The Office is one of the best comedy shows ever made. People especially love the mockumentary style (and who can blame them?).
But where can you watch it in the US?
Well, you used to be able to watch it on Netflix. But not anymore. It left the site at the start of 2021, and moved to Peacock. You can watch the first two seasons for free there. To watch the rest, you’ll have to get a paid subscription. Not the best news if you were hoping to avoid paying for another subscription, but at least the web page for this show on Peacock’s site is really cool.
Can You Watch The Office Anywhere Else?
We’ll let you in on a little secret – you can actually watch this show on Netflix. Yes, even if you’re in the US!
The US Office on Netflix is available in five countries (as far as we know): Canada, the UK, Sweden, Japan, and Australia. We used StreamCatcher to check, which is a very accurate Netflix crawler that tells you where specific titles are available.
Okay, but how do you actually watch this show on Netflix? Do you have to take a “quick” trip to one of those countries just to binge this show?
No, you don’t need to do anything that extreme (unless you really want to). There’s actually a pretty simple way to unblock The Office on Netflix from the comfort of your own home.
How to Watch The Office on Netflix in the US – Just Use a VPN!
A VPN is the best way to unblock any geo-restricted content you want. It stops anyone from seeing what country you’re from, so sites like Netflix can’t tell you which shows and movies you can and can’t stream.
How do VPNs do that?
Simple – they hide your IP. Instead of it, Netflix will only see the VPN’s IP address (specifically the IP of the server you’re connected to).
As long as you’re using a server in a country where The Office is available, you’ll have no problems unblocking it. You can use any server you want, but we recommend the Canadian one cause it’s the closest to the US (so you get better speeds). Also, avoid the Japanese servers since the Japanese library only has the first three seasons of the show.
Which VPN Should You Use?
All VPNs say they unblock Netflix, but that’s not really true or accurate. Many services actually can’t unblock the site all the time, while others can only unblock Netflix libraries you might not be interested in (ones that don’t have The Office).
We tested over 20 VPNs to see which ones offer the best streaming experience. ExpressVPN is our top pick because we never encounter any issues unblocking The Office with it.
What’s more, we had excellent speeds thanks to ExpressVPN’s proprietary protocol: Lightway. It has lightning-fast speeds and amazing connection times. On average, it took us a fraction of a second to connect to a server.
Besides ExpressVPN, three more services offered us great streaming:
- NordVPN – This provider has fast speeds, can easily unblock Netflix, and offers the best security features we have seen so far.
- CyberGhost VPN – Fast and easy to use, CyberGhost VPN also has dedicated Netflix servers. They refresh their IPs more often to avoid detection.
- Surfshark – Surfshark is really fast, but its highlight is its support for unlimited parallel connections. You can use this VPN to watch The Office on as many devices as you want!
If you know other great VPNs that let you unblock this show (or other popular Netflix titles), please mention them in the comments.
Is It Possible to Unblock The Office with a Free VPN?
It is, but we don’t recommend trying it. Most free VPNs are risky to use because they log your data, spam you with ads, and even expose you to malware.
And even the free VPNs that have a legitimate business model behind them (like a paid subscription besides the free plan) aren’t really worth using.
Why?
Because they often impose bandwidth caps. Generally, it’s somewhere between 500 MB and 2 GB per month. For reference, Netflix can consume up to 3 GB per hour if you watch HD content. So you might be able to watch one-two episodes of The Office per month (best case scenario).
ProtonVPN is the only service we found that has a free plan with no bandwidth caps. However, they say that you’ll only get medium speeds. So you might still have to deal with annoying buffering during episodes.
Overall, it’s just better to get a paid VPN. If you pick a long-term subscription, you’ll save a lot of money. And most top VPNs have a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee. So if they can’t help you unblock The Office on Netflix, you just ask for your money back and move on to the next service.
Can You Unblock The Office on Netflix with a Proxy?
Yes, you might be able to do that. Proxies do the same thing as VPNs – they hide your IP, so Netflix won’t know what country you’re from.
However, proxies are less secure because their encryption is weaker. Sometimes, they don’t use any at all. Not only does that put your traffic at risk, but it also makes it easy for your ISP to throttle your bandwidth. With a VPN, they can’t do that due to the encryption. They just can’t see what you’re doing online.
We personally recommend using a VPN. But if you want to try unblocking The Office with a proxy, go for it. If it works well, let us know.
How Do You Watch The Office in the US?
Did you bite the bullet and signed up for Peacock, or do you use a VPN to unblock the show on Netflix? Which method do you like more and why? Please let us know in the comments.
