Windows, Mac or Linux

VanyaVPN runs on Windows 10 and 11 and on macOS, and the Linux AppImage is on the download page. There’s no need to restart Firefox after connecting, just reload your tabs.

VanyaVPN window on a Mac: VPN connected, location Netherlands

Two settings to check

Chrome and Edge take their proxy settings from the system, but Firefox has network settings of its own. Two of them matter for a VPN, and you only need to check them once.

Both live in Settings, which opens from the three-line menu in the top right corner of the window.

  1. Proxy

    Under General, scroll to the bottom, find Network Settings and click Settings. By default it says Use system proxy settings, which is what you want.

    If you ever typed a proxy address in there, choose No proxy or go back to the system settings. Otherwise Firefox routes through that old proxy on top of the tunnel, and sites see its address instead of the country chosen in the app.

  2. DNS over HTTPS

    On desktops in the US, Canada, Russia and Ukraine, Firefox turns on DNS over HTTPS by default and looks sites up on its own DNS server over an encrypted connection. The switch is near the end of Privacy & Security.

    With VanyaVPN you can leave it alone, since those lookups stay inside the tunnel as well. Default Protection is fine. If secure DNS doesn’t answer, Firefox falls back to the regular one, and the app keeps that one tunneled too.

Android and private windows

Does Firefox on Android use the VPN too?

Yes, once VanyaVPN is on the phone. It covers all of Android, browsers included. Here’s how to set it up.

What about a private window?

That too. Since version 67, Firefox add-ons don’t run in private windows by default, but the tunnel doesn’t care what kind of window it is.

YouTube in Firefox needs no settings of its own. For the Russian slowdown and TVs, read VPN for YouTube, while laptops and desktops get a page of their own.