Have you come across a situation where your Chrome browser isn’t allowing you access to a website? It’s frustrating to not have an urgent look over a website due to its blockage from the browser. To help you from ever staring at your screen with helplessness during such a situation, we are here to help you with how to unblock websites on google chrome.
There can be several reasons why Chrome is blocking websites on your system. Maybe the local authorities are preventing you from looking over the website page due to the site falling under the ‘Restrictive IP Addresses’ category. In some cases, maybe the system administrator in your college, school or workplace is blocking that website through a modification to the ‘Host’ file. Windows Firewalls also tend to block websites which are categorized as unsafe.
Apart from the above reasons, there can also be other factors which do not allow you to access a particular website and you may end up thinking that Chrome is blocking websites. In this article, we have mentioned the solutions which will help you learn how to access blocked sites in Chrome.
5 Solutions to Unblock Websites on Google Chrome
The following are some of the best answers to the query of how to unblock websites on google chrome.
1. VPN Services
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) was primarily used as a tool for having a secure connection. Now, it is being looked upon as a service for accessing geo-restricted content. With the help of a VPN server, you can route your traffic to a VPN in another nation. Doing so will lead your ISP to believe that the VPN server in another nation is sending the data packets and thus, you will have access to the blocked website with ease.
There are several good VPN apps to choose from. Most VPN service providers offer a free trial. We recommend checking the features of a VPN service during the trial run and then deciding if the features offer a secure connection. You can also look out for a VPN Chrome extension. Using a good premium VPN service is one of the best solutions to resolve the issue of how to unblock websites on Google Chrome.
2. Making Changes to the Host File
Sometimes, the network administrator at your office might modify the host file for blocking websites that don’t fit in under the approved domains of your workplace. In this case, IPv4 loopback traffic (127.0.0.1) is added to the host file. The desired URL is also added further.
If you have administrative rights, you can bypass this restriction and get access to the website of your choice by following the steps given below:
- Launch “File Explorer” on your computer
- Copy this: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc
- Paste the above in the address bar and press the ‘Enter’ key
- You will now come across the ‘Hosts’ file. Right-click and choose ‘Open With’. Select ‘Notepad’
- Keep scrolling to the bottom of the page if you find something like this: 127.0.0.1 www._____.com
- Remove that entire line with the URL of the website
- Press ‘Ctrl + S’ to save the file
- Restart the Chrome browser to check if the site has been unblocked
Remember, you won’t be able to access the host file if you don’t have administrative permissions. Thus, not everyone will be able to use this solution if you want to learn how to unblock websites on Google Chrome.
3. Disabling Windows Firewall
A rookie mistake people make when researching how to unblock websites on Google Chrome is to forget about Windows Firewall. The built-in tool of Windows, Windows Firewall, does a good job of blocking risky network connections to protect your computer from network threats. But in some cases, this tool may be a headache for you. If Firewall blocks some harmless websites which you want to access, you can temporarily disable it. The following are the steps for disabling Windows Firewall:
- Go to the ‘Start’ menu. Search for ‘Windows Defender Firewall’
- Choose the ‘Turn Windows Defender Firewall On or Off’ option present in the left menu bar
- Select ‘Turn off Windows Defender Firewall’ under both the ‘Private’ and ‘Public’ network sections
- Visit the website in Chrome to check if the procedure was successful
You must keep in mind that the above procedure will disable the Firewall’s function of scanning the entire network. Your PC will be at risk of getting infected with dangerous network programs. Therefore, you should ensure that the Firewall is enabled again after you gain access to the restricted website.
4. Remove the Website from the Restricted List
If you want to know how to access blocked sites in chrome, this might just do the trick for you. There might be a possibility that the website you are trying to access was added to the restricted list or Blocklist in Windows OS. You should verify this and then remove the website from the list. The following are the steps for removing a website from the restricted list:
- Go to ‘Control Panel’ through the ‘Start’ menu
- Click on ‘Internet Options’
- Click on the ‘Security’ tab and choose ‘Restricted Sites’. You will come across a list of website URLs.
- Select the website which you want to access and click on ‘Remove’
- Restart Chrome and verify if the website is unblocked
If you don’t have the permission of the concerned department at your office or educational institution to make changes to your computer network, you won’t be able to utilize the procedure. You should talk to the concerned department and inform them that chrome is blocking websites on your computer.
5. Bypassing the Warning of Google Chrome
Chrome won’t allow access to any website that it finds dangerous or insecure to visit. While visiting such websites, you will come across messages from Chrome such as “The site ahead contains harmful programs” or “Your connection is not private”. But if you are 100% sure that the website is secure, you can click on the ‘Advanced’ option and further, choose the ‘Proceed to website-name.com (unsafe)’ option.
However, we recommend using this solution only when you are sure that the website is safe to access and desperate on finding a way around when Chrome is blocking websites. There’s a good possibility that such websites might carry out phishing activity through your device or infect your device with malware.
Is chrome still not able to do what you need? Read our latest blog to choose from the Best Windows 11 Browsers available to get the best out for yourself!
Bonus Content: Blocking Websites on Chrome
By now, we know that you have learnt several ways how to unblock websites on Google Chrome that you want to access, but many of you live with a family and might not want other members of the family to access certain websites. This video tutorial will teach you a simple trick if you want to block a website on the chrome browser!
Conclusion
All the solutions mentioned in this article are useful in different circumstances. We have also mentioned the situations in which one will be able to utilize these solutions. We hope that your confusion is now resolved around the query of how to unblock websites on Google Chrome.
If you are really serious about increasing your productivity, here are some of the Best Chrome Extensions that will boost your productivity!