Support Center / Required updates

Required updates

We regularly release software updates that improve Proton VPN’s security, reliability, and user experience. 

Most of these new versions are recommended but not strictly required. However, sometimes we release updates that are required for all users. A required update means that you must update the Proton VPN app to the latest version available to continue using our service. Any older versions of our apps will no longer work.

In this article, we explain why required updates are necessary and how to perform an update.

Why do we have required updates?

At Proton VPN, we’re constantly improving our apps by adding new features and fixing bugs from previous versions.

You might notice some of these improvements right away, while others are “behind-the-scenes” upgrades that are only apparent if you examine our open-source code. Your operating system is also being continually updated and improved, so we need to update our apps in line with these changes. 

Over time, the cumulative effect of many small updates can affect the Proton VPN software. This can sometimes mean that our app becomes slower or features no longer work as expected.

This is why we must occasionally release a version of Proton VPN that contains all available features and fixes up to that time. We make this comprehensive version a required update so that everyone who uses Proton VPN gets access to the new features, improvements, and critical security patches.

How do I update Proton VPN?

We recommend you always use the latest version of our apps. 

On some platforms (such as Android, iOS, and iPadOS), you can have our app update itself automatically using the Google Play Store or Apple App Store (the open-source F-Droid will notify you when updates are available). 

On Linux, your package manager should alert you when updates are available. On Windows and macOS, you’ll see an in-app notification prompting you to update the app.

A new app version is available! On Windows

Update notification on Windows

On all platforms, you can also manually check to see if new updates are available.

Learn how to check for new updates

We’ll email you to let you know when a required update is available and inform you that you must update your app if you wish to continue using Proton VPN

When you receive such an email, please be sure to verify that it is a genuine email from Proton VPN. You can do this by checking that the From email address matches one of our verified email accounts

If you use Proton Mail, all emails sent from legitimate Proton domains belonging to Proton are starred, making it easy to know that an email is genuinely from us.

Learn more about how avoid phishing scams

Secure
your internet

Get Proton VPN
Get Proton VPN

For customer support inquiries, please submit the following form for the fastest response:
Support Form

For all other inquiries:
contact@protonvpn.com


-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: OpenPGP.js v4.10.10
Comment: https://openpgpjs.org

xsBNBFiYeeIBCACpwuYcTsACyjQaqY3tOUonokamGZf3VDuLvcA9nQnu4vlB
n1RFFUJa5Pmf2yZ9EjJFSldTl5lreE3tFf53CcZ9wKa1R6aMnN/0VqURJho0
ZTqevQlCvuJ9kKHkDck3Em0/1WWnhDJgabp+fOa5HAHoAvcNy5gVPuexTT/N
wp6QcfB7w+qFhf73s0bcSn5RC+FAYlQxZVFhFtA7/7LthBVatDJrYLYP9XJd
zOZqz9AX0XZwKal25RcVeGHkNKgloo0bTgro4D88MR7saqXFHTRhy3+Wss7c
uqrh0uIkVmqtadoK/rAbqOyFXQ2DlvSMVrEMLUvwlZbC0taqcKDfNA+FABEB
AAHNLWNvbnRhY3RAcHJvdG9udnBuLmNvbSA8Y29udGFjdEBwcm90b252cG4u
Y29tPsLAfwQQAQgAKQUCWJh54wYLCQcIAwIJEN4dfnhhw11TBBUIAgoDFgIB
AhkBAhsDAh4BAAoJEN4dfnhhw11T6PwIAKgIHTUaEcCFQ5WfmwGpdhRgFe7H
gnHR8UOFPrRKnbCOQgTVPGwCFt8UVFhEgbmtroThU89DpxFSYUOD6nZ2k1X3
X4Q9OsItFUUuhPtLJrkz5ghtZLmsAH/edTRbVU1Ew1E8KbylLFI1J5yId7zR
GdnaTXv/E7P3po5X/b08TFAhXSyYYUbMeQuthbJajtpFygr53lm47cOWa4N8
udqLhmpheaQj04DuqYXOGC08JQn+XbHzhFl5Yvlt9Idk8+7c2UJ0qgWKQ5ZV
mquRAw5HDCQM5OqF1MoImDxOH+tK3PUlvFDsLZ1WPEOHK/EN12sPBx0x1R04
fcPTPdbMwgISGM3OwE0EWJh54gEIALqhrLUpvarPc0nkuHpyJC/MsrIDPLuV
qMc49tgjgDBsyIKJFEP9qCnkSOEixaFi+nTljUSpkHGR+PvEGecmcOdW6djN
QGxon/nwBT9d8HbtxJesaEIzwRAxmqQW9MqNq4UsfNQ0VvUYqV9wEbYfdDT/
jZfz9N0hjFELF1sg3UPcCRijhf162bp+rLQdO9vWVUbOdMQvsM/kyUJ6JMXR
xUtyKC05ddxii2SMr4XUW45ostPbxJybOF5oSZpEb1EIlrTLLPAe/498XlBW
hpRAPe+9ZfNs7drMvUEFnnOXahrXAuaaZpyaS/XBaloqSb1+v2AkUep3dbSF
PaRtbXRMS+kAEQEAAcLAaAQYAQgAEwUCWJh54wkQ3h1+eGHDXVMCGwwACgkQ
3h1+eGHDXVMZ4Qf4hu5N8/uYNDqJMFRIWSCpPGxmyIVXGARG4hgR8gwPZY9K
fReAUndX3uODBNIgZU7I3YntawU1DlP6GpP6yyR/8lfUMNCAXPDmd+zTFYIJ
UDHD8sw2GRrFVzFOKUpAapWFOI4XjSMP2UiK4HgrpUjAhe1wSaa7nEjtAuYT
zFx1QSuQD1iYcOF/FAm7EuhBIfWITjYAobGM6gonPbp3IPHM52rUbulllcdV
vCLs+blcyiVCGZlNcmlg3eibAJJL19TQLqT2DbQvQ/SyVBJGjoT+y4TTRtmZ
cebEjt2KJcc4x2lzPq3z2KJNyJTOTMB+aYD9Ma9IObDds+M/+5XDWi7f
=ueTT
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

You can also Tweet to us:
@ProtonVPN