Websites get blocked for a lot of reasons: your school or office firewall, your ISP following a government order, a streaming service that only serves certain countries, or a site that simply banned your region. Most of the “proxy list” and “mirror site” pages you find when you search for a fix are the worst possible answer. They point you to copycat domains run by strangers who inject ads, malware, and phishing forms, and the links go dead every few weeks anyway.
This guide covers the methods that actually work, roughly in order of how safe and reliable they are. It does not list mirror or proxy domains for any specific site. If you landed here from an old proxy-list page on this site, that is deliberate. We removed those pages because they were doing readers more harm than good.
In this article
First, figure out who is blocking you
The right fix depends on where the block is happening.
| Symptom | Likely blocker | Best fix |
|---|---|---|
| Works on mobile data, not on Wi-Fi | Your network (school, office, home router) | DNS change or VPN |
| Works on a friend’s ISP, not yours | Your ISP or a national order | VPN or Tor |
| “Not available in your country” message | The website itself (geo-block) | VPN with a server in the allowed country |
| Site loads but looks broken or redirects | The site is actually down, or you are on a fake mirror | Check the official social account, do not use mirrors |
A quick way to test: try the site on your phone with Wi-Fi off. If it loads, the block is on your network, and a DNS change is usually enough.
Method 1: Change your DNS
Many cheap blocks work by having your ISP or router DNS refuse to resolve the domain. Switching to a public resolver bypasses that in about a minute and has no downside.
Good options:
- Cloudflare:
1.1.1.1and1.0.0.1 - Google:
8.8.8.8and8.8.4.4 - Quad9:
9.9.9.9(also blocks known malware domains)
Android: Settings > Network and internet > Private DNS > Private DNS provider hostname > enter one.one.one.one or dns.google. This applies to every Wi-Fi network and uses DNS over TLS, so the ISP cannot see or tamper with the lookup.
iPhone: Settings > Wi-Fi > tap the (i) next to your network > Configure DNS > Manual > add 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1. This is per network. For all networks at once, install the free Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 app and toggle it on.
Windows 11: Settings > Network and internet > Wi-Fi (or Ethernet) > Hardware properties > DNS server assignment > Edit > Manual > IPv4 on > enter the two addresses. Turn on “DNS over HTTPS” while you are there.
Mac: System Settings > Network > your connection > Details > DNS > add the addresses with the plus button.
Browser only: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge all have a “Use secure DNS” setting in Privacy and security. Set it to a custom provider and you get encrypted DNS without touching the OS.
If the site loads after this, you are done. If it still does not, the block is deeper than DNS.
Method 2: Use a VPN
A VPN encrypts everything between your device and a server elsewhere, so the network you are on cannot see which site you are visiting, and the site sees the VPN server’s country instead of yours. This solves ISP blocks, national blocks, and geo-restrictions in one move.
Things that matter when picking one:
- A real no-logs policy that has been audited. Free VPNs pay for themselves by logging and selling your traffic. If you need free, Proton VPN’s free tier and Windscribe’s free tier are the two that have held up over time.
- WireGuard support. It is faster and drains less battery than OpenVPN.
- Kill switch. If the VPN drops, your real connection should not leak.
- Servers in the country you need for geo-blocked streaming.
Setup is the same everywhere: install the app, sign in, pick a server, connect. On Android and iOS the app installs a system profile, so every app on the phone goes through it, not just the browser.
One warning: your ISP can see that you are connected to a VPN, even though it cannot see what you do inside it. In most countries that is fine. In a handful it is not, and you should know your local situation before relying on it.
Method 3: Tor Browser
Tor routes your traffic through three volunteer relays, which makes it the hardest to block and the hardest to trace. It is free, open source, and available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android (use the official Tor Browser app, not third party wrappers). On iPhone the closest thing is Onion Browser, which the Tor Project recommends.
Downsides: it is slow, some sites block Tor exit nodes outright, and streaming video is painful. Use it when a VPN is not an option or when the block is aggressive enough to target VPN servers too. If Tor itself is blocked, the built in “bridges” setting connects through a hidden relay first.
Method 4: Smart DNS for streaming devices
TVs, consoles, and streaming sticks usually cannot run a VPN app. Smart DNS services (most paid VPN providers include one) reroute only the location check, so the device thinks it is in another country while video still streams at full speed. You set it in the device’s network settings the same way as Method 1, using the addresses the provider gives you. We have a separate walkthrough for Samsung TVs that applies to most other brands too.
Method 5: The lightweight tricks
These work sometimes and cost nothing, so try them before paying for anything.
- HTTPS instead of HTTP. Some old filters only match plain
http://URLs. Typehttps://explicitly. - Google Translate as a proxy. Paste the URL into translate.google.com and open the translated page. Google fetches the site for you. Works for reading, breaks logins and video.
- Cached copy. Search the page on Google or Bing and open the cached version, or use the Wayback Machine at web.archive.org. Good for articles, useless for anything interactive.
- Mobile data. Blocks on office or school Wi-Fi do not follow you onto your own data plan.
- Browser extension proxies. Free ones are usually worse than a free VPN and only cover the browser. Skip them unless a trusted VPN provider makes the extension.
What you should not do
Do not use proxy or mirror lists. The domains change constantly, most are registered by people who have nothing to do with the original site, and a large share of them serve fake “update your player” downloads, crypto-mining scripts, or login forms that harvest passwords. Even the lists themselves are usually scraped and never verified. The safest way to find an official alternate domain, if one exists, is the site’s own verified social media account.
Do not install “unblocker” APKs from outside the Play Store. Same reason. If it is not on the store, you have no idea what it does with your traffic.
Do not enter passwords on a site you reached through a random proxy. The proxy operator sees everything you type.
Quick decision guide
- Blocked on school or office Wi-Fi: change DNS (Method 1). If that fails, VPN.
- Blocked by your ISP or country: VPN. If the VPN is also blocked, Tor with bridges.
- Content not available in your region: VPN with a server in the right country, or Smart DNS on a TV.
- Just want to read one page: Google Translate or Wayback Machine.
- Site seems to have vanished entirely: check its official social account before trusting any “new link”.
FAQ
Is it legal to unblock websites?
Using a VPN or changing DNS is legal in most countries. What you do after that is a separate question. Getting around a school or employer filter can violate their policy even where it is not illegal. Accessing content that is blocked by court order can be illegal depending on where you live.
Will a VPN slow down my internet?
A little. With WireGuard on a nearby server, expect 5 to 15 percent slower. On a distant server or with OpenVPN, more. Tor is much slower than either.
Can my ISP see that I am using a VPN?
Yes, it can see encrypted traffic going to a VPN server. It cannot see what is inside.
Why did the proxy list pages on this site disappear?
Because they were pointing readers at unverified third party domains that we could not vouch for, and the traffic they brought was not worth the risk to readers or to the site. This guide replaces all of them.
