The most direct and effective method is to send a friend request. If the user does not know you well, increase your chances of acceptance by:

Attempting to access anything else—like the photo album, friends list, or wall posts—will result in a "This profile is private" message. There's no simple URL trick or basic browser setting that can bypass this.

Include a polite, personalized message explaining who you are.

One of the most effective techniques is looking at past versions of a profile. If a profile was once public and later became private, pieces of its past might be preserved online.

If the profile was public in the past and recently went private, digital archives might have saved a snapshot. Copy the target VK profile URL. Paste it into the (archive.org).

"Unlocking the Secrets: How to View Private VK Profiles and Stay Hot on the Social Scene"

Everything else—photos, videos, full friend lists, wall posts, and comments—remains completely hidden from non-friends.

For entertainment researchers, VK is a live-action reality show. Private profiles protect "Stories," "Longreads," and "Reposts." Getting access is like finding a director's cut of a film you thought you knew.

Before 2018, there were many loopholes, but the social network has since patched most of them, making the platform more secure.