It’s not often that we encounter an annoying geo-restriction that prevents us from accessing a particular site, web page, or video. The error message “This video is unavailable in your country” often comes across my mind as one of the most annoying occurrences on the internet.
It’s very typical for YouTube and videos that, for some reason, can’t be reproduced in your country. This error feels a bit defeating because you can’t move out of your country to watch a particular video, and it sounds crazy to move out just to access a piece of unavailable content.
The good news is that you don’t need to move out or go abroad. In today’s article, I’ll talk about several ways to fix “This video is unavailable in your country” and eliminate the problem in merely a few minutes. With this fix, you’ll be able to unblock any video effortlessly on YouTube or elsewhere.
Video Unavailable in Your Country? Fix It Quickly!
If you’re having trouble with the video unavailable in your country, you’re encountering a geo-restriction. You can overcome geo-blocks with a VPN, which will change your IP to the required country and enable you to access the video. To do that:
- Get a VPN. We prefer NordVPN with a 65%+ discount + that applies to all already affordable 2-year plans.
- Install NordVPN on your device and open the app.
- Sign in with the credentials you provided in the first step.
- Connect to a server in the country where the video is available and watch it.
The “video unavailable in your country” error can be fixed in other, albeit, less effective ways. They include using proxies, modifying the video URL, and downloading the video. However, using a VPN remains the top solution for this purpose.
Why Do I See “This Video Is Unavailable in Your Country?”
Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room and explaining why this error appears. Obviously, it appears because the video isn’t available in your country but there are several reasons behind it. First of all, the publisher of the video might’ve intentionally made it unavailable for your region.
This can happen due to ownership of rights, for example. Another reason is that a particular video can be restricted due to your country’s laws. If it’s a video about gambling, let’s say, and you live in an Islamic country, chances are it’ll be restricted.
Islamic countries ban gambling/betting explicitly, so a video about this topic will naturally be prohibited. Moving on, another reason the video is unavailable in your country might be because of its insulting nature or political background.
This, once again, falls into the category of legal issues that are most often the reason for the ban. The good thing is that the problem isn’t an impenetrable brick wall, and is, in fact, very easy to circumvent. Let’s see how to get over this annoying issue.
This Video Is Unavailable in Your Country: The 5 Easy Fixes
Okay, so unblocking a restricted site is fairly simple if you know what you’re doing. The fixes that we’ll give you are proven to work and we tested them multiple times. Here’s what to do to unblock a blocked video that’s not available in your country.
1. Use a VPN
For me, the best and most reliable method of unblocking a video is by using a VPN. A VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and it’s a service that allows you to change your IP address to another country. In doing so, you get multiple benefits.
For one, you’ll change your online location, which will allow you to unblock the restricted video. YouTube, or any other platform, will see your new IP from another country and “think” you’re located in that country, which should allow you to access the video easily.
The second benefit is the ability to encrypt your traffic and make yourself anonymous online. As such, when using a VPN, your ISP won’t be able to track your activities and see what you’re doing. This is why VPNs are used for privacy and anonymity in online activities.
Here’s how to use a VPN to unblock a video that isn’t available in your country.
- Subscribe to a VPN service. We recommend NordVPN because of its 65%+ discount for all three 2-year plans, along with a 30-day refund policy for all plans. We found it excellent for changing location on YouTube TV and unblocking videos in general, so it’s my #1 choice for this purpose.
- Download and install NordVPN to your device. It’ll work on every platform, so you can install it on Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, macOS, Smart TV, and Fire TV Stick.
- Open NordVPN and sign in with the credentials provided in Step 1.
- Connect to a VPN server in another country. If a video is unavailable in your country, try connecting to a server in a country where the video might be available.
- Refresh the page and see if the error is removed. If the video works, great. If you get the same message, connect to a server in another country and try again – one of them will eventually work.
Using a VPN is the best way to unblock a video that’s unavailable in your country. You can always get a refund if needs be but we recommend using a VPN in the long run. It’s great for streaming on Netflix and other services, downloading torrents anonymously, going on the dark web safely, and much more.
Feel free to read our explanation of what a VPN is and how it works to learn more.
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2. Try a Proxy
When a particular video or website isn’t available, people often turn to proxies. Using a proxy usually yields solid results in unblocking restricted content, but it’s not the safest option. One proxy I recommend is the one offered by Hide.me.
It’s a free proxy that’s relatively safe to use and works well. However, a proxy isn’t as capable as a VPN and usually isn’t the best option for restricted content compared to a VPN. On top of that, free proxies are very slow and they don’t have any kind of encryption.
This means you get no additional protection and you can still be tracked online even though you have another IP. Moreover, free proxies are known for tracking your browsing activities and storing logs of your IP, online history, and whatnot.
Aside from Hide.me Proxy, many times, you don’t know who is behind the proxy you’re using. It can be a malicious entity looking to profit off of your privacy. On the good side, a proxy is simple to use and requires you to visit its site, type in the URL of the video, and press Enter.
A proxy will then transfer you to the site and the video will most likely work. We recently talked about proxies and VPNs and the way they work. I explained their differences and mentioned why VPNs are better as a long-term solution.
A proxy will work to unblock a video unavailable in your country, however. If you don’t mind the privacy risks associated with it, then by all means go for it. If you want additional benefits of a VPN, the first solution is significantly better.
3. Download the Video
A solution you can always try is to download the video. Now, how can you download the video that isn’t available? Well, you might’ve heard about various YouTube downloaders online that can download any video from this platform in respectable quality.
Simply visit any of those sites, copy and paste the URL, and download the video. Usually, you’ll download it in MP4 to your device and be able to watch it even offline on your device. This solution is very simple and doesn’t require any technical prowess, making it accessible to anyone.
If we’re talking about a video that isn’t on YouTube, you can also use this solution. Video downloaders are available online, allowing you to download videos from Bitchute, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo, and other services, so you’re not limited strictly to YouTube.
4. Modify the Video URL
When a video is not available in your country and it’s on YouTube, a good way to fix the issue is to modify the URL. You see, modifying the URL accordingly usually does the trick, although the platform had a few patches that sometimes render this solution futile.
Still, it’s worth trying if you’re looking to unblock a video that’s unavailable in your region. To modify the URL properly, replace “watch?v=” in the URL of the video with “/v/” and press Enter. In doing so, the video should be available no matter your location.
If the solution still isn’t working, I recommend trying other solutions from our list, as they’re more reliable.
What If None of the Solutions Work?
When trying to unblock a video that’s unavailable in your country, you might encounter particular problems. For some users, none of the solutions will work but there’s a way to ensure they do by following these few tips.
Clearing Browser Cache and Cookies
If you still can’t access the video you want, consider clearing your browser cookies and cache. Browser cookies are often the culprit when you can’t successfully change your IP address and unblock restricted sites and platforms.
This is because they’re used to detect your real location, which conflicts with the new IP and results in a situation where you still can’t unblock the site. Simply go to your browser, clear the cache and cookies completely, restart the browser, and try again.
The blocked video should now work without particular problems.
Using Another Browser
One solution I often find odd is to change the browser I’m using. For some reason, this seems to work for me more often than not, especially when I switch from Chrome to Edge or Brave. I just copy the URL of the video into another browser, press Enter, and boom! Everything seems to work.
This will not work if you’re not applying any of the 4 solutions I presented, though. You still have to use a VPN, employ a proxy, or use another fix. If none of them are working with one browser, switch to another and you should be good to go.
Switching to Another VPN Server
For VPN users, you might encounter an error message again if you connect to a particular VPN server. The solution can be to go for another VPN server instead and try again. In 99% of the cases, this will fix the issue and allow you to unblock a video unavailable in your country.
Other solutions include using different protocols, enabling obfuscation, and other similar troubleshooting methods. However, changing the server seems to do the job perfectly fine and you don’t have to tweak any other settings.
Using Another VPN or Proxy Service
If everything fails, consider using another service, be it a proxy or a VPN. If you’re using a free VPN, you should consider going for a premium solution like NordVPN. Free VPNs aren’t capable of unblocking restricted content to the same extent, which is why they often fail to work.
If you stick to a reputable VPN or a safe and secure proxy, you will not have any problems. I also recommend checking my guide on the top 3 VPNs for YouTube where I talk about how to use them to unblock any YouTube video no matter your location.
Conclusion
With everything explained, the “The video is unavailable in your country” problem should be fixed. Our recommended way is to use a VPN because you get plenty more benefits in terms of security, streaming, torrenting, and even saving money on online purchases.
A proxy is a solid solution too but it’s more for short-term needs and accessing blocked sites without encryption and other merits. If you want a video-specific solution, you can try downloading the video or modifying the URL, which should work with a high percentage of success.
Now go ahead, test the solutions I presented, and enjoy. As you can see, accessing blocked content isn’t so hard after all, especially when talking about videos unavailable in your country.
