YouTube’s content guidelines prevent users from uploading content others would normally need to watch in an incognito window. That doesn’t mean the content on the site is suitable for everyone. YouTube has a special Kids app that lets parents control what their kids can watch on YouTube. YouTube also places age restrictions on viewing certain types of videos. These are mostly videos with a lot of violence or nudity. Strong language doesn’t fall under this category; you can watch all of Grade A Under A’s videos without having to prove you’re at least 18 years old. If you click on a video that asks you to sign in to watch it, you don’t really need to sign in. There’s a pretty neat trick you can pull with the URL of an age restricted YouTube video to by-pass the age restriction. Here’s how it works.
A YouTube video’s URL looks like this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS00xWnqwvI
The URL of an age-restricted URL has the same structure; the main domain name, followed by ‘watch?v=’ and the video’s unique ID i.e. the series of random letters and numbers.
If you click on a video that’s age-restricted, you need to simply replace the ‘watch?v=’ part with ‘v/’. This is what the modified URL should look like;
https://www.youtube.com/v/rS00xWnqwvI
This little trick has been around for a long, long time. It’s possibly the easiest way around an age-restricted YouTube video. It requires no add-on or extension and will work regardless which browser you’re using.
The URL in the example above isn’t for a restricted video so if you’re looking for something to test this trick on, search YouTube for the unrated version of Blurred Lines. I should mention this video is age restricted because it has excessive nudity so watch it at your own risk. I couldn’t find anything with enough violence to warrant an age restriction.
Tell your friends, and use this trick for good only.