How to set up a proxy server on different devices

Before you use a proxy server, you need to configure one properly. The proxy setup process varies depending on the specific operating systems installed on computers and smartphones. Browsers also require specific proxy setup procedures. In this article, you will find out how to configure a proxy server for:

• Windows, macOS and Linux
• Android and iOS
• Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Chrome-based browsers.

How to set up a proxy on Windows

There are three options for setting up a proxy for Windows. Let’s walk through each of them.

Automatic setup of a proxy on Windows

Click the Start button and search for "proxy", or select Settings → Network & Internet → Proxy.

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Step 1. Selecting Proxy in Windows settings

1. Under Automatic proxy setup, turn on Automatically detect settings.

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Step 2. Turning on Automatically detect settings in Windows settings

Setting up a proxy with a Windows setup script

1. Select the Start button and search for "proxy", or select Settings → Network & Internet → Proxy.

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Selecting Proxy in Windows settings

1. If you have a link to a special setup script, turn on Use setup script.

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Selecting Use setup script in Windows settings

1. In the Script address box, enter the script address and select Save.

   

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Using a proxy setup script on Windows

Manual setup of a proxy on Windows

1. Select the Start button and search for "proxy", or select Settings → Network & Internet → Proxy.

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Selecting Proxy in Windows settings

1. Select Manual proxy setup and turn on Use a proxy server.

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Selecting Manual proxy setup in Windows settings

1. Enter the proxy’s IP address and port in the respective boxes.

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Entering proxy IP address and port in Windows settings

1. If you don’t want to use the proxy when you visit certain websites, enter the ending of the website address in the exception list (for example, *.contoso.com).

   For multiple websites, type each website address and separate the addresses with a semicolon (for example: *.contoso.com; *.adatum.com).

   The * sign is a wildcard, so any website addresses that end in the listed website address will bypass the proxy.

   • Select or clear the Don’t use the proxy server for local (intranet) addresses check box. Select this check box unless your organization requires a proxy server to be used for intranet addresses.
2. Select Save.

How to set up proxy on a Mac device

To set up a proxy on a Mac device, click the Apple icon, then select System Preferences.

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Selecting System Preferences on a Mac device or iPhone

Select Network

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Select the network service in the left pane, click on Advanced, then go to the Proxies tab.

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Opening the Advanced screen on a Mac device

Select the required connection protocol, enter the proxy’s IP address and port.

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Adding the IP address, ports and login credentials

Enter the login credentials if your proxy requires authentication.

How to set up proxy on Linux

To set up a proxy on Linux, start a command line session and type one of the following lines:

export ftp_proxy="http://proxy-server:port"

export http_proxy="http://proxy-server:port"

export https_proxy="https://proxy-server:port"

export socks_proxy="socks://proxy-server:port"

In place of the "proxy-server", type the IP address that was given to you, and in place of "port", type the port number. The resulting line could look this:

export https_proxy="https:138.128.58.157:8000"

If the server requires authentication, type one of the following lines:

export ftp_proxy="ftp://user:password@proxy-server:port"

export http_proxy="http://user:password@proxy-server:port"

export https_proxy="https://user:password@proxy-server:port"

export socks_proxy="socks://user:password@proxy-server:port"

If the password contains any special character(s), they must be replaced with their ASCII codes according to this conversion table.

For example, the "at" character (@) should be replaced with "%40".

Alternatively, a proxy can be set up in the configuration files. For this, the file "/etc/environment" should be edited with root privileges to include one of the following lines:

https_proxy="https://user:pass@proxy:port/"

http_proxy="http://user:pass@proxy:port/"

ftp_proxy="ftp://user:pass@proxy:port/"

socks_proxy="socks://user:pass@proxy:port/"

Ife the server does not require authentication, the lines should look like this:

ftp_proxy="http://proxy-server:port"

http_proxy="http://proxy-server:port"

https_proxy="https://proxy-server:port"

socks_proxy="socks://proxy-server:port"

After applying the settings, restart your computer, then start init — the parent process in the system from which all child processes will inherit the server settings.

How to turn off proxy on Linux

To turn off proxy, type one of the following lines in the command line:

Unset rsync_proxy/

Unset http_proxy /

Unset ftp_proxy/

Unset http_proxy.

How to set up proxy on iOS

1. Open your iPhone Settings.

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1. Tap Wi-Fi, then select the network you are connected to.
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Going to the parameters of the network you are connected to

1. Go to the network’s parameters and scroll down to HTTP Proxy.

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Opening Configure Proxy

1. Open Configure Proxy, select Manual, enter the server’s IP address and port number and, if required, switch on authentication.

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Selecting Manual and entering the server’s IP address and port configurations

Another option is to select Automatic Configuration. This option will work if your proxy provider has given you a link to the proxy configuration file.

How to set up proxy on Android

1. Open Settings on your Android device.
   1. Tap Connections → Internet.

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1. Select your network and go to its parameters.

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Selecting Wi-Fi on an Android device

1. Find your network and open its parameters.

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1. Find the proxy line and tap Manual. Enter the proxy’s IP address and port or the proxy hostname and port.

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Entering port number on Android device

1. Enter proxy credentials, if required.
2. Save the changes.

You will be prompted to enter credentials again. After that, you can start using the internet from your Android device.

Another option is to select Automatic Configuration on your Android device. This option will work if your proxy provider has given you a link to the proxy configuration file.

How to set up proxy in browsers

Now, let’s see how to set up a proxy server in Chrome and Chrome-based browsers, Mozilla Firefox and Safari.

How to set up proxy in Chrome and Chrome-based browsers

Chrome-based browsers are those that use the Google Chrome codebase and work along similar principles. These are:

• Vivaldi
• Brave
• Microsoft Edge
• Opera
• Epic Privacy Browser
• SlimBrowser
• Torch
• Comodo Dragon, etc.

Configuring a proxy for these browsers is generally the same and is done through the system settings, as we described above. To go straight to the parameters from the browser, you need to take a few steps:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Type "proxy" in the Search settings field or tap on System.

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Selecting System

1. Select Open your computer’s proxy settings.

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Opening your computer’s proxy settings

The browser will automatically open the appropriate section of the settings, in which you need to enter the proxy parameters.

Also, you can configure the proxy within the browser rather than in the system. This is convenient if you want to use a proxy to connect only to certain sites.

To configure a proxy on an individual basis, use special extensions. For Google Chrome, use ProxyControl or ProxySwitcher. For other Chromium-based browsers, there are similar extensions available in their respective extension stores.

The extension works like this: you enter the IP address and ports of the proxy server and then control it using the hotkeys.

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Adding a proxy in the Proxy Control extension

If you need to access a website using a proxy, enable it with an assigned hotkey. If you wish to access a site using your real IP address, disable it using another hotkey.

How to set up proxy in Mozilla Firefox

You can configure a proxy for Firefox in the browser. For that, take the following steps:

1. Go to Settings in Mozilla Firefox. Click the General selector and open Network Settings.

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Opening Network settings in Mozilla Firefox

1. Select Manual proxy configuration.

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Selecting Manual proxy settings in Mozilla Firefox

Enter the proxy IP address and port number in the appropriate box — HTTP, HTTPS or SOCKS, as specified by your proxy provider.

Next, you can set up extra parameters:

• specify a list of URLs for witch no proxy should be used ("No proxy for");
• disable repeated proxy credentials prompts by checking the appropriate box;
• enable DNS for SOCKS and HTTPS.

After specifying the extra parameters, click OK.

Now, check your IP address. If it has changed, your proxy setup is working.

Another setup option is to select Use system proxy.

How to set up proxy in Safari

To configure a proxy in Safari, go to Apple menu → Preferences.

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Going to browser settings

In the Advanced screen, click Change Settings.

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Opening Advanced settings ang going to the Change Settings section

Then you will be taken to the computer settings, follow the steps as indicated above for Mac devices.