How to access restricted (blocked) websites?

You can access restricted websites using any the following methods – just use the one that works for you:

1. In case you are not able to go to any particular website because it is blocked by some other application (for example, the blocking software at your workplace) type in the IP address of the website you wish to visit into the address bar of your browser and you should be able to access it. But sometimes, this also might not be possible. But, before I tell you how to go on to the next step, let me tell you how to find the IP address of a website: Click on the Start button – Go to Run – In the Run Dialogue Box, type in CMD and click on OK. Then, in the command window, type in “Ping http://www.abc.com” (replace http://www.abc.com with the URL of the website you wish to get the IP address for.)

2. Here’s the second option: Type in the URL of the website you wish to visit in Google Search – and when it shows up in the results, click on “Cached or Text Only“

3. Another option would be to go to websites like http://www.tinyurl.com or http://www.snipurl.com (which offer URL redirection services) and type in the URL of the website you with to visit and create a brand-new shortened URL for the website that you wish to go to.

4. You can also Browse Anonymously using Proxy Websites & VPNs. A good example of VPN is Ultra Surf. Try also searching for “Anonymous Browsing” and select any of the sites from the search results.

5. Another method to gain access to restricted websites would be to Convert the IP address of the Website you wish to visit into a Decimal Number. In order to do this, just open a Google Search page and type in “Convert IP to Decimal” – you will be presented with many options. Choose from one of these and convert the IP address of the website you wish to visit into a decimal number and type it into the address bar in your browser – like: http://<decimal number>

6. You can also access blocked / restricted websites by using Google’s Translate Tool or Yahoo’s Babelfish as a Proxy Server. Only remember this, when you are translating the webpage, translate it from English to English.

7. Sometimes, if you cannot access a website using the http:// link (for example, http://www.xyz.com) try using the https:// link. (for example (https://www.xyz.com)

Update on 25 Sep 2023

This article was originally published sometime in 2012. We are updating it with some more information.

Today, its much simpler to access blocked websites, than it was maybe a decade or more ago. Just use any of the many VPN applications available and you are good to go. But look for VPNs that do not maintain any logs of your activity. That way you can protect your privacy. But remember, when you’re online, there’s no such thing as a “blocked resource” and there’s no such thing as “100% privacy”. There’s virtually no privacy that cannot be breached.

List of VPNs For Private & Unrestricted Browsing

Interestingly, many of these VPN companies like NordVPN, SurfShark and ExpressVPN shut down their servers in India due to updated government regulations in 2023. They can still be downloaded and used, though.

While you can also use proxies, it’s not the same as using VPNs. We will try to cover proxies in a different article.

Note: We are not related to any of these companies in any manner. This article is for information only.