Why does the hosts file in Windows 10 no longer block YouTube?

Question

The file hosts in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc blocks every website, that I put in there except YouTube. It used to block it but no more.

There were always workarounds to go on YouTube, if you used an embedded YouTube Player on another website for example. But now it just works directly. I mean that I can just type the URL youtube.com in and get to the site.

I don't think that it matters, but I use Firefox Browser for testing.

This is how my host file looks like:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
#   127.0.0.1       localhost
#   ::1             localhost

127.0.0.1   youtube.com
127.0.0.1   flashx.tv

Hmm, this is embarassing ... but it seems to work. Still no other website I added to the hostfile requires that (the blocking effect still works without the "www"). — Paul Erlenmeyer, Mar 03 '19 at 08:06
www.youtube.com and youtube.com are not the same address. m.youtube.com is yet a third one. When it comes to resolving the destination address... they have nothing in common. And that's what the Hosts file is for... creating static address resolutions. If the other sites you have "blocked" aren't having the same issue then it's only because you haven't use a hostname that leads to the same site but isn't in your hosts file. Finally, the hosts file is not meant for blocking. And isn't very effective at it because of the above reasons. Consider using a filtering proxy. — Cliff Armstrong, Mar 03 '19 at 08:12
What about using *.youtube.com? This of course doesnt account for any third party CDN servers youtube may use, but it might be able to block youtube and embedded players — QuickishFM, Mar 04 '19 at 11:37
@QuickishFM From the question alone you can see my minor knowledge in networks and webtechnology. I write here from the point of view of a consumer :). Still sounds interesting, I ll try to use that to block embedded players. — Paul Erlenmeyer, Mar 04 '19 at 13:16
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score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 17 '20 at 03:01

3

I also encountered the same issue, but I found that the browser accesses youtube via the cached ip address. So, the easy solution was to remove the cache data from the browser and try accessing youtube. It should now be blocked. This trick worked for me.

answered Nov 17 '20 at 03:01

Bishal Bhandari

31

that's it. works – Kamilos Apr 06 '21 at 12:12

Why does the hosts file in Windows 10 no longer block YouTube?

1 Answers1

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