How to Fix It When You Can’t Turn off Restricted Mode on YouTube by Network Administrator

Troubleshooting restricted mode turned on by network administrator on YouTube

This post: How to Fix It When You Can’t Turn off Restricted Mode on YouTube by Network Administrator

You’ll see the error “Please check your network administrator restrictions” on YouTube whenever you attempt to access any content that YouTube has labeled as sensitive or disturbing.

The error only displays if network administrator restrictions are set to restricted mode. Users typically can turn off restricted mode in YouTube parental settings, but there are times when you may not have the ability to disable it.

If you’re on a school or work network, the network administrator may have enabled restricted mode on YouTube for all network users. In this case, the only thing you can do is contact your network administrator and discuss whether they can disable restricted access for you. You’ll need a good reason for needing access to this content.
Why Is My YouTube on Restricted Mode By Network Administrator?

Other than a network administrator turning on restricted mode, there are some other reasons you may see this error.

Router DNS settings are set to restrict YouTube content
Browser add-ons can force restricted mode on YouTube
Your browser cache or cookies could retain the old setting even though you’ve changed it
Web security software you have installed may restrict YouTube content

There are other things besides the restricted mode setting that can continue to limit content, so work through each of these and cancel out each potential cause one at a time.

How Do You Fix This Video Is Restricted Please Check Your Network Administrator Restrictions?

The following fixes should clear the issue preventing you from changing the restricted mode setting on YouTube.

Disable browser add-ons and plugins. Disabling add-ons on Chrome and disabling extensions/add-ons on other popular browsers is very easy. Make sure to try disabling them all. It’s an excellent first step to try to see if your browser add-ons are forcing YouTube restricted mode to stay on.

Clear your browser cache. If you’ve attempted to change restricted mode on YouTube and it’s not working, the browser could be trying to load the original video without the settings change. Clearing the cache may resolve this issue.

Disable Screen Time on iOS. You can find this feature in the Android Digital Wellbeing settings. Screen Time is a parental setting feature on mobile phones which can block sensitive YouTube content. If you don’t know it’s enabled, it can block YouTube content even after you’ve turned off restricted mode.

If you’re using the Google Chrome browser, make sure to turn off Chrome’s SafeSearch feature. It’s part of Google’s parental controls, and if it’s enabled, it can restrict YouTube content as well.

Temporarily disable Windows Firewall and Antivirus software. While you’re at it, disable Windows Defender. Any one of these may be interfering with your ability to view YouTube content, so disabling them and testing YouTube is good to try.

Check parental controls on your router. Also, make sure that the router isn’t blocking YouTube by IP address. Either of these router security settings can affect whether you can view YouTube or see restricted content on the platform.

Try using a VPN. It will change the path your computer takes to access the internet. If any network hops are filtering YouTube content, this may fix the issue. If you don’t have access to a VPN, you can try changing your DNS settings to any number of free DNS services, which could also fix the restricted mode issue.

FAQ

How do I turn off restricted mode on YouTube?
To turn off restricted mode on YouTube, launch YouTube in a web browser and sign in. Select your profile icon and then select Restricted Mode: On from the bottom of the menu.

Why can’t I turn restricted mode off on YouTube?
If your account is part of Family Link with a parent acting as the account supervisor, you won’t be able to turn off restricted mode. Or, you may be on a network controlled by another entity, such as a school or library, and it has turned on restricted mode.

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