’s features. A VPN gives you everything a Chrome VPN extension does, but it encrypts and reroutes all the traffic leaving your device, and it comes with a ton of extra features and server options. 

A VPN app can help you get around local firewall blocks, bypass your ISP’s scrutiny, and access blocked websites. You can download our VPN app from the Google Play Store and connect to a server that can unblock websites on Chrome within seconds.

You also get leak-proof protection with an automatic kill switch for Android and Windows that’ll block your traffic until it’s safe to connect again. The CyberGhost VPN app gives you access to Smart Rules like automatic Wi-Fi detection, app launch preferences, and split tunneling. It even lets you choose the VPN protocol you want to use. 

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8. Change DNS Servers

Your DNS server is your gateway to the internet. Without it, you won’t be able to check your emails, stream your favorite movie, or fall down the latest browsing rabbit hole (no judgment; we’ve all been there). Websites rely on your IP address to determine your location and tailor content accordingly. So if your ISP wants to prevent you from accessing certain sites, it changes its DNS server settings for these sites. You can bypass these ISP-imposed blocks by changing your DNS server to providers like Cloudflare, Google, or OpenDNS. 

You can also use CyberGhost VPN’s SmartDNS feature to avoid DNS blocks. It’s a convenient workaround if you can’t install a VPN on your device. SmartDNS replaces the information in your DNS request, which unblocks the content or sites you want to access. It doesn’t conceal your IP address or encrypt your connection. For that, you still need to use a VPN.

9. Reset Your Hosts File

You could unblock a website on Chrome by resetting your hosts file as it might have been modified. Here’s a quick step-by-step tutorial: 

1. Go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc to find the hosts file.

2. Right-click hosts and open it with Notepad. If you see the website you’re trying to access on the list along with the numerals 127.0.0.1 next to it, your host files may have been modified, which is why you can’t access the site.

3. To unblock that site, select the entire line and delete it. Save the changes and close Notepad.

10. Use the Tor Browser

Tor is a good option for bypassing firewalls and accessing websites that Chrome (or even your government or ISP) may block. When you connect to Tor, it sends your data through various nodes. The first node sees your IP address and each node knows the IP address of the one before it. So, theoretically, your online activity could be traced back to you if someone is determined enough. Additionally, your ISP can see you’re connecting to Tor and may block access to it or start monitoring you more closely. 

So, while Tor is great for accessing blocked websites, using Tor over VPN is even better. Now, when you connect, both your ISP and the Tor entry node see the VPN server’s IP address. This lets you access blocked websites and services without exposing your real IP address or activity in ways that may damage your privacy. 

Heads up, though, Tor is much slower than regular browsing because of how it encrypts and routes data. Adding a VPN to this mix slows it down even more. So using Tor for general browsing is okay, but it’s not a good option for anything that requires speed, like streaming. 

Is it Legal to Unblock Banned Websites?

The short answer is that it depends – both on your location and the reason for the block. If you’re unblocking websites to get around work or school blocks, you could get in trouble; not necessarily legal trouble, but trouble nonetheless. Unblocking content on streaming sites may violate their terms and conditions since they have regional agreements in place. The big one, though, is government censorship. If you’re in a country where the government imposes online censorship, things could get pretty hairy.

A reliable VPN is still your safest bet for unblocking websites without breaking the law, but always make sure you comply with the laws in your jurisdiction and use these tools responsibly.

Final Words

There you have it: a comprehensive guide on how to find out what may be blocking you from accessing some websites on Google Chrome and how to overcome these blocks. The solution can be a simple cache issue or a complex network block. 

Navigating website blocks on Google Chrome can be frustrating, but understanding the reasons behind them and having the right tools can make a world of difference. By following the advice shared in this guide, you can easily get around website blocks on Chrome and make your browsing experience much smoother.

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