How to Install a VPN on Your Mac

Difficulty ⬤◯◯◯◯ — Easiest

By far the most common way to set up a VPN on Mac is by installing a VPN service’s bespoke software. This couldn’t be easier to do. 

But you should remember that not all VPNs have apps for every device. If you need a VPN for Mac, ensure that the VPN you’re interested in provides that service. You can do this by visiting the provider’s website. This shouldn’t be a problem as the best VPN services almost always cater to MacOS.

Once you have a VPN subscription, download the VPN app onto your Mac. 

We’re going to use Surfshark as an example of how to do this, but the stages are almost identical with every VPN. 

1. Go to the VPN provider’s website, in this case Surfshark.
2. On the homepage you’ll see in the top right hand corner a button that reads Get Started. Click this.
3. If you haven’t already from this page you can purchase your VPN subscription. If you’ve already purchased it, you’ll see that there’s an option in the top right to Log In. Click this.
4. With the login details you used to purchase the VPN, enter them to access the client area. Please note: sometimes a VPN will send you a unique login that you don’t get to pick yourself.
5. In the client area you are presented with a bunch of information. Find and select Devices in the menu.
6. You’ll now be on a page that lists all of the devices and platforms available to download Surfshark software onto. Surfshark has no limit on how many devices you can install its software onto, so you could protect every device you own under one subscription. We’re doing it for Mac, so select the MacOS option to Download.DMG.
7. The file will instantly download when clicked and placed in the Downloads folder as a .dmg file. Click and run this file – it is the Surfshark Installer.
8. Drag the Surfshark application icon to your Applications folder so it’s easy to find and select. Open a new Finder window and navigate to the Applications folder of your Mac and you’ll now see Surfshark there.
9. Double-click the Surfshark app to run it. The service will open and ask for permission, which it needs in order to operate. Note: some VPNs may require you to insert your Mac login details once again, or login details provided by the service via email or in the login area of its website.
10. With your permission, the app lights up and it’s good to go!
11. Now Surfshark VPN is installed on your device, easily switched on and off and found in your Applications folder or via Launchpad. At this point, feel free to eject the Surfshark Installer as it is no longer required.

As you can see, this is by far the simplest way to install a VPN on your iMac or MacBook, and probably why it’s the most popular way to do so. 

Difficulty ⬤⬤⬤◯◯ — Moderate

While installing the VPN app from the provider’s website is the most popular method of setting up a VPN on Mac, it is not the only way. Those most conscious about security are attracted to open source software which provides more customization options. 

For Mac, we recommend Tunnelbick, a free, open-source graphic user interface (GUI) for MacOS.

Here’s how you set it up:

1. Head to the Tunnelblick website.
2. Click the green arrow to download the latest and most stable release of the software. 
3. A .dmg file will download onto your computer. Open and run the software.
4. You will be presented with a window. Double click the Tunnelblick icon to install the software.
5. Follow the installation prompts until you’re asked if you’d like to add a configuration.
6. In your Mac’s Applications folder, you’ll see Tunnelblick has been added. Double-click on it and go down to VPN Detail.

At this point, you’ll need to log on to your VPN’s website to get some information. We’re going to use ExpressVPN this time as an example:

1. Head to the ExpressVPN website.
2. Log in to the client area found by clicking My Account.
3. Among the options for setup you’ll see Manual Config in the right-hand column. Click this.
4.  You’ll now see your OpenVPN connection information. Scroll down to the list of locations including Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East and Africa. These are the places you can manually connect to.
5. Select whichever locations you’d like to establish a secure VPN connection with.
6. Click your choice and it will automatically download as a .ovpn file extension.
7. Keep this browser window open, and switch back to Tunnelblick. Select I have configuration files. After that you’ll get a notice. Click OK.
8. You’ll now be able to open the Tunnelblick window. Now find the .ovpn file you downloaded from ExpressVPN and drag it into the left-hand pane in Tunnelblick under Configurations.
9. Click Only Me if you’d like to be the only person that can use this VPN user or click All Users if you’d like it to be available on other accounts on your Mac. Type the password if prompted.
10. You’ll see some information pop up in the Tunnelblick window. Select the configuration you’ve just imported and click Connect.
11. Now you’re presented with a window asking for a username and password. This is not the login details for ExpressVPN or your Mac device. Instead, you have to find the username and password for OpenVPN on the ExpressVPN website. Go back to the open ExpressVPN website. You’ll find these just above the list of servers that you’ve just used. Copy and paste them in and choose whether or not you’d like to save these details.
12. Click OK to connect.

You’ll now see Tunnelblick come alive with the diagnostic output as the application connects to the server. Once you’re connected, you’ll also see the Disconnect button become active, and the appearance of the menu bar icon will also change to a solid black color.

That’s it! Now you’re connected to the location of your choice. You can connect or disconnect at any time using the buttons or add new server networks in exactly the same way as we have shown.

 

Difficulty ⬤⬤⬤⬤◯ — Hard

You might not know this, but Mac OS has built-in VPN functionality. 

That means if you don’t want to use an application you can actually connect to your VPN by using only the Network Preferences section of the System Preferences application.

There are some downsides to this that you should take into account before proceeding. For example, you don’t get a kill switch, which is a safety device used to turn off your internet connection should your VPN connection drop, preventing any unwanted leaks and exposures of information.  

You also need to manually set up each server location rather than automatically having access to a provider’s entire – and typically sizeable – VPN server network.

But this is an option worth considering for people living in censored nations that restrict access to VPN websites or if you have a subscription to a VPN like TrustZone that requires manual configuration to use on Mac. 

But how is it done? We’ll show you, using ExpressVPN again as an example. 

1. We need to find the L2TP/IPSec connection details much like we did with OpenVPN in Method 2. So head to ExpressVPN’s website and log on to the client area by clicking My Account.
2. Navigate to the ‘Manual Config’ page found when you select ‘Setup’. It’s at the bottom.
3. You’ll see options for OpenVPN alongside PPTP & L2TP/IPSec. Click on that. It will come up with a warning telling you that its security benefits are not as strong as OpenVPN (which cannot be used in this instance), which is true and should be taken into account when employing this method for setting up a VPN on Mac.
4. Leave that for now and open up System Preferences on your Mac, then click on Network.
5. Click the small plus (+) icon in the bottom left of the window to add a connection.
6. In the Interface drop down menu, select VPN.
7. You’ll also see a VPN Type drop down menu. Click and select L2TP over IPSec.
8. Beside Service Name you can give it whatever name you wish. It makes sense to use the location of the server you want to connect to as the name for ease of future reference.
9. Leave the Configuration option as Default. Head back to the ExpressVPN website and you’ll see a list of locations. Choose the location you want to connect to and copy the server address.
10.  Paste it into the Server Address field. Now add your username found back on the ExpressVPN site to the Account Name and click Authentication Settings.
11. This is where you will add the password, found beside the username on the ExpressVPN website. In Shared Secret type 12345678 and then click OK to close the dialog.
12. Back on the Network options window, click Advanced in the bottom right corner and tick the box that reads Send all traffic over VPN connection. Click OK once done.
13. Tick the box that says Show VPN status in the menu bar, then Apply.

Now, at the top-right of your Mac’s display, you’ll see an icon that looks like a tiny progress bar. That’s your VPN connection.

Click the first list item to connect. As your Mac establishes the connection, you’ll see the VPN icon gradually change color.

If you need to disconnect or check your connection status, click the icon again.

That’s how it’s done. You can easily turn your connection on and off from your Mac display. 

To ensure your VPN is on and working, it’s best to check your IP address while connected. If you know your IP you can just type into Google What’s My IP and see if it matches. 

If you don’t know your IP, you at least know where you live. To see if you’ve successfully connected to another IP you can head to What is My IP Address and see where your connection is on the map. As you can see, we’re connected to Chicago, as we wanted:

 

 

The only cost required to setup a VPN on Mac comes from the VPN service subscription fee. 

These vary in cost quite a lot. 

If you’re looking to keep costs to a minimum, we put together a list of the best budget VPNs.

But there are important market trends worth keeping in mind. 

VPNs almost always offer deals that reward long-term commitment with massively reduced prices. 

A single-month subscription to most VPN services will always be the most expensive. 

For example, ExpressVPN can be purchased at $12.95 for a single month, or you can pay $99.95 for 15 months, which works out at $6.67 per month – that’s almost half price. 

This is the basic principle behind most VPN pricing plans.

We suggest you look around at the market a bit by comparing the VPNs that we review. We include all the pricing details and whether we think the cost is worth it in our reviews.

Yes, you can. 

We have guides as in-depth as this one for all your Apple devices. Check out our instructions for how to install on:

• Apple TV
• iPhone & iPad

You’ll find all the information you need there.