Staying safe on the dark web requires even more vigilance than the public internet. Scammers and criminals are lurking everywhere to take advantage of the unwary. Follow the pointers below to avoid becoming a victim if accessing the dark web.
Media Outlets With A Secret Door
The Hidden Wiki is a popular directory listing useful .onion websites and dark web search engines. Wherever you go online, but especially if you’re on dark web websites, using a VPN helps you secure your communication data and protect personal information you send or receive. Avast SecureLine VPN encrypts all of your internet traffic to help block hackers and keep snoops out. Install Avast SecureLine VPN today to browse safely and securely, wherever your online travels take you.
Top 10 Best Dark Web Search Engines In 2025 Safe & Anonymous Browsing Tools For Tor Users
Confidential government files and pages tied to unlawful trafficking often get filtered out. While many dark websites appear sketchy, The New York Times is an exception. It offers reliable news coverage without exposing readers to harmful or illegal material. It serves the same purpose as ProPublica – facilitating access in countries where it may otherwise be restricted. I personally recommend Tor over VPN because it’s the safer option — the VPN encrypts your traffic and changes your IP address, so the Tor network can’t see them. That’s helpful because Tor can suffer IP leaks and malicious actors can run Tor servers.
Facebook Onion Site
If you must explore sites like The Hidden Wiki, do so with extreme skepticism, never download files, never enter personal info, and never send cryptocurrency to unknown sites. OnionLand offers a clean design with a simple user interface that includes search suggestions. The search engine allows you to look for old V2 onion addresses, images, and content on I2P. It also conducts searches across both the clearnet and dark web by leveraging multiple indices, so you can filter searches to focus exclusively on the darknet or span both realms.
An easy way to find content on the dark web is to receive a link from someone who already knows about it. These sites aren’t just important resources; they’re like lifelines used to serve readers living under oppressive regimes. Keybase is a fantastic onion website that lets you cryptographically bring your different online identities together. Look no further if you want good music while navigating the dark web. It aims to advance research on terminal illnesses like cancer with access to unbiased scientific publications. Sci-Hub is a massive database that eliminates the barriers to getting scientific knowledge.
What Is A Dark Web Search Engine?
Download AVG Secure VPN to encrypt your internet connection and protect your privacy wherever you go on the web. Your IP is still being revealed to one of the nodes in the onion, meaning your activity and identity can be unmasked. Facebook joined the dark web way back in 2014, and it remains a viable way to access the website in China and other countries that block it.
Why Is Tor So Slow?
Many of them are safe for beginners to use since they filter out dangerous/illegal content to only provide safe .onion links. My favorites are DuckDuckGo (usually the Tor browser’s default search engine), The Hidden Wiki, and Ahmia. The dark web is the part of the internet that’s not indexed by public search engines like Google.
Legal And Safe
For individuals in locations facing strict restrictions or those under oppressive governments, ProPublica is the perfect platform to share their stories. ProPublica aims to bring controversial, repressed stories into the open for all to see. It publishes news in English and other major languages like Italian and Spanish. Think of this as a hub for information on just about anything you’re looking for, regardless of the topic — yes, even juicy conspiracy theories. On Hidden Wiki, you can find working links to sites like ProPublica, Facebook, Deep Web Radio, and more. With each random server, your traffic bounces off, and a layer of encryption gets added.
FAQs On The Best Dark Web Search Engines
You could try to visit a major site like Facebook’s onion site to check if your browser is working at all. This would verify if it’s a browser issue or just an issue with the site. Facebook is aware of attempts by many governments to restrict access to a tool that allows strangers across the web to talk and collaborate freely. While its .onion address doesn’t make it much easier to maintain an anonymous account, it does make Facebook more accessible in places where it’s censored.
The dark web is a part of the internet that you only step into with a specific tool (Tor, more on this later in the article). Though people usually think of dark websites as the wrong online place, that’s not the complete truth. Although the underground internet world is rife with everything bad, it also hosts positive elements.
Commercial Services
ProtonMail’s end-to-end encryption makes it one of the best onion sites for easy-to-use, secure, anonymous email. Riseup is a volunteer-run social movement organization that offers email, email lists, a VPN, online chat, and other online services for political activists engaged in various causes. Riseup’s services can be accessed on the surface web or via Tor websites if users want to protect their anonymity.
- The dark web version is Hidden Answers, where users can discuss a wide range of topics anonymously.
- It’s one of the most well-known secret search engines on the dark web.
- It aims to preserve the internet’s scientific and cultural heritage.
- In many places, including the U.S., the UK, and the EU, accessing the dark web is legal for legitimate purposes.
- Unlike many dark web search engines, Ahmia is accessible on both the surface web and Tor, allowing broader access to its indexed content.
- If you’re worried about the searches you’ve done on Google, learn how to delete your Google search history.
- In addition, they share information of great importance, about the Tor network and the Tor project.
- Click its “Onionize” button to search the onion links for any other dark web websites.
- The Mail Plus plan adds up to 15 GB of storage, unlimited messages, and 10 email addresses, plus advanced email settings (like automatic forwarding).
- For this reason, you must watch out and avoid opening anything that looks suspicious to you.
The deep web is just the part of the internet you can’t find with a search engine. It’s not mysterious or spooky; it’s home to everyday things like scientific research, medical records, private financial information, and secure communications. Just remember that this is a Dark Web resource, which means that much of the content is likely in breach of copyright. That said, it is one of the most famous and popular Dark Web sites, and it does have legitimate uses. For instance, in the UK, any book older than 70 years old (past the date of the author’s death) is no longer subject to copyright restrictions. This means you can safely download older manuscripts and other public domain works.
Tor websites may provide secure access to cryptocurrency wallets and anonymous email clients, and they’re also used to access black market sites. Additionally, hidden wiki websites function as directories of categorized .onion links, providing common entry points for users delving into the hidden internet. These are the top 10 dark web search engines that allow easier access to the hidden corners of the internet. These search engines allow users to access onion dark web pages without setting up expermental labs or using specialized equipments. Several dark web search engines allow people to explore this hidden part of the internet.
This is where an Onion website, like the Tor browser, comes in handy. Many social media platforms keep their presence on the dark web, and it is no surprise that Facebook has a .onion portal. Facebook’s dark web version allows users to access the site where it is banned or restricted. Although the social application is known for collecting data on its platform, it does not like sharing the information with others.
