OpenVPN installation on Windows

This guide for Windows walks you through the steps for connecting to our servers using the OpenVPN Community app. You can use this instead of the Mullvad app if that is not suitable for you.

If you want to use OpenVPN with the Mullvad app then you do not need to install OpenVPN. Just select OpenVPN protocol in the Mullvad app settings.

Installation instructions

1. Go to the OpenVPN Community Downloads website. This guide is made for the Community version and not OpenVPN Connect.
2. Download the MSI installer for your platform (64-bit, 32-bit or ARM64) and install it.
3. Go to our OpenVPN configuration file generator (log in if you are not already logged in).
4. Select the following:
   1. Platform: Make sure that Windows is selected.
   2. Location: Select a country and (if available) a city.
   3. Advanced settings > Port: TCP 443 (recommended for compatibility).
   4. Advanced settings > Use IP addresses.
   5. Click on the Download zip archive button.
5. Right-click on the downloaded file and select Extract All... Then click on Extract.
6. Open the extracted folder.
7. Right-click on the .ovpn file and select Open. The file should open in Notepad.
8. On a new line, enter disable-dco. Then save the file and close Notepad.
9. Copy the three extracted files into C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config.
10. Open the Start menu and start OpenVPN GUI.
11. Right-click on the OpenVPN icon in the system tray and click Connect.
12. Go to our Connection check to verify that you are using Mullvad VPN.

Enabling wintun

If you use OpenVPN version 2.5 or later you can enable wintun for faster speeds. This uses a wintun driver instead of the old TAP adapter.

Add windows-driver wintun on a new line in your downloaded .ovpn file. Then copy it to C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config again.

Auto-connect OpenVPN on login

Follow these steps to set OpenVPN to start when you log in to your computer.

1. Click on the Start button. Type "tasks" and then click on Schedule tasks.
2. Under Actions, click on Create Basic Task.
3. Enter "OpenVPN autostart" as the name like and click Next.
4. Select When I log on and click Next.
5. Select Start a program and click Next.
6. Click on Browse, then navigate to C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\bin\ and select openvpn-gui.exe. Then click Open.
7. In the Add arguments field, enter --connect "mullvad_se.ovpn" (replace the .ovpn file name with the one you use). Then click Next .
8. Check the box for Open the Properties dialogue for this task when I click Finish. Then click on Finish.
9. Check the box for Run with highest privileges.
10. Click on the Triggers tab, click on the At log on condition and click on Edit.
11. Click on Any user.
12. Check the box for Delay task for and set it to 30 seconds. Then click on OK.
13. Click on OK again to close the window.
14. Find the task "OpenVPN autostart" in the Task Scheduler Library section and select it.
15. On the toolbar, select Action > Properties. Then click on the Conditions tab.
16. Uncheck the box for Start the task only if the computer is on AC Power. Then click on OK.
17. Close the Task Scheduler.
18. Restart the computer and verify that OpenVPN starts and connects automatically.

Troubleshooting

If you get an error that states "OpenVPN gui is already running" then do the following:

Windows 10

1. Open the Task manager.
2. Click on the Startup tab.
3. Right click on "OpenVPN GUI for Windows" and select Disable.

Windows 7/8/8.1

1. Click on Start. Type "msconfig" and then hit Enter.
2. Click on the Startup tab.
3. Uncheck OPENVPN-GUI and then click on OK.
4. Either click Restart or Exit without restart.