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Mullvad help center

FAQ

41 results for connect

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I have paid but can't connect!
If you get a message saying your account has expired, your payment is the problem. If you paid through your PayPal account, log in to PayPal and check the status of the payment. PayPal often changes its mind about transactions, sometimes days after a payment was made, without notification. For cryptocurrency payments, these do not get processed until the transaction has been confirmed. Bank wires can take 1–2 working days to get processed.
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What if the connection is broken?
With the Mullvad VPN app, all Internet traffic is automatically blocked until either the VPN connection is reestablished or you disconnect from or quit the app. This built-in safety feature ensures that your traffic is not accidentally leaked outside of our secure tunnel.
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Why Can't I connect using Comcast XFINITY router ?
If you have set it to maximum security, "which will block most applications except web browsing, email, iTunes and VPN." , try reducing it to typical to see if you then can connect. Or use port 53 for WireGuard.
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App says “too many simultaneous connections” when only using 1?
This can happen if the Mullvad VPN app can't find the TAP adapter. Solution: close and, re-install the latest Mullvad VPN App. Wait 5 mins (for the connection count to clear) and then try to connect, and see if this solves the issue.
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How can I tell if I'm connected?
Visit mullvad.net/check to easily check your connection status, or you can visit our website and it will display the server you are connected to at the top of the website.
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I use the WireGuard kernel module and can’t connect. Why do I get "Protocol not supported"?

Make sure the kernels and kernel headers that you are running match those from when you installed the WireGuard packages. If not, then upgrade them.

Try rebooting to see if the kernel module loads correctly: in a terminal, issue sudo modprobe wireguard && lsmod | grep -i wireguard.

Try installing and compiling the WireGuard source. Distribution packages sometimes don’t set things up correctly.

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I am using macOS 13 Ventura and Mullvad says "Connecting to Mullvad system service".
Open the System Settings app and go to General > Login items. Under "Allow in the Background" you should find Amagicom. Make sure that is enabled. If it doesn't help then open the Terminal app and run this command: sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/net.mullvad.daemon.plist If it asks for a password then use your Mac login password.
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Does Mullvad Browser make any outgoing connections?
Yes, here are the full list of requests Mullvad Browser makes by default:
  • * Browser update (Mullvad)
  • * Mullvad Browser Extension update (Mullvad)
  • * Mullvad DoH (Mullvad)
  • * NoScript/Ublock Origin update (Mozilla)
  • * Certificates & Domains update (Mozilla)
  • * Ublock Origin filter lists update (various lists)
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I can't connect when using Android 16
Please restart your android device if you have upgraded the Mullvad VPN app on it
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Running Mullvad in a virtual machine drops the connection quite often. How do I fix that?
Please make sure that your guest VM is using static IP addresses.
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Why does my iOS Devices get stuck at connecting after unlocking them ?
One possible fix is to enable Seamless tunnel and also to have Reconnect on wakeup enabled.
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Why am I unable to Play music in the Spotify app for Windows when connected to Mullvad?
This is a bug in Spotify that is discussed in the Spotify forum. It should work if you add the songs to a playlist first. This applies also when using Split tunneling.
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I updated the Mullvad app, when I try to connect it says "Unable to start tunnel connection."
Try to restart the computer. If it doesn't help then reinstall the Mullvad app.
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Why does Chrome / Chromium (Brave) based browsers fail on macOS with the error socket not connected
To fix this, in the Mullvad app, please enable IPv6 found in "Settings" -> "VPN Settings" -> "Enable IPv6" or disable IPv6 on the network interface using the command "networksetup -setv6off Ethernet" or "networksetup -setv6off Wi-Fi" if using Wi-Fi .
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Why am I leaking DNS requests to Cloudflare?
Even when connected to Mullvad, this happens to Firefox users in the U.S. because of the browser’s default settings. To prevent this, open Firefox Options > General > Network settings > Settings, then deselect “Enable DNS over HTTPS.” Once you’ve done that, visit mullvad.net to verify that you’re no longer leaking information.
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How can I become a Mullvad reseller?
We offer a sales partnership reseller agreement. Before connecting you with our partnership department we need you to send support@mullvadvpn.net answers to the following questions:
  • 1. Tell us briefly about your company (Name, business area and country/countries you are operating in).
  • 2. What does your company do?
  • 3. Why would you like to become reseller of Mullvad VPN?
  • 4. What quantities and volumes are you estimating to sell your first year?

End-customers are always anonymous at Mullvad but partners/resellers are not. Please always send us email through your company email.
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Why do I get slow speeds?
Our Connection Speed guide lists a variety of possible solutions. You can also read about throttling.
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Why can’t I use the internet after closing the Mullvad app on Windows?
Go into the "Network & Internet settings" > "Change adapter settings" and then right-click the network adapter you use to connect to the internet and select "Properties" then double-click on "Internet Protocol version 4" and set it to "Obtain DNS server address automatically" Please make sure that you are running 2020.2 or later of our Mullvad VPN app.
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What can I do to reduce disconnections ?
Try connecting over TCP and port 443. This often helps.
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While using the Mullvad VPN app, I can't access local shares, printers or services. What do I do?
Open the Mullvad app settings, then click on Preferences and turn on "Local network sharing". In some cases you have to use the IP address to connect instead of the hostname. If the device is on a different subnet (IP address range) then add a static route to that in the operating system. In Android this will not work if you have enabled "Block connections without VPN" in the Android network settings.
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Some websites or apps think I am in Romania or Sweden, but I have selected a server in the USA or UK
You can verify the location using https://mullvad.net/check . There are a number of different geolocation databases and it can take some time before they get the correct information and for the websites to update to the latest version of it. When connected to Los Angeles or New York some websites show the location as Romania. You can use another city like Chicago instead. When connected to London some websites show the location as Sweden. You can use gb1 or gb6 in London or any of the Manchester servers instead. How: You can select a specific server in the app by using the down-arrow on the right side of the country and city.
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How do I use Landline telephone when using Fritzbox and Mullvad?
Try this when callers can't hear you. Fritz!Box > Telephony -> Own numbers -> Connection settings Activate x Use a random port for the FRITZ!Box's SIP service to the SIP registrar.
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What’s the difference between the Tor Browser and the Mullvad Browser?
The difference is the network used to access the internet. Tor Browser connects to the internet through the Tor Network. The Mullvad Browser is instead designed to be used with a VPN.
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Why can't I use the internet after closing the Mullvad app on macOS?
Try to turn off and on your Wi-Fi, or unplug and plug in your network cable. Make sure that you have a DNS set after disconnecting Mullvad by doing this: Go to the macOS System Preferences > Network and click on your active connection to the left. Then click on Advanced... and then the DNS tab. Click on the plus to add a new DNS server (for example 1.1.1.1).
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Why do I get CAPTCHAs all the time?
This is a known issue that happens on many sites using Cloudflare. Please follow our SOCKS5 guide to reduce the occurrence of CAPTCHAs, or you can try switching to another server.
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How do I force the Mullvad VPN app to use TCP protocol?
If you are using the Mullvad desktop app, go to the Mullvad app settings by clicking on the gear icon in the top right corner of the app, click on Anti-censorship, click on UDP-over-TCP.
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Do I get a shared or dedicated IP address?
Shared.
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Do you support port forwarding?
No, adding new ports has been disabled as of May 29th 2023. Existing ports will be deleted July 1st 2023.
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I can't send email! What do I do?
Because of spam we block TCP port 25. Set your email program to send using SSL/TLS on port 465.
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Which country will the IP address that I get be located in?
The Mullvad app allows you to choose. Check out our full list of VPN servers and locations.
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Do you limit speed/bandwidth or data volume?
No.
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How do I tunnel IPv6 traffic in the app?
You can enable IPv6 communication in the Advanced settings menu.
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Are you blocking any ports?
Yes, because of spam we block port 25. Because of a Microsoft security issue, we also block ports 137, 138, 139, and 445. We reserve the right to block any port or IP address in order to protect ourselves, our customers, and the quality of our service.
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How do I enable the kill switch?
The app has a built in kill switch that is enabled by default and cannot be disabled. This is to prevent your traffic from leaking outside of the VPN tunnel if your network suddenly stops working or if the tunnel fails for any reason. Mullvad automatically protects your data until your connection is reestablished.
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Why can't I see the CPU load or Network utilization of a VPN server ?
The reason we do not provide this is because it would then give users a false sense of which server they should select. We try to ensure that all our servers have lots of capacity both in terms in Network and CPU If there happen to be performance variations on a given server, it is very likely not because of the server itself. It is most often because of internet routing issues. Try switching to another server hosted by a different hosting provider.
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Mullvad's Website or API shows as insecure or is unreachable what to do?
Certain routers block Mullvad's website and API, and calls it "malware". Some routers from Asus and TP-Link include a DNS filter from Trend Micro which blocks Mullvad because using Mullvad will prevent their filter from working. To turn it off follow these instructions. ASUS: Go to AiProtection > Network Protection > turn off "Malicious Sites Blocking". TP-Link: Go to HomeCare or Security > Antivirus > turn off "Malicious Content Filter". Some Verizon Fios routers contain McAfee Home Network Protection which can also block Mullvad. In that case turn off Parental controls.
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Which IPs for setting up our ad blocking, tracker blocking and malware blocking using custom DNS ?
Except Android (currently) these settings are built in as toggles, if you want to use configuration files, or if you are running Android you can use the following:Click on the gear icon (Settings), then Advanced. Scroll down to Use custom DNS server and enable it to add any of these DNS servers listed in the link below:
https://github.com/mullvad/dns-adblock#custom-dns-entries
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Will Mullvad allow me to create a secure network between my computers/devices, or access other users
This is not possible as each connection is separated.
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I am using the ASUS stock firmware and when importing the Mullvad .ovpn file it says "File format or
Open the .ovpn file in a text editor and remove the line "tun-ipv6" before you import it.
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Using Mullvad on macOS, the app says "BLOCKING INTERNET: Unable to set system DNS server".
This can happen when something other than Mullvad is actively updating the DNS. Try to turn Wi-Fi Calling off in the FaceTime app settings and restart the Mac. Uninstall or disable other DNS, networking and ads/website blocking apps.
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Does Mullvad's VPN app support only tunneling a few applications (inverse split tunneling)?
No, MullvadVPN does not support only tunneling a few applications, also known as inverse split tunneling. Only tunneling some traffic could inadvertently cause leaks which are hard to detect. The Mullvad VPN app will always err on the side of secure by tunneling all traffic by default. If you understand the risks, our recommendation is to use the vanilla WireGuard app directly to tunnel only some traffic.

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Send us an email at support@mullvadvpn.net