How to Unblock TikTok: Access TikTok From Anywhere in 2025
Countries and schools worldwide are trying to ban TikTok due to privacy concerns. If you still want to use it despite such bans, here’s how to unblock TikTok with a VPN.
Written by Andrej Hadji-Vasilev (Writer)
Reviewed by Samuel Chapman (Writer, Editor)
Facts checked by Vildana Bratic (Video Editor, Fact-Checking Editor)
Last Updated:
All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.
TikTok is banned in India and Afghanistan, and the app is also banned on government devices for many countries. Plus, in April 2024 the U.S. passed a sell-or-ban law that could have led to the app being banned in January 2025. This article will explain how to unblock TikTok from anywhere.
Whether you want to unblock TikTok on your mobile device or on your desktop browser, you can do so with a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN will not only give you a new IP address in a different location where TikTok isn’t restricted, but also add some always-welcome security to your internet connection.
Several providers have a VPN server in locations where the social network isn’t blocked, but when stacked against each other, three VPNs stand out. We’ll go over the best VPNs for unblocking TikTok, starting with our top pick, NordVPN. Before we do that, though, we’ll briefly discuss why TikTok is banned in the first place.
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05/23/2023 Facts checked
We updated the article to include information about Montana passing a law to ban TikTok, and the social media platform filing a first-amendment lawsuit against the state.
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11/14/2023
Updated the article to reflect ExpressVPN’s expansion of server presence from 94 to 105 countries.
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03/19/2024 Facts checked
Updated the article to reflect the latest U.S. TikTok ban proposal.
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04/24/2024 Facts checked
Updated the article to include information on the passed U.S. law that gives TikTok nine months to sell, or be banned.
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10/01/2024 Facts checked
We updated our VPN recommendations to reflect our latest performance testing.
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02/26/2025 Facts checked
This article was updated with more information on NordVPN’s security features, plus general tips on why it’s important to use a VPN to access TikTok.
How to Install the TikTok App in Countries Where It’s Banned
If you live in a country where TikTok is completely blocked, you may find it’s not available on your local app store. You can unblock and access TikTok even despite such limitations — here’s how to do so on both an iOS device and an Android device.
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Install the TikTok App on iOS
- Open the Apple App Store
From your home screen, open the app store.
- Open the Settings
Hit the profile icon in the top-right corner.
- Go to your Account Settings
Tap your name and email address to open the account settings.
- Go to the Country and Region Settings
Tap “country/region” to open the list of locations.
- Choose a New Location
From the list, choose a new location where there aren’t any TikTok bans. Agree to the terms and conditions, and select “none” as the payment method.
- Enter a Billing Address
In the billing settings, enter a billing address from the country you chose. You can use an address generator to get a random address in any country.
- Download TikTok
Now that you have changed your location, you should be able to go to the app store and download TikTok.
Install the TikTok App on Android
- Open the Settings
On your Android device, open the settings.
- Go to the Apps List
From the settings, open the list of installed apps.
- Open the Play Store
In the list, find and open the Google Play Store.
- Clear the App Data
Click on “storage,” and then at the bottom tap “clear data.”
- Connect to a VPN
Use your VPN of choice to connect to a location where TikTok isn’t banned.
- Download TikTok
With the VPN open, you should be able to see and download TikTok from the Play store.
How to Unblock TikTok: Why Is TikTok Banned in Some Countries?
Some countries have banned TikTok due to ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company. The company is listed as privately owned, but it’s headquartered in China, leading to international concerns that the company may share customers’ personal data with the Chinese government.
Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over the platform’s data, including data it has on foreign users, which could potentially expose sensitive information. China’s National Intelligence Law requires any organization to cooperate with the country’s intelligence agencies, so ByteDance would have to abide by a data request.
For this reason, many countries have restricted citizens or government employees from installing the app on their devices.
What Countries Have Banned TikTok?
Both Afghanistan and India have banned TikTok, but there are also several countries that have imposed some kind of restriction. Most have banned it only on government-issued devices, citing national security concerns, but some have bans in place for private users as well. Here are all the countries where you can’t freely use and access TikTok.
TikTok Ban Status
Completely banned, including on private devices
Countries:
- 🇦🇫 Afghanistan
- 🇮🇳 India
Banned on government-issued devices only
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇧🇪 Belgium
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇪🇺 EU
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇹🇼 Taiwan
- 🇬🇧 U.K.
- 🇺🇸 U.S.*
Advisory against using on government devices
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
Note: * Full ban not in effect yet
US TikTok Ban Ultimatum
Back in 2020, the Trump administration attempted to ban the social network in the United States. The attempt was blocked by a federal judge. In June 2021, the Biden administration revoked three of Trump’s executive orders regarding TikTok, but continued investigating how the company uses data.
In December 2022, former U.S. president Joe Biden signed the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, which bans the app from any device owned by the federal government. The FBI and the Department of Justice have an ongoing investigation into ByteDance and its use of TikTok to spy on journalists.
However, momentum to ban TikTok grew again in April 2024. Both the House and the Senate passed bipartisan laws that would ban TikTok from the U.S. unless the parent company, ByteDance, sells its shares of TikTok. Biden signed the law on April 24, 2024.
The law gave the company nine months to start the sale, with an extension of three months if a sale was underway. If ByteDance refused, TikTok was set to be banned nationwide by January 2025.
ByteDance has vowed to challenge the law in court. However, after President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, he signed an executive order to delay the TikTok ban by 75 days. Stay tuned for updates.
Do U.S. States Have TikTok Bans?
At the time of writing, the only U.S. state that has taken legal action to ban users from accessing the platform is Montana. The bill became law on May 18, 2023. However, the law faces legal challenges, including a first-amendment lawsuit from TikTok.
In addition to this, the social media platform has been completely banned from any U.S. government-issued devices and systems as of February 27, as part of the No TikTok on Government Devices Act.
Here is a list of states that have blocked it from government-issued devices at the time of writing:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Why Is TikTok Blocked in Schools?
Also citing security, plenty of schools and companies have restricted access or completely blocked TikTok for those connected to their network. This restriction includes access to the social network on devices that have been issued by the school or company. Schools implement advanced content filtering systems that specifically target social media platforms like TikTok through deep packet inspection.
TikTok’s high bandwidth usage on school and corporate networks is one reason for these restrictions, as video streaming can impact network performance for essential activities. There is a way around it, though — you can use a VPN to unblock access to the app while you’re at school. You’re also securing your connection and making sure the school network administrator can’t snoop on your browsing session.
Is Using a VPN to Unblock TikTok Legal?
At the moment, using a VPN to unblock TikTok is legal — you can use VPN providers such as NordVPN, ExpressVPN or Surfshark to access the app and all its content. This may change in the future if a TikTok ban is implemented by more countries, or if your school network administrator decides to restrict VPNs.
Be aware that sophisticated network administrator detection systems may identify VPN usage, so choose a VPN with strong obfuscation features. In addition, some mobile carriers implement network throttling for TikTok traffic, but a VPN can help bypass these artificial speed restrictions.
While using a VPN is legal, some institutions employ VPN detection systems that flag and block known VPN IP addresses. If you encounter this, look for VPN providers that offer obfuscated servers, which disguise VPN traffic as regular HTTPS traffic to avoid detection.
It’s important to note that when TikTok itself blocks users in a specific country (rather than the country blocking TikTok), a VPN may not work because TikTok can detect user locations through SIM card data, which VPNs cannot mask.
How to Access TikTok With a VPN
Accessing the platform via a VPN app is fairly easy — here’s how to do so. We’ll use NordVPN on an Android smartphone as an example of how to unblock TikTok.
- Sign Up for NordVPN
Go to NordVPN’s website and sign up for a discounted plan. NordVPN’s two-year plan offers 72% off on the first two years with three months free. It’s risk-free with a 30-day refund window.
- Download NordVPN
Go to your device’s app store and download NordVPN. Open the app, then follow the instructions to log in.
- Choose a VPN Server and Connect
Once you’ve downloaded and signed in to the VPN app, click on your desired location on the world map, or find it using the search bar.
- Enjoy Unblocked TikTok
Once you’ve chosen a server, you’ll be able to use TikTok even if it’s banned in your country.
Can I Use a Free VPN to Access TikTok?
There are very few free VPN apps that we’d recommend as safe to use. Our usual suggestions are Windscribe, Proton VPN and TunnelBear, with TunnelBear being the best option to unblock TikTok. Windscribe comes with a fairly small server list, and Proton VPN has only three free server locations.
TunnelBear gives you access to all of its servers on the free plan, though it does have a 2GB data limit. If you only need it for casual use, and don’t intend on watching too many videos, you can certainly use it to unblock TikTok.
When you’re looking into how to unblock TikTok, you will undoubtedly come across proxies. While proxies can deal with countries or a school blocking the app, they offer no security or privacy and may collect your user data. We always suggest using a VPN instead of a proxy to get a new IP address.
The 3 Best VPNs for Unblocking TikTok
Plenty of VPNs can unblock TikTok, and some offer smart DNS features that can help bypass TikTok restrictions while maintaining faster speeds than traditional VPN connections.
It’s important to use a VPN with kill switch technology to automatically stop TikTok traffic if your VPN connection drops, preventing accidental exposure. Consider using a VPN that offers rotating IP addresses as well, which automatically changes your IP address at regular intervals. This makes it harder for TikTok’s systems to track your VPN usage and helps prevent your connection from being flagged as suspicious.
Some VPN providers offer smart rules that can automate your TikTok access. You can set up your VPN to automatically connect to a preferred server whenever you launch TikTok, ensuring you never accidentally open the app without protection.
The three providers below provide the best possible performance and security. They also topped our best VPN for TikTok list. All our recommended VPNs include DNS leak protection to prevent your TikTok activity from being exposed through unsecured DNS queries. They also have easy-to-use apps for all devices that you can use TikTok on, including both mobile and desktop.
1. NordVPN — The Best VPN to Unblock TikTok
Very Fast
Very Fast
Very Fast
If you’re familiar with VPNs, you probably won’t be surprised that NordVPN takes the top spot on this list, as well as on our list of the best VPNs. NordVPN boasts a large server network, with more than 5,000 servers in 60 countries, many of which don’t have TikTok blocked. We talk more about the server list in our full NordVPN review.
NordVPN has apps for all platforms where TikTok is available, making it easy to bypass the block. This includes even smart TVs and gaming consoles, though we found the mobile apps — especially the settings menu — to be a bit complicated to use.
NordVPN’s channel bonding technology combines multiple internet connections to ensure stable TikTok streaming even on restricted networks. NordVPN now offers improved control over local network visibility while connected to VPN, helping prevent potential VPN traffic leaks that could expose your TikTok activity.
When using NordVPN to access TikTok, you can also enable its enhanced Threat Protection Pro feature, which includes DNS filtering to block malicious domains and protect against potential security threats while using the app.
NordVPN utilizes RAM-only servers that automatically wipe all data after each session, ensuring no logs of your TikTok activity are stored. In addition, the service recently introduced NordWhisper, a protocol specifically designed to bypass VPN restrictions without revealing VPN traffic signatures, making it particularly effective for accessing TikTok in restricted environments.
NordVPN now offers post-quantum encryption capabilities, future-proofing your connection against potential quantum computing threats, which makes it an even more secure choice for accessing TikTok. In addition, the expanded “dark web monitor” feature now supports monitoring up to 50 email addresses for data leaks, helping ensure your TikTok-associated accounts haven’t been compromised.
NordVPN’s prices are affordable in comparison to other premium VPNs like ExpressVPN, making it an excellent choice VPN for TikTok.
- **VAT may apply
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
- *The prices are charged in the first billing cycle only. Renewal prices vary.
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
- *The prices are shown only apply for the first 12 months.
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
- **The prices are applicable only for the first 24 months. Secure, high-speed VPN Threat Protection Pro™: Anti-malware and advanced browsing protection Threat Protection Pro™: Ad and tracker blocker Password manager with Data Breach Scanner 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage Identity and SSN monitoring and alerts Credit monitoring services Up to $1M in identity theft insurance Up to $100K in cyber extortion insurance
- 10
2. Surfshark — Best Budget TIkTok VPN With Unlimited Connections
Very Fast
Very Fast
Very Fast
Surfshark is a very solid VPN all around, with consistently high speeds as seen in our VPN speed comparison, and a strong focus on security. It comes with unlimited simultaneous connections, making it easy to share a subscription with others and enjoy videos on multiple devices with a single subscription.
The Surfshark app’s menu also shows MultiHop servers, which tunnel your connection through multiple VPN servers, adding security and concealing your real IP address even better. It’s also a great budget VPN. Surfshark’s only downside is the sometimes inconsistent latency, which you can find out more about in our Surfshark review.
- Unlimited GB bandwidth, Unlimited devices, Secure VPN, Ad blocker, Cookie pop-up blocker. Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
- Yes
- Everything in Starter, plus Antivirus protection, Identity protection, Email Breach and Credit Card Alerts, Online Alias Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
- Everything in One, plus Data removal Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
3. ExpressVPN — Easy-to-Use Premium TikTok VPN
Very Fast
Very Fast
Very Fast
ExpressVPN rounds out our list of recommendations. It has a large server network, with servers in 105 locations, many of which don’t block the TikTok platform. Its TrustedServer technology ensures all servers run on volatile memory, providing an extra layer of security for your TikTok access.
The apps on both desktop and mobile are very easy to use, which is why we put it at the top of our list of best VPNs for beginners. You can find out more about it in our ExpressVPN review.
ExpressVPN doesn’t compromise on performance and security. Its proprietary Lightway protocol has a lightweight codebase and minimal impact on performance, while still offering both AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption. The only downside is ExpressVPN’s pricing, though if you want a new IP address in a secure way, it’s very much worth it.
- Pricing for the annual and biennial plans applies only on the first year.
- Unlimited GB
- 8
- Yes
How to Stay Safe on TikTok
If you’re using TikTok and want to make sure you’re staying safe, there are a few factors you should consider. The first step to take is head to your TikTok app settings and make sure your profile is set to private. This ensures that other users can’t follow you or interact with your TikTok account without your explicit approval.
Once you’ve made your profile private, disabling mentions and tags is a great way to make sure you aren’t tagged in unsafe videos. You can even choose who you want (or don’t want) to message you on the app.
Practice common sense when using TikTok. Avoid engaging with users you don’t know, don’t click on links that seem suspicious and don’t use TikTok when connected to a network you aren’t sure is private and secure. The same applies for other social media networks.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how to unblock TikTok can get you access to all its content even when your location has banned TikTok. Using a virtual private network lets you enjoy videos despite a block, and you’re also adding security to your internet connection.
NordVPN is the best way to unblock TikTok in locations where restrictions are in place. With NordVPN’s risk-free 30-day refund period, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving the service a try. If you want to watch TikTok videos at school and share an account with friends, Surfshark is an excellent alternative.
Do you live in a country where TikTok is blocked? Or are you having issues accessing the app while you’re at school? Which VPN is your choice to unblock TikTok? Let us know in the comments and, as always, thank you for reading.
FAQ
You can bypass TikTok country restrictions and unblock access to the app by using a VPN, which stands for “virtual private network.”
TikTok is completely unavailable in Afghanistan and India.
The first permanent ban of TikTok occurred in India, when the government banned the app in 2020 after a military clash between Indian and Chinese troops. The Indian government claimed that the ban was to protect the data and privacy of its citizens from being transmitted to unauthorized servers.
Yes, India banned the app in 2020, so if you want to use TikTok in India, you’ll need to use a VPN.