Support Center / Download and setup / How to use the Proton VPN macOS app

How to use the Proton VPN macOS app

Our app runs on macOS 10.12 and higher and is the recommended way to use Proton VPN on your MacBook, Mac mini, iMac, or Mac Pro. It provides the easiest way to connect to our servers and allows you to benefit from many of Proton VPN’s advanced features. For example:

Download Proton VPN for macOS

If you have an older Mac, you can use Proton VPN by manually configuring OpenVPN on it. If your device runs macOS 10.11 or higher, you can also manually configure it using IKEv2 or WireGuard.

How to install the Proton VPN app

By default, macOS only allows apps to be installed from the macOS App Store. To install the Proton VPN app, you’ll need to adjust your Mac’s settings to allow apps to be installed from other sources. To do this (if you haven’t done so already), open Settings → Privacy & Security → Security → Download applications from and select App Store and identified developers.

1. Download the Proton macOS VPN app, go to your Downloads folder in Finder, and double-click the Proton VPN DMG file to mount it.

2. Drag the Proton VPN app to your Applications folder.

3. Double-click ProtonVPN app in your Applications folder or open it using Launchpad.

4. You may see the following confirmation request when first opening the app. Click Open.

5. Sign in using your Proton Account username and password. You can also enable Start on Boot to automatically open the Proton VPN app after starting your computer. If you don’t have an account, you can sign up for one.

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6. The first time you run the Proton VPN app, the System Extension Blocked notification will appear. Click Open System Settings.

7. Scroll down to Security → Some system software requires your attention before it can be used and click the Details… button.

8. After verifying your identity using Touch ID or your system’s password, toggle both ProtonVPN switches on and click OK.

9. Return to the Proton VPN app, where you’ll be given the option to tour our features.

Note: If you’re running macOS 12 (Monterey) or earlier, the instructions for enabling new connections are different. Please see our support article on how to change VPN protocols for full details.

How to use Proton VPN on macOS

Quick connect

To immediately connect to a VPN server, click the Quick Connect button. This connects you to the fastest VPN server for your location (if you’re on our Free plan, we’ll automatically connect you to a server in the Netherlands, Japan, Romania, Poland, or the United States).

The first time (only) that you connect using Proton VPN, you’ll be asked if you wish to add VPN configurations to macOS. Click Allow.

You are now connected to Proton VPN.

Connect to a specific country

If you are on any paid Proton VPN plan, you can connect to any of our high-speed servers in 70+ countries. To connect to the fastest server in the country of your choice, hover your mouse pointer over the country → Connect.

To connect to a specific server in a country, click V next to the country of your choice to see a list of servers in that country. Hover your mouse over your server of choice → Connect.

Some servers have special uses. These are clearly labeled:

Tor servers: Onion icon
Steaming servers: Play button icon
P2P servers: Double-arrow icon

Advanced connection options

From the Countries tab, you can configure a number of advanced connection options:

Connection profiles

If you regularly use the same custom connection settings, you can save them as VPN connection profiles to make it easy to connect using those settings. To create and manage connection profiles, click the Profiles tab.

Learn how to create and manage VPN connection profiles

The Proton VPN macOS app menu

To access the Proton VPN app menu, click Proton VPN app, then click the macOS menu bar → Proton VPN.

From here, you’ll be able to access the following functions:

About Proton VPN — Information about the app, including version, the last time the app was updated, and the changelog
Check for updates — You should be automatically alerted when new updates are available for the app, but you can use this function to check for updates manually, the Proton VPN plan you have, and manage your account
Settings — Change general, connection, or advanced settings
Profiles — View and edit connection profiles that you have created
Help — Shows various help-related functions, including links to our Support section and for reporting issues

Proton VPN Settings

In the General tab, you can:

Choose to start the app when Windows first boots up
Choose to start Proton VPN minimized to the Windows System tray or Taskbar.
Turn Notifications on or off
Enable early access to get the latest pre-release version of Proton VPN
Enable alerts when you connect to unknown networks

In the Connection tab, you can:

Enable auto connect when the app starts and if the app disconnects unexpectedly.
Decide the criteria our Quick Connect function uses to select a server (Fastest or Random)
Change VPN protocols or use Smart Protocol.
Disable VPN Accelerator (it’s enabled by default, as there is no real advantage to doing this)
Allow LAN connections so you can access local resources, such as your printer, when the VPN is running

DNS leak protection is always enabled.