Are you trying to access YouTube from work and do not have access or upload any video? Normally, companies tend to apply various filters to prevent their workers from accessing certain Internet pages.
This is usually done to prevent access to websites that in principle are not considered productive or related to our work environment. A good example is video platforms, sports news and results websites, movies, etc. And of course also YouTube .
In today’s guide, then, we will see how we can bypass that restriction to watch YouTube videos from work without problems. Before starting, we must bear in mind that companies can use various methods (proxy filtering, firewalls, modification of the PC’s “hosts” file, etc.) to prevent access to certain pages . If we see that any of these methods does not work, let’s try the next one.
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How to watch YouTube videos from work
Of course, depending on the strength of the filtering and the type of Internet access control applied by each company, it is possible that they neutralize all our attempts to watch videos on YouTube. In any case, some may serve us perfectly, so do not give up on your efforts. Luck!
1 # Connect to YouTube using Proxysite
Proxysite is a page that uses servers located in various parts of the world to access YouTube. When we connect to Proxysite, we only have to select the server -we can leave the one that appears by default-, confirm that we have the YouTube URL loaded in the search engine and click on the «GO» button.
In this way, we can enter our favorite video platform without restrictions. And not only that, since we can also access content with regional blocking thanks to the different servers that Proxysite makes available to us. One of the simplest and most practical ways to bypass crashes by loading YouTube from another page .
This website is very popular, which means that many times the server is saturated and does not allow uploading the videos. To solve this, it is best to try another server (I usually use the “US9” and “US10” servers, which are usually not very saturated).
If you have problems you can also try other web proxies, such as HideMyAss, 4everproxy or Hide.Me. You can find more information about the characteristics and differences between these proxy services on the Proxysite website in the post « The best proxy servers to browse anonymously «.
2 # Use Google Translate to watch the videos without restriction
A good trick to be able to watch YouTube videos is to use Google Translate as an unblocking tool . In the text to be translated, we simply enter the URL of the YouTube video that we want to see and click on “ Translate ”. It will automatically load the video into the translator, bypassing the URL restriction.
It is recommended that the target language is Spanish, to avoid problems when loading the corresponding YouTube page.
3 # Access anonymously with the TOR browser
The TOR browser is one of the safest ways to browse the Internet. If we access YouTube through TOR, we prevent our service provider from “reading” (and consequently blocking access) the pages we visit, our credentials and our history.
We can install the official TOR browser, the TOR Browser, totally free from the developer’s own website.
Note: this method may give us more problems, since in many companies users do not have permission to install applications on their PC. If this is our case, let’s try the following “trick”.
4 # Make use of the Yotids search engine
The Yotids website is a search engine that performs “ indirect browsing” . Instead of connecting to a server directly, Yotids looks for the resource and uploads it to its own server , thus hiding our IP.
In this way, from work it will appear that we have accessed Yotids, but not YouTube – something similar to what we do with Proxysite. If our company, library or public center does not have access to Yotids blocked, we can visit YouTube from its website without any problem.
UPDATED : It seems that this website has closed. I have been looking for alternatives and the one that has worked best for me has been SneakMe , a website that practically fulfills the same function.
5 # Use a VPN app
Another easy way to bypass work restrictions to watch YouTube videos is to use an application that allows us to establish a VPN connection to hide our IP address . If your company or office is not blocked from installing applications, you can try a lot of VPN applications for PC such as TunnelBear.
If we prefer to be a bit more discreet, we can install a browser like Opera (download on its official website HERE ), which has a free integrated VPN service. We can use it as a browser to use during our working hours, and when we have a free time, click on the “VPN” icon that we will see within the address bar itself. A small menu will be displayed automatically where we can activate private browsing and also choose our virtual location (Asia, Europe or America).
6 # The Ultrasurf app
Ultrasurf is a PC application (free with embedded ads) that was once created to give Chinese users more freedom to browse the Internet. The program uses proxies to mask our IP and browsing data , allowing us to visit websites with restricted access.
Some antivirus detects it as a malicious application. False positive or not, Ultrasurf is a tool that has been used for many years to overcome all barriers against Internet censorship. If we can use any other tool, much better, but if not, it is another option to consider.
Note: In recent times there has been an intensive use of Ultrasurf in the Middle East, which is saturating the servers of this application. According to the developers, although they are working to expand and offer a stable service, we may notice slowdowns or cuts in times of high activity.
7 # Check the hosts file
Windows uses a file called ” hosts ” located in the path C: Windows System32 drivers etc to manage the association of a domain to an IP address . It is not very common, but it may be that for whatever reason we have a redirect configured in this file that is blocking access to YouTube.
We can open and modify the file with a notepad, if we see any suspicious lines in this file that may be affecting our Internet output. Of course, keep in mind that if our boss finds out that we are modifying this delicate file, he can get a good fight.
Video blocked in my region? In such case we need a proxy
Finally, if we want to watch a video with regional blocking, regardless of whether or not we have YouTube capped at work, we will need a proxy or a VPN connection.
In this way we modify our IP to assign it another one from a country in which region blocking is not enabled.
To achieve this objective we can use the Proxfree website or the previously mentioned Proxysite and Yotids. We load the search engine, enter the URL, select the location of the server (France, United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Canada or the USA) and load the page.
We can also bypass the YouTube regional restriction using VPN applications such as the aforementioned TunnelBear, Zenmate or similar. Personally, one of my favorites is Windscribe , it offers 50GB free per month and offers a wide variety of servers in different countries of the world.
Proxies in the form of a browser plugin
Another way to use proxies to access YouTube is to use free browser extensions or plugins. In this area we have a few alternatives, but the one that seems to work the best today is Hotspot Shield . You can find it in the extensions search engine of your browser (Chrome / Firefox) or download it from its official website.
There are also other plugins, such as Hola or ProxMate. However, these extensions do not seem to be trusted. In the case of Hola, for example, it was discovered that it used our bandwidth to create bots and sell its services to third parties. Proxmate also does not seem to have the approval of the public. If we can avoid them, all the better.
Short final reflection
In conclusion, let us bear in mind that this type of Internet access controls is carried out largely for reasons of security and integrity of the information that is handled in the company’s network. If we see that we need to consult pages that we have blocked in our work team, it is best to speak with the IT department so that they enable us to access.
I have spent several years working as a computer scientist for various companies, and I can assure you that the initially most “innocent” and harmless activities are those that ultimately open the door to infections and malware that can sometimes lead to encryption of critical files and loss data irretrievably.
Let’s think that with these tricks to bypass company locks we are not only opening a door to our office computer, but to all the computers that are on the network within the domain (which in some occasions can be hundreds or thousands of PCs ).
