Proton VPN is a security and privacy-focused VPN application for Android. If you have an Android device and are looking for a reliable and free VPN client, then the Proton VPN Android VPN app is one of the best options.Note: the Proton VPN app requires Android 6.0 and above.
Get Proton VPN for free on Android
With a single tap, you can connect to hundreds of VPN servers around the world, view blocked sites and content, while also hiding your IP address.
This guide shows you how to use VPN on Android with the Proton VPN mobile app. It also provides an overview of the various features that are included in the Proton VPN Android app. These include:
- Kill switch and permanent kill switch
- Choose between the OpenVPN, WireGuard, and Stealth VPN protocols
- Smart protocol
- DNS leak protection
- NetShield Ad-blocker
- Moderate NAT
- VPN Accelerator
- Alternative routing
It is possible to manually configure OpenVPN and WireGuard on Android, but doing this means you lose all the advanced features available on the Proton app.
Learn how to manually set up OpenVPN on Android
Learn about WireGuard configuration files
Our Android app can also be used to secure your Chromebook.
Learn how to use Proton VPN on your Chromebook
How to install Proton VPN on Android
1. Download, install, and open our app.
2. Sign in using your Proton Account username and password. If you do not have an account yet, get a free Proton VPN account for Android.
How to use Proton VPN on Android
1. Connect to a VPN server.
Once you’re signed in, you will see the Countries server list. If you are on our Free plan, you can use our Free servers in the United States, Netherlands, and Japan. If you are on any paid Proton VPN plan, you can connect to any of our high-speed servers in over 60 countries.
There are several ways to connect to VPN servers.
a) The easiest way to connect to a server is by clicking or tapping the Quick Connect button.
Quick Connect automatically calculates and connects to the fastest VPN server for your location based on factors such as distance to the server and server load.
b) You can also manually select an individual server to connect to. To do this, select a country, then click or tap the On button next to the server you wish to connect to.
c) Go to the Map tab and select a server from our map. You can pinch to zoom in and out of the map.
Click or tap a location once to select it → Connect.
2. If this is your first time using the app, it will ask you to allow the connection request. Click or tap OK.
You are now connected to a Proton VPN server. You can use the internet privately and bypass censorship blocks.
3. To disconnect from your current server, either connect to a different server or select the Disconnect button that appears when you are connected.
Paid features
Proton VPN offers a range of advanced features, some of which are only available if you have a paid plan. To learn more about these, please see:
- How to change VPN protocols or select Smart Protocol
- VPN connection profiles
- Netshield Ad-blocker
- Always-on VPN
- Kill switch (but please note here)
- VPN Accelerator
- Secure Core VPN
Most of these advanced features can be accessed from the Settings menu.
To find this, go to ☰ → Settings.
I don’t understand why companies like yours (which supposedly understand privacy) produce an android app APK and only distribute it through the Google Play Store. How many of your customers do you think are really likely to be completely happy to use the Play Store, which sits there uploading data to the internet 24/7? Have you considered how many of your customers might have already given up on having Google Play, and even having a google account at all?
Can you please provide the APK directly via your website or at least explain on your site why you don’t. If I remember correctly, some of your competitors, like PIA, do provide their APK for download, without requiring their users to use a google account (and have the google play store installed and running) to download it.
Does an agreement with Google prevent you from offering your own software outside of their Play Store? Or what? If so, that sounds like a good reason not to do business with them. If not, then why not provide the APK to your users via your web site. Don’t you trust the security of your own website to distribute a simple APK.
regards,
c
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Hello, We can provide any user with a direct link to download the .APK file from our website upon request. We will add the option to download the .APK from our website very soon as well.
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Hello,
I’d love to get the direct link to the apk as well. Also could you please make it available via f-droid?
thank you very much
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Hello, thank you for the suggestion, we will consider it! http://protonvpn.com/download/ProtonVPN.apk
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Is there a convenient way to set up proton vpn onto firestick?
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Hello Carl, we are sorry to say but currently we have no official guide for doing so.
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I am fresh out of prison (for suing an IRS agent), but still under U.S. government control. Is there any way to determine if they put some kind of hidden software on my phone that gives them access to everything (keystrokes, voice, etc.) I do on this Samsung J7?
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Hello Chad. Sadly, thats not our specialty, finding malware and viruses. You should check some antivirus/malware apps and scan the phone.
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buy a new mobile phone with a real keyboard (not smartphone), get a new phone number
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Hi !
I am still using Android 4 and I am considering registering to your VPN service. However, the ProtonVPN app is not available for this Android version. I would like to know if there are some alternatives ?
I found OpenVPN, but I never used it. Do you have any recommendation or experience with OpenVPN ?
Thanks
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Hello Geoff, we do have a guide for that. https://protonvpn.com/support/android-vpn-setup/
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Hi, I’m running an Android ROM without GApps or Google account. Do you think there would be any security issues if I downloaded the ProtonVPN app via the Aurora Store?
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Hello Tania, It should work but we do not guarantee since we never tested it like this nor we designed it for this.
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My Android phone Android system software update stopped after 1 June 2017. That means the Wi-Fi bug Krack is not patched.
When I logon to open Wi-Fi hotspots (network without any form of encryption), then I open my proton vpn Android app to login my protonvpn username and password. Thereafter, connect to proton vpn server.
Is this safe? Will my proton vpn login details be stolen when sending to proton vpn server over an unsafe open Wi-Fi hot-spot?
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Hello Vincent. Your credentials are safe, they are not being sent as plain text to the network, each user has hash`ed credentials which are not stored anywhere, so unless you have a keyloger on your device, you are safe.
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Hey,I am traveling in China now,can i connect to the vpn services here?
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Hello Alex, currently we are still facing issues with China connections, but some of our users report that newly added servers for basic and plus plans do work for them, so if you are a free user, we do not have a connection alternative right now.
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Why does it say i have not paid for my month of 10 chf when i have an invoice?
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Hello Paul, please contact our customer support team here – https://protonvpn.com/support-form
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Hey i am useing your leatest vresion but it still leaking my ipv6 address.Tell me after how long we get the version that will solve all of these issuses.
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Hello. Please contact our customer support team and they will investigate if the leakage is real and if so, provide possible solutions. https://protonvpn.com/support-form
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Is there any benefit to running my Orbot (TOR) app in conjunction with my Proton VPN and using Secure Core all at the same time? Or does Proton VPN already use TOR and my using the Orbot app is just slowing everything down unecessarily?
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Hello. We do have TOR servers that go trough VPN tunnel and then go trough TOR nodes, but using it like you do right now, is extra extra secure but the speeds should be crawling, since you are going trough 5 hoops of connections, 2 from secure core and 3 from TOR. Basically, you are untraceable.
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Are you planning on adding an option to allow certain apps (and/or wireless networks) to bypass VPN like other VPN apps? There are certain apps I don’t to use VPN so I have to use a different VPN on my phone.
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Hello. ProtonVPN application already has that and its called split tunneling, you can find it in the application settings.
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I want to setup vpn without downloading any android app. Please tell us server address name type. I have been already signed up.
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Hello. Currently there is no way to configure a vpn connection without installing a VPN app, ether its openvpn connect, strongswan or our application. The only way is via L2TP connection method, which we do not support and will never do so due to the security reasons.
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Hi, am using the mobile version of ProtomVPN and in the setting I’ve selected that it starts when the device starts up, however it seem to not lunch the application. I’m using the free version and I’m using Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
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Hello John. Please make sure that you have made at least one connection using the application, then when autostart is enabled, it will start but since you mobile device has some years to it of usage, it will be delayed and cannot be altered if it starts faster or not.
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When I set up ProtonVPN on Linux, I entered credentials for Proton and for OpenVPN. On my Android, I was only asked to authenticate as a ProtonVPN user. Is ProtonVPN only handling traffic for my Proton apps, or all traffic? Do I need to do something further?
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Hello John, while you are connected with VPN no matter the software, your all device traffic is going trough the VPN tunnel including all of the applications.
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Impossible for me to get the Android APK from the Google Play store. Can anyone PLEASE tell me how to simply download the APK file?
Thanks
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Hello Dan, please contact our customer support team for the android apk link. https://protonvpn.com/support-form
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I’m from China. I CANT REACH ANY SEVER SINCE YESTERDAY. The app always told me: your sever is unreachable. Could please help me. CONTECT ME ASAYC. THX A LOT
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Hello, please contact our customer support team and we will do our best to help you out ASAP! https://protonvpn.com/support-form
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Hi, i have a proton plus account. After the most recent android update, I cant login into my account and use vpn.
My mobile phone is running android version 5.1.
After entering my login credentials, a message pops up stating “something went wrong” ‘Try again”.
I have tried logging in multiple times, and I have also reinstalled the app from google app store but with no luck.
Based on my account i can use up to 5 devices, I have not exceeded this.
How can I resolve this issue.
Thanks,
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Hello James, could you please contact our customer support team for detailed troubleshooting?
You can do so here https://protonvpn.com/support-form !
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Sign up said to email a code.
Got code, reopened web page and email button is gone.
How to reset authentication for email ?
It won’t let me sign in as user.
No button for authentication code entry.
Thank you
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Hello. Please try registering again with the same information as you cannot continue to register without the approving it with that code.
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Hello, no google play store on my phone, how can i download this app directly from the link? Please send me the download link, thanks in advance.
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Hello Jackson, please contact our customer support team for the android application download link.https://protonvpn.com/support-form
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Hello. How can I use ProtonVPN on an Android phone without installing any additional apps, using Android native VPN settings? I only need to use one server, NL.
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Hello Nik. Sadly, android has only L2TP/PPTP native connections which do not require additional apps, but we do not support these connection methods as they are insecure. So without any application, there could not be a connection to our services. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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Do you have any idea why I get the error “Failed to establish VPN: gateway is unreachable” on my 3 Android devices while I have no problem using ProtonVPN on my PCs (Win 7 and 10)?! (-_-)
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Hello. ProtonVPN on Android uses different protocol then on Windows. That is Android – Ikev2, Windows – OpenVPN. That being said, they work differently so it could be that your network is not allowing one but does work fine with another.
You can try and set up manual OpenVPN connection to see if that is the case. https://protonvpn.com/support/android-vpn-setup/
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Really appreciate the affordability. I dont even know where to begin figuring the cost of maintaining and updating a high-end vpn service such as you have, and the last thing I’d want is to sound greedy or cheap, but is there any sort of trial or service that would bulk my version (free) any at all?
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Hello, we offer 7 day trial (Plus subscription type) whenever you connect with our application and your free account for the first time. You will get a pop up and a timer to see how long you have until the trial ends.
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Is there anyway to implement a Kill Switch on Android?
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Hello Gianni.
Currently there is no such thing as killswitch on android, but there is a feature on android 7.1+ devices called Always on vpn.
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Are there any Plans on providing the Option to use TCP instead of UDP? Currently still using the openvpn App because of that.
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Hello Nikolai,
Our current Android application works via IKEv2 protocol thus it does not have TCP and UDP protocol. Regarding the OpenVPN application , we cannot provide you any particular ETA for android since our main priority is iOS and Mac applications.
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Je essayer avec strongswa mais ça marche pas . Toujours problème de authentification .le mot de passe optimale aussi je essayer ça marche pas . Donc quel solution vous me donner ? Depuis Émirats Arabe Unis à Abu Dhabi merci
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Hello Hassan, please open a ticket through the following link so we can have easier correspondence:
https://protonvpn.com/support-form
UAB tends to block VPN providers, but we can try a few things in order to see if you’ll be able to establish the connection.
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You’re right the installation is a breeze. However, if you have any other VPNs installed and the “Always On” feature selected, you have to switch that off first (under VPN then tapping the gear icon). It had me frustrated for long :-)
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Do you have plans to release the app on F-Droid?
Thanks a lot!
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Hello, eventually yes, but we cannot provide an exact ETA yet for that.
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