How to Unblock YouTube at School

YouTube unblocked at school?! If you’re reading this article, you’re probably trying to find a way to unblock YouTube at school. Under the pretext of keeping kids distraction-free, many schools end up banning websites that people use on a daily basis. Sadly, YouTube happens to be one of those websites. Read on to find out how you can unblock YouTube at school with a VPN.

Disclaimer: We are not suggesting that students break their school rules, nor do we condone using YouTube during class or as a way to slack off. We also do not support the use of YouTube to spread inappropriate content in a school environment. However, we see no problem with someone using YouTube appropriately during their free time at school.

Why Do Schools Block YouTube?

Administrations use different excuses to explain why they block some websites at school. Anything from “inappropriate content” to “stopping distractions” can be said. While, yes, YouTube can be very distracting, it’s not exactly a bad idea to allow students to use the site during their free time.

How to Unblock YouTube at School Using a VPN

Before I get into how you can use a VPN to unblock YouTube, let’s talk about how schools actual block websites off their network. There are a few methods that schools can use to do that, but these are the two most common ones:

1. Using OpenDNS on the main router.
2. Using a web monitoring program.

How can you tell the difference between those two methods? Simple, figure out if a non-student can access the blocked sites. If your teacher can access YouTube but you can’t, your school is using a web monitoring program to block the website. If neither you nor anyone else at school can access YouTube, then the school is using OpenDNS on its main router. More often than not, schools use a web monitoring program to limit what students can do on the school’s network.

The good news is that both of these methods can by bypassed by using a VPN. But what is a VPN?

A VPN is a cybersecurity tool, it’s meant to keep your data secured and your internet connection (and communication) private. Now, to do that, VPNs re-route your traffic through their own servers. This means that they also change your public IP address. Once your IP address changes, you’re no longer using the DNS your school is using, nor can a web monitoring program catch you using a blocked site. Here’s how to get a VPN to do that:

1. At home, sign up with a trusted and credible VPN provider. Do this at home because the school might have blocked VPN sites as well.
2. Also at home, download the VPN app that matches the device you’ll be using at school. You’ll usually find apps for Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS.
3. Once at school, sign-in to the app using the credentials you signed up with. Then, pick the VPN server you want to use and hit connect.
4. Wait for the connection to establish. If you want to be sure that your IP changed, check it here.
5. Enjoy your YouTube access.

Best VPN to Unblock YouTube at School

In case you’re wondering which VPN you should sign up with, we’ve got you covered for this as well. Our VPN expert suggests that you use ExpressVPN for your go-to subscriber. It may be a little pricey, but it does the job superbly well.

Personally, I agree with our expert. I’ve used a lot of VPNs in my days, and till now haven’t landed on a service as good as ExpressVPN. My suggestion: team up with 2 of your friends and get the subscription together. ExpressVPN offers up to 3 simultaneous connections, that way you can help each other out with the subscription and still end up using one of the best VPNs for YouTube on the market.

In case you don’t want to use this VPN or can’t seem to afford it, try out these top-tier providers instead:

YouTube Unblocked at School – Final Thoughts

There you go! That’s how you can unblock YouTube at school. I do feel the need to say this again, though: Do not skip class or your responsibilities for YouTube. The videos will be there once you’re done, and nothing on YouTube is worth messing up your grades and your future. So please, use your VPN responsibly.