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Why Tor “Breaks” Sites

CAPTCHAs, Cloudflare warnings, and “you have been blocked” on Tor: the site is scoring a shared exit IP, not proving that Tor is down.

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A site blocklist hits the exit, not you Three steps. Confirm Tor works at check.torproject.org. The exit IP is shared and scored by the site. Use New Circuit for this Site for a different exit — that is not New Identity. 01 Check Tor check.torproject.org Pass = circuit is up 02 Shared exit Thousands reuse that IP Looks like a bot farm 03 New Circuit Different exit forthis site Not New Identity 01 Check Tor check.torproject.org Pass = circuit is up 02 Shared exit Thousands reuse that IP Looks like a bot farm 03 New Circuit Different exit for this site Not New Identity
If check.torproject.org passes, the circuit works. The site is scoring a shared exit IP. Try New Circuit for this Site, wait, or a Tor-friendlier front door — not a CAPTCHA-solver add-on.

Short answer: A CAPTCHA, a Cloudflare interstitial, or “you have been blocked” usually means the exit IP is on an abuse list. Thousands of strangers share that address. The site’s bot filter cannot tell you from a scraper. That is not the same as “Tor is broken,” and it is not a malware warning about your laptop.

If https://check.torproject.org/ says this browser is using Tor, the circuit works. The destination is being difficult.

What the Project says

The Support page on CAPTCHAs is calm: many people share the same exit; sites treat the volume as unusual; warnings about “spyware” or “infected” traffic are the site reacting to that shared IP, not a diagnosis of Tor Browser.

To their knowledge, most large sites are not trying to ban Tor as a project. Automated abuse systems simply cannot tell Tor exits from suspicious traffic.

What you can do

  1. Confirm Tor works — open https://check.torproject.org/. If it says you are using Tor, skip “reinstall” folklore.
  2. New Circuit for this Site — URL-bar circuit panel → New Tor circuit for this site. A different exit, therefore a different IP. That button does not unlink cookies. When to use it versus New Identity: New Identity vs New Circuit.
  3. Wait and try later — the exit’s reputation can recover when its traffic quietens.
  4. Use a Tor-friendlier front door — the Project names DuckDuckGo as an example that rarely CAPTCHA-loops.

Do not install a “CAPTCHA solver” extension. Extra add-ons break the shared fingerprint: security levels.

What not to conclude

  • “My PC is infected.” The interstitial is scoring the exit.
  • “I should pick an exit country.” The identities page discourages overriding path selection.
  • “I should add a VPN to look normal.” That is a different trust model: Tor vs VPN.
  • “HTTPS is optional because Tor already encrypted it.” The exit still sees HTTP: Tor + HTTPS.

Some sites will stay hostile. That is a destination policy, not a failed install.

Sources

See also: New Identity vs New Circuit, Tor + HTTPS.