How to use the Proton VPN app for Windows

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Kategorie: Proton VPN apps

In this article, we look at how to install and use the Proton VPN app for Windows 7+. We cover:

How to install Proton VPN for Windows

Sign in to Proton VPN
Connect to the fastest country allowed by your plan
Change server (if you’re on a Free plan)
Connect to a specific location or special server (if you have a paid Proton VPN plan)
Recent and pinned connections
Profiles

Your Proton VPN account
Connection
General
Support
Improve Proton

How to install Proton VPN for Windows

By default, Windows 10 and 11 only allow you to install apps from the Microsoft Store. To install the Proton VPN app, you’ll need to allow apps to be installed from other sources. To do this (if you haven’t done so already), open Windows Settings → Apps & features → Choose where to get apps and select Anywhere from the dropdown menu.

1. Visit our Proton VPN for Windows page and click the Download for Windows button (if you’re running a 32-bit version of Windows or are using an ARM device, click V and select the correct version from the dropdown menu).

2. Once you’ve downloaded the EXE file, double-click on it to open it and click Yes when asked if you want to allow the app to make changes to your device.

3. This will open the Proton VPN installation wizard. Choose the language you’d like to use from the dropdown menu and click OK.

4. Click Next to use the default Windows Start menu folder for Proton VPN. If you want to use a different folder, click Browse and locate where you’d like Proton VPN to appear in your Start menu. Click Next when you’re done.

5. You can automatically install other Proton apps included in your plan. Deselect any that you don’t wish to install, then click Install to continue.

6. Review your choices and select Install to continue.

7. Wait for the app to install onto your system.

8. Once the app is installed, the setup wizard will close and the Proton VPN app will start. You can now sign in to your Proton Account.

How to connect to Proton VPN

Sign in to Proton VPN

Open Proton VPN from your taskbar or the desktop icon. Sign in using the username and password you created when you signed up and click Sign in.

If you haven’t created a Proton VPN account yet, you can use the Create Account button or click here. Note that if you’ve signed up for any Proton service (such as Proton Mail, Proton Drive, or Proton Pass), you can use the same username and password to sign into Proton VPN.

If you have a Proton Business Suite or Proton VPN Professional user account, you may be able to sign in with SSO. Ask your account manager for details.

Connect to the fastest country allowed by your plan

If you’re on our Free plan, select Connect to automatically connect to the fastest free server for your location.

If you’re on a paid plan, select Connect to automatically connect to the fastest server for your location. We have Plus servers in 110+ countries worldwide (you can also select Fastest country in the Countries tab – see below).

Once connected, the Home screen will turn green and show the location of the server you’re connected to on a map, together with information about your connection (such as the server IP address, server load, connection speed, VPN protocol, and volume of data transferred through the VPN connection).

Click on any of these information elements to see more details and an explanation.

Change server (if you’re on a Free plan)

Once connected to a random free server, you can change the server to one in a different random country (Netherlands, Japan, Romania, Poland, or the United States) following a short cooldown period. To do this, simply select Change server on the Home screen.

Connect to a specific location or special server (if you have a paid Proton VPN plan)

If you’re on any paid Proton VPN plan, you can connect to any of our high-speed servers in 110+ countries. To connect to the fastest server in the country of your choice, simply select it from the Countries → All list. We’ll automatically connect you to the fastest server in that country (factoring in your location and server loads).

To connect to a specific city in a country, click ⏷ next to the country and select the city from the dropdown list. To connect to a specific server in a city, click ⏷ next to the city and select the server from the dropdown list.

You can find any country, city, or server by typing its name into the Search bar.

You can also select a country using the map.

Some Proton VPN servers have special uses. These are:

Secure Core: Our ultra-secure double-VPN solution
P2P: Our dedicated P2P and torrenting servers
Tor: Connect to the Tor network through Proton VPN without the need for Tor Browser

Select the relevant filter tab to see a list of countries and servers that support the feature.

If you simply select a Secure Core country, your connection will be automatically routed via the best Secure Core server location (Iceland, Sweden, or Switzerland) for your chosen country. If you prefer, click ⏷ next to the country to select a Secure Core server location from the dropdown list. (Note that not all Secure Core countries support all Secure Core server locations.)

Learn more about Secure Core

Recent and pinned connections

On the left of the Home screen, you can see a list of countries, cities, servers, and profiles (see below) that you recently connected to. Simply click on one of these to connect in the same way as you did before.

If you regularly connect in a certain way, you can pin any connection to the Recents list for easy access. To do this, ⋮ next to the country, city, server, or profile → Pin.

Profiles

For even greater control over connections you use often, you can create a VPN connection profile. Select the Profiles list to see profiles that you’ve already created, or click +New profile to create a new one.

Learn more about creating and using VPN connection profiles

Proton VPN’s mission is to make privacy the default for everyone, and we will always offer a 100% free service for those who need us the most. However, to access many of our optional advanced features, you’ll need a paid Proton VPN plan. Features, settings, and servers that require a paid Proton VPN plan are clearly marked with a Proton+ badge. To access these features and support our mission, please consider upgrading to a paid Proton VPN plan.

Get Proton VPN Plus

Proton VPN Settings

Select ⚙ Settings access the Proton VPN for Windows app’s more advanced settings and features. For convenience, we’ve also provided shortcuts to some of these advanced features on the Home page.

You can now configure the Proton VPN’s apps settings and advanced features.

Your Proton VPN account

Click on your Proton VPN account to:

Manage your account (will open default in your default web browser)
Sign out
Exit the app

Connection

Advanced settings:

Custom DNS servers
NAT type
OpenVPN network driver (TUN or TAP – you should leave this alone unless you know what you’re doing)
Disable IPv6 traffic

General

Auto startup (configure whether the app auto connects when you start Windows and whether it auto connects when the app starts)
Default connection
Notifications (configure whether you receive notifications from our app)
Language (select your preferred language)
Theme (dark, light, or follow your system’s default theme)
Beta access
Automatic updates

Support

Support center (opens the Proton VPN support pages in your browser)
Report an issue
Debug logs (our customer support staff may request these to help troubleshoot problems)
About (app version number, licensing information, and a changelog)
Developer tools (leave these alone unless you know what you’re doing)

Improve Proton

Help us fight censorship

At the bottom of the page, you can find a Restore default settings button that will restore the app to its default settings.