As you know, geoblocking filters are spreading, i.e. excluding certain countries from a video on YouTube. That’s annoying, but at least it’s displayed. Now there are also hidden videos that are not even listed. We’ll show you a way to find them.

YouTube does not show videos via geoblocking in listings

In our case the circumstance was to want to see an old Columbo episode with Johnny Cash in the YouTube app that had been started on the Mac. Ironically, it wasn’t there at all. Also the same search words did not bring the desired result in the app. The meticulous scrolling of the profile (simultaneously on the Mac and the iPhone) showed: The desired video was simply missing in the listing on the iPhone (both screenshots of the iPhone for the sake of simplicity).

The question was: why? The question was quickly answered: in the Opera browser on the Mac the VPN connection was switched on. So we had an IP in Switzerland and not in Germany. The counter-test confirmed this: VPN connection off: Columbo episode is not even displayed, VPN connection on: Columbo is ready for streaming. We didn’t even have to be in a particular country, it was just about not being in Germany. In addition, we would never have discovered the video if we hadn’t had VPN on by accident – so YouTube lists out directly without the usual “The video isn’t available in your country” message coming up.

So far so interesting, but how to watch it now on the iPhone? Very simple: we also need a VPN connection. If you don’t need it professionally and want to work through our extensive instructions, you can simply get a browser for iOS that already has VPN installed: Aloha. If you click on the sign in the navigation bar in the upper left corner, a VPN profile will be stored in the settings, which you can use to surf. If you now call the desired Columbo episode in the Aloha browser, it will also be played, YouTube sees another country again. Interesting: if you now open the YouTube app, the corresponding sequence will be listed here as well – until the VPN connection is automatically terminated (because Aloha is no longer open).

Conclusion of the story: with some videos you don’t have to be in a certain country, it’s enough to be *not* in a certain country (according to the IP). In addition, you should simply look for interesting videos with VPN connection, if you are in the wrong country for the geolocation filter, they are simply no longer listed. Have fun discovering!