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HOW TO FIND ACTIVE .ONION DARK WEB SITES (AND WHY YOU MIGHT WANT TO)

By Gavin Phillips
Updated May 07, 2022
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The dark web consists of .onion sites hosted on the Tor network. How do you find
them and where do you go?



The Tor network is a series of interconnected nodes that allows anonymous
internet use. Tor stands for "The Onion Router," while sites hosted on the
service carry the ".onion" top-level domain suffix. Onion sites are inaccessible
from your regular browser. They're part of the invisible part of the internet
known as the deep web. Or, more precisely, the Tor darknet.

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But if you cannot access onion sites using your regular browser, how do you find
onion sites? Read on to find out how to search for onion sites on the Tor
network—and how to stay safe while doing so.


HOW DO YOU ACCESS AN ONION SITE?

You can only access a .onion site through Tor. To access the Tor network, you
need the Tor browser. The Tor browser is a modified Mozilla Firefox browser with
numerous integrated scripts and add-ons to protect your privacy while browsing
onion sites.



The Tor browser is preconfigured to connect to the network, and the developers
strongly advise not messing around with the browser settings unless you know
what you are doing.

Adding to that, the "know what you're doing" is different from a regular browser
in that altering the Tor browser settings can expose your private browsing data
to external sources.

Head to the Tor Project site and download the Tor browser (one of many dark web
browsers). Browse to the download location, find the Tor Browser folder and
select Start Tor Browser. The browser immediately checks for updates. If there
is an update, apply it.




Other browsers focus on privacy and anonymity. Also, is Tor what you need, or
would a basic VPN do the job? We recommend using Tor together with a VPN.




A QUICK WARNING ABOUT ONION SITES

Onion sites, and darknets in general, can host some horrifying content. A large
amount of it is fictional, but there is no doubt you can end up viewing
potentially damaging and compromising material if you are not careful. Most of
the truly awful bits are locked away behind paywalls, proxies within proxies,
and addresses you won't find printed anywhere.



Some would criticize websites for writing about such things—and Tor for enabling
them. Tor's Abuse FAQ provides a good defense, noting that:

> Criminals can already do bad things. Since they're willing to break laws, they
> already have lots of options available that provide better privacy than Tor
> provides.

Law enforcement already knows these areas of the web exist—if not on Tor, they'd
exist elsewhere. As the FAQ also notes, "Traditional police techniques can still
be very effective against Tor."

Read every description before you click any links!




HOW TO FIND ACTIVE ONION SITES

Google Search indexes the entire internet, one page at a time. Web crawlers
(also known as a spider) are internet bots that systematically trawl through
internet pages and index the content. Indexed content is found using a search
engine.



The Tor darknet has similar indexing, though you won't find those sites through
Google. At least, not directly.

No, you need a special Tor search engine instead. Alternatively, numerous sites
curate lists of onion sites, such as The Hidden Wiki, which you can check out
below. There are also onion address search engines such as Ahmia, which allow
you to search the Tor network for onion addresses from your regular browser.


1. THE HIDDEN WIKI



The Hidden Wiki is a general jumping-off point for new darknet visitors. Older
mirror versions of The Hidden Wiki exist but feature several outdated sites as
well as broken links.

The Hidden Wiki contains links for cryptocurrency wallet services, secure
messaging services, domain hosting services, darknet marketplaces, the darknet
versions of popular social networks, various chans (like 4chan, but on Tor), and
much more. It also has a long list of non-English language sites too.

It's often listed as one of the best darkweb sites to visit, but you really
should take the links on there with a pinch of salt. Many of the onion sites
listed there are fake, scams, or otherwise.




2. AHMIA.FI



Ahmia.fi is a clearnet website you can use to search the Tor network for onion
links, but it has an onion address, too. It's one of the best dark web search
tools currently available, quickly delivering links to onion addresses
containing your search terms.

As with any Tor network search engine, you're always going to have mixed
results. The very nature of the network means that not every address is
searchable, and dark web content isn't indexed nice and neatly like the
clearnet.

Still, you can use Ahmia to find useful onion links, then copy them into Tor
browser for somewhat easier access. Ahmia filters out any content containing
child abuse, but you will still find links to other adult content, so be
careful. MakeUseOf is not responsible for any content you run into while
searching out active onion links!


3. TORCH



Torch is a well-known Tor search engine. However, it doesn't work as a regular
search engine. For instance, using Torch to search for "Facebook" doesn't return
the Facebook onion site (which you can find here). Rather, it returns a list of
posts looking for advice on how to hack Facebook accounts, where to buy stolen
Facebook accounts, and so on.



Comparatively, if you use Google to search for Facebook, you end up on the
social media site, as you'd expect. Torch illustrates exactly why searching for
onion sites doesn't always deliver the results you expect.


4. NOT EVIL



If TORCH doesn't help you find what you want, try Not Evil. Not Evil works more
like a regular internet search and is the successor to TorSearch (another Tor
search engine) and the Evil Wiki (another listing site).

For instance, a search for "Facebook" returns the official Facebook onion site.
A search for "Proton" returns the official Proton Mail onion site, and so on.


5. DARK.FAIL



Dark.Fail is one of the best ways to find active and—most importantly—legitimate
onion links. The anonymous journalist behind the account has become a focal
point for the dark web, ensuring that only legitimate links feature on
Dark.Fail, removing sites with questionable motives, that switch to phishing or
other scams, and more.





BE SAFE WHEN BROWSING TOR AND ONION SITES

Most darknet users will tell you the same thing: do not believe everything you
hear.

A huge amount of myth and infamy surrounds the Tor darknet. For the most part,
it isn't true. And if it is true, you don't want to know about it, see it, and
especially not click any link that takes you near it.



Whatever "it" may be.


Really Private Browsing: An Unofficial User’s Guide to Tor
Read Next
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Related Topics
 * Internet
 * Online Privacy

About The Author
Gavin Phillips (1086 Articles Published)


Gavin is the Junior Editor for Technology Explained, a regular contributor to
the Really Useful Podcast, and a frequent product reviewer. He has a degree in
Contemporary Writing pillaged from the hills of Devon, and more than a decade of
professional writing experience. He enjoys copious amounts of tea, board games,
and football.

More From Gavin Phillips



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