How to Avoid Being Rickrolled

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Last Updated: March 10, 2025

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Avoiding a Rickroll

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If You Get Rickrolled

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Q&A

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Tips

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Warnings

Being rick rolled is annoying and can get frustrating, however, you can avoid it with these avoidance tactics. This wikiHow article will teach you how to avoid being rickrolled. (A rickroll is when you see something and it shows Rick Astley singing his song Never Gonna Give You Up instead of what you wanted.)

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Avoiding a Rickroll

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1
Know what to look for. If a video/site is a little too good/interesting to be true, then it's most likely going to be a rick roll or some other Internet prank. (Video ex: How to get a nuke with one kill on mw2 or Jurassic Park 4 Official Trailer.)
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Take a good look at the URL. If, say you wanted to go to the Amazon website, make sure the URL says "www.amazon.com". If it says something slightly different, like "www.amaz0n.com", then it's probably a fake website. Even if it's not a rickroll, it can be something worse, like a scam website.
- If the URL ends in ".edu", you're in the clear-- this ending means that it's an academic website. Similarly, websites ending in ".gov" are from the government. These sites are highly unlikely to have rickrolls on them, but it is still possible.
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Stop it and read the comments if it's a video. Sometimes the creator has multiple accounts and they will say it's not a rick roll. In that case, check the date that these accounts were created. A large number of dislikes can point out the rickroll too. Comments and dislikes disabled altogether are also an obvious sign of the rickroll.
- If the dislikes aren't disabled, but the comments are, take a closer look. If you see a button marked "Try YouTube Kids", then you're probably safe-- this means that the video's comments are disabled because the video is for kids (or was wrongly marked as for kids by the AI). If the video is about something controversial like politics, that could also justify the comments being disabled. If neither of these apply, though...
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Look under the like/dislike bar. Often YouTube will insert an advertisement to buy the song, so you can pause the video before it starts the song.
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Try using search engines that suggest the sites to avoid sites where you get rick rolled. These will send you to the right sites (Ex: Bing.com.)
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Remember rickrolls usually happen on interesting subjects. If you are very interested in a video/site it may be a rick roll. Sometimes people like to pretend a rickroll is a website you visit daily, like a school website or a news website. People may try to get you to click on a popular website and disguise it as a rick roll. This is uncommon.
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Download an automatic pause plugin. When you open a YouTube video, it automatically starts playing. There are plugins for all browsers that automatically pause the video when you open the page. That way you can check the comments before to make sure it's not a rick roll.

Part 2

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If You Get Rickrolled

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1
Don't get too frustrated. If you get rickrolled, never let yourself get too mad, as this will only make it worse. Of course, we can't really control how we feel, but we can choose not to dwell on things that we dislike. For instance, if what you thought was an informative video turns out to be a rick roll, you might think, "Well, that's annoying-- I guess I'll have to search on Wikipedia instead of YouTube", rather than leaving an angry comment.
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Learn to like the song. If you're going to get rickrolled, you might as well enjoy it. If, however, you can never like the song no matter how hard you try to teach yourself to, don't sweat it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it's a negative opinion. Also, if you hate being rickrolled despite liking the song, that's OK too. After all, nobody wants to be promised something and then get something different.

Community Q&A

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Question

What is the average time of a rickroll?

Community Answer

It is usually the entirety of the song.

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Question

What does it mean to get rickrolled?

Bruce

Community Answer

This is an internet meme where you click on a link and it takes you to a video of Rick Astley's "Never gonna give you up" song. For example, a link can say "Click here to see how to get to college free!" but it takes you to a video.

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Question

Why do people rick roll?

Bruce

Community Answer

It is just for fun! Its a harmless prank. However, when rickrolling someone, try not to get their hopes up too much.

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Tips

If a YouTube link ends in "XcQ", it is highly likely it is a rickroll. Very few videos end in that same URL, and of them, rickroll is the most commonly spread.

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Be fast at pressing pause because the comments do help.

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If you're on YouTube, pause the video and scroll along the bottom. That will enable you to see stills from the video without actually watching it. If you see a picture of Rick Astley or words from the song, then it's a rickroll.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

With experience, you'll better recognize elaborate rickroll traps. But stay vigilant since tactics evolve. If extremely curious about something, proceed with extra caution.
If frustration sets in after finally getting fooled, take a breather. Getting mad won't help and will spoil your mood further. Learn what you can and move on.
Carefully inspect links first, especially if a title seems too good to be true. It's likely clickbait or a prank. Cross-reference sites to verify legitimacy.
Disable video auto-play in your browser. This lets you cautiously read comments first before diving in. Many plug-ins can do this automatically. Very handy.
Consider appreciating the song itself regardless of the prank. You might as well embrace what you can't always avoid! A lighthearted mindset goes far.
Watch for subtle URL misspellings. "amaz0n" not "amazon" for example. Also confirm site extensions like .edu and .gov, which offer more credibility.

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Warnings

Never tell other people that you're trying to avoid being rickrolled. They might use it against you.

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If you follow these instructions, but it happens anyway, this might make it more frustrating since your plans didn't work. If that happens, though, watch a different video to take your mind off it.

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