Windows 11 only reaches Google and YouTube unless I use a VPN

Think back to anything you changed while trying to get unblocked. A proxy, firewall rule, altered network profile, or VPN kill switch could prevent desktop apps from connecting while browser traffic still works. Check Windows proxy settings, firewall permissions, and installed VPN software. Firefox’s built-in VPN normally affects only Firefox, so it should not directly control Steam or Discord.

This sounds like a DNS or router issue. Check which DNS servers your computer and router are using, and make sure they are valid and reachable. You could temporarily test with a trusted public DNS service such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8, then restart the network connection. Since Google services can sometimes resolve through their own infrastructure, they may continue working even when your normal DNS setup is broken.

I’m not very familiar with PC networking. I only know that the router seemed to block my computer and later allowed it again, and I don’t have a separate VPN installed beyond Firefox’s browser feature.

The important part is figuring out what “blocked” means. If the router blocked this device, someone may have changed parental controls, access rules, or filtering settings. Check the router’s device list and access-control settings, or ask whoever manages the network whether restrictions were enabled.

More details about the network would help: whether other devices work normally, whether websites besides Google load, and what error Steam or Discord displays. Try opening Command Prompt and testing both name resolution and connectivity, such as `nslookup discord.com` and `ping 1.1.1.1`. If the IP test works but the lookup fails, the problem is almost certainly DNS.