How to Unblock Pornhub

Pakistan blocks porn sites at its international gateway. Its telecom regulator, the PTA, said in November 2024 that it had blocked 844,008 of them, that it stops about 20 million attempts a day to reach them, and that people use VPNs to get round the block. Major porn sites have been barred in Pakistan for years.

VPNs can be a problem there too. Proton VPN reported that from 22 December 2025 Pakistani internet providers were blocking many VPN connections, with Zong and PTCL among the strictest, and that WireGuard over UDP, the standard form that GhostShield also uses, "will usually fail" (Tom's Guide, January 2026). GhostShield has no disguise mode, so it may not connect on your network. Check it during the 7-day free trial before you pay. If one location will not connect, try others, or switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data, since blocking varies by provider.

Do not use GhostShield's Mumbai or Dubai locations for this. They are the closest to Pakistan, but they are in India and the UAE, which block the site too.

Elsewhere, India ordered providers to block 827 porn sites in 2018 after a High Court order, and the ban covers Pornhub. Indonesia has blocked Pornhub since 2017. South Korea blocked 895 overseas sites, Pornhub among them, in February 2019 using SNI filtering, which reads the site name a browser sends when it connects; a VPN hides that name from your provider. Malaysia's regulator, the MCMC, has blocked Pornhub since December 2014, and Singapore blocks it too. In Turkey, porn sites are blocked and Pornhub is among the sites the government has tried to block.

The UAE regulator lists pornography among the content providers must block. Saudi Arabia and Iran filter porn sites too, China has blocked Pornhub since 2013 and Thailand since November 2020. Bangladesh blocked about 20,000 porn and gambling sites in 2019, though the reports do not list which ones.

The state laws make the website prove each visitor is an adult, usually with a government ID or a third-party check. Aylo, Pornhub's owner, says site-by-site ID checks put adults' data at risk and push people to sites that check nothing, and it wants ages checked once, on the phone or computer. Where it disagrees with a law, it blocks the state instead. In its words, "blocking access is a form of compliance."

Louisiana is the exception. Pornhub stays up there and checks ages through LA Wallet, and its traffic in the state fell by about 80% afterwards. Ohio is the other one. Its law took effect on 30 September 2025, but Aylo says Pornhub is an "interactive computer service", a category the law exempts, so the site is still up there while Ohio lawmakers try to close that gap.

That is why the block has nothing to do with your account or your browser. The site goes by the location of your IP address: if it maps to a blocked state, you get the notice. Connect through a GhostShield location in a state without the law, such as New York, Los Angeles or Palo Alto, and the site should load as it does there. GhostShield's Miami location is in Florida, where the site is blocked, so do not use it for this.

The laws put their duties on websites, not on visitors, and none of them makes using a VPN illegal. You still have to be an adult: Aylo says it does not accept minors on its sites under any circumstances, and a VPN changes nothing about that.

Louisiana has required adult sites to check ages since January 2023. Pornhub does it through LA Wallet, a state-approved digital wallet, so you need that app to get in.

In the UK, the Online Safety Act has required "highly effective" age checks on porn sites since 25 July 2025, enforced by Ofcom. Pornhub complied at first, then from 2 February 2026 stopped letting in new UK users; people who had already verified kept access through their accounts. Since 5 May 2026, iPhone users who have confirmed their age through Apple's UK check get the normal site, and Ofcom opened an investigation into that approach in September 2026. GhostShield's London location is in the UK, so it gets the same rules.

In France, Aylo switched Pornhub off on 4 June 2025 in protest at the age-check rules enforced by the regulator Arcom. A court suspended the rules later that month and the site came back, but Aylo blocked it again in July 2025 when France's highest administrative court put the rules back in force, and it was still unavailable there in August 2026. GhostShield's Paris and Gravelines locations are in France, so they get the same block.

In Australia, age-check codes for porn sites took effect on 9 March 2026, and the regulator, eSafety, can seek penalties of up to A$49.5 million for breaches. Aylo responded by showing Australians a version of Pornhub without explicit content. On 6 October 2026 it brought back the normal site for iPhone users who have confirmed their age with Apple, which accepts a credit card, passport, driver's licence or other government ID. GhostShield's Sydney location is in Australia, so it gets the restricted version.

Many adults would rather not hand a passport or a face scan to an adult site. In the first month of the UK checks, Pornhub's UK traffic fell by nearly a third, according to Ofcom's figures, and Aylo quotes a Free Speech Coalition estimate that fewer than 5% of people go through with an age check on an adult site. A check done once on the device, like Apple's, avoids sending ID to each site, which is the approach Aylo supports.

GhostShield has apps for Windows, macOS, Android, iPhone and iPad, and Google TV. Pornhub is a website, so once the VPN is on, the browser on that device goes through it.

Windows 10 or 11: download the installer, run it, sign in with your GhostShield account, choose a location and press Connect. The app shows Protected once the tunnel is up.

Mac (macOS 12 or later): download GhostShield for macOS, open it and sign in, choose Allow when macOS asks to add a VPN configuration, then connect.

Android (8.0 or later): install GhostShield from Google Play, sign in, tap OK when Android asks to set up a VPN connection, then connect. A key icon in the status bar means the VPN is on.

iPhone and iPad: install GhostShield from the App Store, sign in, tap Allow when iOS asks to add a VPN configuration and confirm with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, then connect.

Pick a location outside the blocked places on this page, such as New York, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Canada, Amsterdam or Osaka. Avoid Miami (Florida), London (UK), Paris and Gravelines (France), Sydney (Australia), Singapore, Mumbai (India) and Dubai (UAE). Then check that our IP checker shows the GhostShield location, not yours, and open the site.

Adults can start the 7-day free trial and check GhostShield on their own connection before the first charge. Plans cost $6.99 a month, $4.99 a month on the 1-year plan ($59.88 billed yearly) or $3.99 a month on the 3-year plan ($143.64).

"Server IP address could not be found" or another DNS error: your network is refusing to look the name up, a common way providers block sites. Connect GhostShield first. Its connection settings include a DNS server, so with the VPN on, your device stops using your provider's. To confirm, run our DNS leak test.

A notice from Pornhub saying the site is not available where you are: that is Pornhub's own block, and it goes by your IP address. Switch to a location outside the blocked states and countries.

An age check page asking for LA Wallet, an ID upload or a face scan: the site thinks you are in a place that requires one. Check which location you are connected to.

Your provider's block page, or a page that never loads: the VPN is probably not connected. Open our IP checker. If it shows your own location, reconnect or pick another location.

GhostShield will not connect at all: your network may be blocking VPN connections, as reported in Pakistan since December 2025. Try two or three other locations and switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data. If nothing connects, cancel before the 7-day trial ends and you will not be charged.