Find answers to common questions about Disconnect's privacy and security products.
Can't find what you're looking for? Contact us at support@disconnect.me
Disconnect Premium is our flagship all-in-one app. It blocks thousands of trackers and suspected malware sites and additionally offers an optional full VPN with IP address masking and encryption for all of your data.
Disconnect Premium is free to download but the premium protection is subscription based. For a free solution see our Basic Products section.
Subscriptions bought through the App store from your iPhone or iPad are valid for one iTunes user and limited to iPhone or iPad devices. Premium subscriptions purchased directly from our website are valid for 3 unique devices. These devices can be any combination of computers, phones and tablets. If you want to add Disconnect Premium to another device, but you are at your limit, simply uninstall the product from one of your other devices, and you will be able to install it on the new one. If you ever have trouble protecting the three devices you would like, please reach out to us at support@disconnect.me.
On Apple products, Safari works best for using the upgrade URL. If you have not, enter the upgrade URL in the address bar of a web browser on the device. If you are still having trouble, please write in to our support team at support@disconnect.me so we can help you get set up.
If you provided us with your email when you signed up directly through our website, the code was included in the email that we sent you after you purchased with the subject “Your Disconnect receipt and upgrade instructions”. We can assist you if you contact us at support@disconnect.me.
If you submitted your email when paying directly through our website, you can open the email we sent with subject “Your Disconnect receipt and upgrade instructions”.
After signing up, if you provided your email, you should have received installation instructions. That email should have links to view appropriate installation instructions for the selected device type. When opening an app on a device for the first time, you will see upgrade options - if you already have a subscription, you do not need to sign up or pay again. If you have questions, send us an email at support@disconnect.me.
This feature only works if you purchased your subscription through the App Store. If you subscribed a different way, you will need to manually link your license to the app. Please note that the Restore purchases functionality only applies to the device type that the subscription was purchased on (ie, Macs for Macs, iOS devices for iOS devices).
Yes, subscriptions are auto-renewed. However, you can cancel at anytime, and we have a no-questions-asked refund policy for payments made during the current term (month or year, depending on type of subscription) in which a refund is requested. For our full refund terms, please see our terms and use page.
For subscriptions made through the Apple App Store: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202039
For subscriptions made through the Google Play Store: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7018481
For subscriptions made through our website directly, our support team will cancel for you by sending a request to support@disconnect.me
No. You will need to cancellation your subscription in the app before uninstalling.
The home screen of the app will indicate whether Protection is on or off. On iOS, you will see the letters VPN in a box along the top of your screen, and on Android, you will see a key icon along the top of your screen. On Mac, the shield icon will turn dark grey.
Yes, both modes of our products utilize VPN technology. Because of this, if you already have a VPN, and you want the protections that Disconnect Premium offers, we recommend uninstalling your other VPN and using Disconnect Premium as your VPN. Having another VPN on your device can cause Disconnect Premium to not be able to establish a VPN connection.
On Windows the app must be open and “On” to protect, but you can minimize the app to the task bar. On iOS and Android, you do not need to keep the app open and running to be protected. On Mac you don't need to keep the window open since it auto-hides to the menu bar when you click outside of it.
The “Blocking” mode on Desktop and Blocking (Privacy Performance) mode on iOS actually speed up page and app loads considerably.
However, with Premium mode (Windows/Android) and Encrypted mode (Mac/iOS) Disconnect Premium encrypts all your Internet activity. This encrypted virtual private network (VPN) mode may introduce some slowdown. Independent tests show our VPN performs well compared to other VPNs and we’re always working to improve speeds. If the connection speed becomes noticeably slower, please email us at support@disconnect.me.
Disconnect Premium does not require a password. When you install from an app store you may be asked for the password that you use to unlock your device.
In order for the VPN to function, it must store and retrieve its own credentials from the keychain. If you select the Always Allow option on the prompt, you will only need to do this once. This should be your Mac’s password.
This may happen when your device is switching networks or when your device is restarted. We’ve tried to minimize this as much as possible. If it’s happening, please email us at support@disconnect.me and we’ll help you troubleshoot.
The first time you activate, it can sometimes take the app a few minutes to connect, especially if you have a poor signal from your Wi-Fi or cellular network. Please give it a few minutes and, if it does not come on, try again from a different and better network connection. If it still does not work, please email support@disconnect.me to let us know.
A red highlight indicates that the blocking mode is working. Grey means blocking mode is off. Premium protection (encryption) is represented by a green highlight.
We have two protection modes in the app: Blocking (Privacy and Performance) mode and Encrypted mode. Currently, only the encrypted mode is available on Android.
Blocking mode blocks thousands of trackers and suspected malware sites, keeping you safe from tracking and improving your device’s performance. This mode is great for everyday use when you do not need the extra layer of protection our VPN offers.
Encrypted mode is our VPN protection that encrypts your data and masks your IP address. With this mode, you still have the tracking protection of the Blocking/Privacy and Performance mode in addition to being protected by our VPN. It is very secure, but because it is a VPN, it can slow down your connection. It is best to use this mode if:
On Windows, toggle blocking on to use it in isolation. When Premium Protection is enabled, both modes will be turned on.
On Mac, use the Protection type dropdown menu to select either encrypted or blocking.
On iOS, you can toggle between the modes anytime by tapping on the lock icon in the Protection tab, then tapping the shield button to start / stop the protection. If the lock icon is green and you see a location indicator, this means you have the Encrypted mode selected.
The location option is only available when the protection type is set to encrypted. To change the encryption type, use the dropdown.
When you open the Mac app, it appears as a grey shield icon in your menu bar near the clock. Clicking on the icon will open the app's interface
For all versions of the premium app, we use AES 256-bit encryption for the data. We also use 2048-bit DH for key exchange to support perfect forward secrecy (PFS).
Make sure you have a strong Internet connection and try connecting again.
If it still does not work, please reboot your device and try again.
If it still does not work, please re-install the application and try again.
If it still does not work, please email us at support@disconnect.me.
On Android, iOS and Mac, the app will auto-update via the appropriate app store. On PC you will see a notification telling you there is an update available and will direct you to where to download the update.
No. Rather than block all advertisements, we only block the privacy-invasive ads that invisibly track you and may be responsible for distributing malware (malvertising) and other security threats. We also generally unblock ad tracking websites that commit to respect users’ Do Not Track (DNT) preferences and agree to comply with DNT as defined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation: https://www.eff.org/dnt-policy.
No, we don't keep any personally identifiable activity logs, except payment information. Our privacy policy is here: https://disconnect.me/privacy.
Disconnect Premium focuses on preventing companies and cybercriminals from accessing your online activity, not governments. That said, by reducing the amount of information that companies know about your online activity, Disconnect Premium does reduce the amount of information available to governments when these companies are served with government information requests.
Disconnect Premium offers the same tracker blocking protection as Privacy Pro, but unlike Privacy Pro, it offers our full VPN protection with IP address masking and data encryption.
Disconnect Premium is a native application that incorporates most of the functionality currently available in our Private Browsing extension, plus a variety of other protections including a smart VPN, and location control. Premium and Pro block trackers across your entire device (including in browsers). Basic products only block trackers within the browsers they are installed on.
First off, we’re sorry to see you go! If you have a minute after following the instructions below, please tell us what went wrong at support@disconnect.me. (We try to solve most problems right away, so maybe we can even get you to try Disconnect Premium again.) Also, please note that uninstalling will not cancel your subscription. You can find instructions to cancel here
Privacy Pro for iOS blocks thousands of trackers that are hidden inside the apps and websites you use, offering protection across your entire device! By blocking tracking and malicious sites, Privacy Pro also accelerates page and app load speeds and reduces bandwidth.
We use Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology to set a configuration profile that prevents trackers and hackers from accessing your Internet activity. Unlike full-fledged VPNs this product does not slow down your Internet, route your traffic through our servers, or mask your IP address.
You can download the app through the iOS App store.
The Secure mode for iOS is a narrow VPN for unencrypted HTTP connections only. It does not transmit HTTPS requests or other types of traffic. HTTP requests are dangerous because they can be intercepted, monitored, or altered by hackers, ISPs, and governments.
The Secure mode for iOS is not useful for hiding your IP address, evading geo-gating, or many other traditional uses for a VPN. It is designed specifically to encrypt HTTP traffic, which is the primary vector for man in the middle attacks.
Disconnect Premium encrypts all traffic on your device. The Secure mode only encrypts HTTP traffic.
The DNS Encryption feature encrypts your DNS traffic. This is important because DNS traffic is transmitted insecurely by default and can be intercepted and modified by malicious hackers, ISPs, and governments. For example, ISPs can use your DNS traffic to determine which websites you visit, even if those websites are served over encrypted connections.
Our app requires iOS 11.2 or later.
Disconnect Privacy Pro does not require a special password. When you install from the App Store you may be asked for the password that you use to unlock your device or the password for your Apple account.
Disconnect Privacy Pro is not a full VPN like the paid version of our Premium app. Instead it is designed to protect you from trackers no matter what browser or app you are using without the addition of VPN encryption.
After following the initial setup instructions, tap the toggle in the top right corner.
Disconnect Pro for Samsung does not use VPN technology. It can safely be used with another VPN.
To disable all blocking within an app, tap the gear in the upper left hand corner, then Whitelist Apps, and then tap the app you would like to whitelist.
Disconnect Pro for Samsung requires Knox 2.6 or above.
Tap the settings icon in the upper left, and then tap 'Uninstall'. Send us an email at support@disconnect.me to let us know what went wrong!
Do Not Track blocks trackers in all your apps and the websites you visit. Other benefits and features include: Device wide tracker protection results in faster page and app loads, reduced bandwidth, better battery life. Easy to use firewall empowers you to block whatever you want. See a real-time list of trackers trying to collect your location, phone number, email, and online activity. Stats dashboard shows what's blocked, along with time and data savings. Bulk import/export your own firewall rules. Tracker protection across all your applications, including all mobile browsers.
Do Not Track does not offer the option to encrypt HTTP requests like Pro or to encrypt all traffic like Premium.
The DNS Encryption feature encrypts your DNS traffic. This is important because DNS traffic may be transmitted insecurely and can be intercepted and modified by malicious hackers, ISPs, and governments. For example, ISPs can use your DNS traffic to determine which websites you visit, even if those websites are served over encrypted connections.
Do Not Track does not require a special password. When you install from the App Store and when you start protection you will be asked for the password that you use to unlock your device or the password for your Apple account.
Disconnect Private Browsing is a browser extension that stops major third parties from tracking the webpages you go to.
Disconnect Private Browsing runs in the background and comes with sensible defaults, so you don’t have to do anything after installing. You can click the D icon in your toolbar to view, block, or unblock third-party requests.
Every time you visit a site, Disconnect Private Browsing automatically detects when your browser tries to make a connection to anything other than the site you are visiting. We call these other attempted connections “network requests”.
Disconnect Private Browsing then categorizes these network requests into different groups (Advertising, Analytics, Fingerprinting, Social, Cookies, Pixels, and more).
By default, Disconnect Private Browsing blocks all of the network requests in each category except Content. Content is unblocked by default because it often includes network requests that, if blocked, would “break” the site you are visiting.
You can unblock all network requests on a given site by clicking the toggle in the upper-right corner of the extension. The icon in the extension’s menu will say “OFF” when blocking is disabled on a website. In Firefox, you can do this by clicking “Unblock site”.
Many of the popular browsers today have privacy modes. Chrome has “Incognito” while Firefox and Opera have “Private Windows”. While each is slightly different, they all do essentially the same thing: prevent the local browser application on your computer from saving your browsing history (meaning that other users of the same computer cannot see the browsing history). However, unlike Disconnect, Incognito Mode does not prevent Google servers (for example) from detecting and saving your browsing history, and does not prevent other websites you visit and third parties from tracking you. Another way of thinking about it: the browser privacy modes protect your privacy if someone gets access to your device, but they generally do nothing to keep the outside world from tracking you while you are using the device.
When you go to a web page, you will see a small counter next to the D icon in your toolbar. This counter shows you how many companies are attempting to track you on that specific site. If you’d like to see more details, simply click on the D icon and review the dropdown information.
Disconnect Private Browsing stays up to date by periodically downloading configuration files from disconnect.me. The configuration files determine which tracking sites can be filtered and whether experimental features can be enabled. Requests for the configuration files may include anonymous info about when you were last updated so we can optimize our infrastructure and the data we send you. As per our privacy policy, we never log your IP address or other personal info when our servers are contacted.
Disconnect Private Browsing is available for the modern versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera.
Chromium is phasing out MV2 extensions, requiring Disconnect and other browser extension developers to create extensions that are compatible with Chromium’s new API Manifest V3. Our MV3 extension continues to effectively block trackers that collect your online activity and expose you to malware and identity theft. However, this change has forced Disconnect and other privacy extensions to abandon some popular features, like the ability to view and block/unblock specific trackers.
We use color to indicate if a category is blocked or not. Green = blocked. Grey = not blocked. You can block and unblock categories by simply clicking on them.
Checked = blocked. Unchecked = unblocked. You can block and unblock specific trackers by checking and unchecking the boxes next to them.
In order for us to block the trackers, we need to understand what your browser is doing (there is no other way unfortunately). We do not store this or any other browsing data.
The D icon should be to the right of the address URL box at the top of the browser window. If it’s not there, you need to make sure that Disconnect Private Browsing is installed and enabled. On your menu bar, click the three horizontal lines > Extensions and themes and look for “Disconnect”. If it’s not there, please re-install Disconnect. If Disconnect is installed but not enabled, please enable it. If it’s installed and enabled and the D icon is still not showing up in your toolbar, please right click on your toolbar, hit “Customize,” and drag the D icon where you want it. If this still does not work, please email us.
By default, we do not block third parties that are critical to the delivery of content to a web page as blocking them could cause the webpage to “break”. However if you’d like to block content third parties on the site you’re visiting, simply click the Content category and it will flip to green, indicating that content third parties are being blocked.
This feature gives you the ability to unblock all third parties on the site you are visiting with a single click. This can be especially handy if you ever notice that certain elements of a site are not functioning the way they normally do (these situations are rare, but we still wanted to allow for a single-click option if you need it).
If a web site is poorly designed, blocking a third party will sometimes “break” elements of the site. To fix a broken element, please open the extension and click “Unblock site” in Firefox or click the toggle in the upper right-hand corner of the extension window in Chromium browsers. This will unblock all third parties on the site you are visiting with a single click. You can turn blocking on for that site at any time by clicking “Block site” or the toggle.
This feature allows you to see the third parties that Disconnect Private Browsing is blocking in a graphical format, and it is based on the Collusion initiative at Mozilla.
Red circles are known tracking sites; gray circles are either content sites or sites that are also owned by the site you are visiting.
Red circles which are crossed out are blocked; plain red circles are unblocked. We block most trackers by default, and you can block and unblock them by clicking on the red circles.
The graphs are meant to help quantify some of the additional value that Disconnect Private Browsing provides beyond just blocking trackers. The graphs currently display “0”s because the tool we use to measure these stats is in need of repair. The red graph is an estimation of the page load time saved because trackers were not able to load their elements on the page. The orange graph approximates the amount of bandwidth saved by blocking these trackers. The blue graph is a remnant of a previous feature called Secure Wi-Fi, and it will be removed shortly.
It depends on which browser you are using.
Disconnect Private Browsing for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera will update automatically.
Disconnect Private Browsing is not designed to be an ad blocker. It’s designed to stop companies, some of whom serve ads, from tracking your browser behavior. As a result, you will still see “first party” ads, meaning those ads that are presented to you directly from the site you are visiting.
You may be on a browser that we do not support. Disconnect Private Browsing is available for the modern desktop versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera.
Mobile browsers do not currently support our extension. To protect yourself on smartphones and tablets, we recommend you install one of our apps for iOS and Android, which you can find on our home page.
To learn more about how we define tracking and the trackers we block and don’t block visit https://disconnect.me/trackerprotection.
First off, we’re sad to see you go. If you have a minute after following the instructions below, please tell us went wrong at support@disconnect.me. (We solve most problems right away, so maybe we can even get you to try Disconnect again.)
All new WiFi networks are considered insecure until you decide to whitelist them (mark them as trusted). In automatic mode, all cellular connections will be considered trusted because local threats are more limited on cellular connections.
You can find out how to download Secure Wireless from our website here. It is available for download through the Play Store.
We currently have servers located in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. We are actively adding new server locations.
We only keep logs relating to how much data was used during a monthly cycle. As per our privacy policy, we do not store IP addresses, DNS lookups, sites/addresses accessed, or anything else.
Private browsing helps keep your browsing private and secure by blocking known malware sites and tracking companies from communicating with your device to target you, store cookies, or fingerprint your browser. Although unlikely, some websites or apps may not work properly if they rely on loading a third party resource that’s being blocked. In this case, you can simply turn off Private Browsing and try the website/app again.
Generally, you can’t visually see the trackers that Secure Wireless blocks. Some of the trackers, like advertisements, may be noticeably absent while Private Browsing is enabled, but all other types of tracking are completely hidden. More technical users can validate that Private Browsing is working by using software like network traffic analyzers and comparing the results before and after Private Browsing is enabled. You’ll see fewer requests to known tracking servers.
You can manually specify which networks are already trusted and whitelist them. Trusted networks will not automatically trigger the VPN to connect when using the Automatic mode.
Automatic mode interrogates each network change and connects to the VPN only if the Wi-Fi network isn’t trusted or if a user is connecting via 3G, 4G, or LTE. Manual mode allows the user to turn the VPN on and off on any network interface. Always On mode turns the VPN on regardless of network or interface.
Secure Wireless uses AES-256 to encrypt data to or from your device. Secure Wireless also enforces Diffie-Hellman for key agreement/exchange which provides perfect forward secrecy (PFS).
Yes. No matter if you are connected to the wifi at a coffee shop or your device’s data, you are protected.
No. When using the Private Browsing feature, your DNS requests are routed through our servers to hide your IP address. Your ISP won’t see any of your DNS lookups.
Secure Wireless will automatically update when there is a new system update available.
If you don’t want Secure Wireless to automatically secure untrusted networks then you can change to the ‘Manual’ mode in settings. This will require you to manually start and stop the VPN.
First off, we’re sorry to see you go! If you have a minute after following the instructions below, please tell us went wrong at support@disconnect.me. (We solve most problems right away, so maybe we can even get you to try Disconnect Secure Wireless again.) It can be uninstalled just like any other app on your Android device.
No, as long as you have the product installed you can feel free to keep using the app.
Yes. At this time we are no longer offering this product.
Disconnect Privacy Icons is unfortunately no longer available.
The Malvertising app is unfortunately no longer available.
Disconnect Kids is unfortunately no longer available.
These are some of our earliest extensions, and each one is designed to block third party tracking by Facebook, Google and Twitter respectively.
Facebook Disconnect, Google Disconnect, and Twitter Disconnect are functional subsets of Disconnect Private Browsing (i.e., they do a portion of what the all-in-one Disconnect Private Browsing extension does). Therefore, you don’t need Facebook, Google, or Twitter Disconnect if you already have Disconnect Private Browsing.
Collusion for Chrome and Collusion for Safari are browser extensions that let you visualize and, optionally, block the invisible websites tracking you. Collusion for Chrome and Collusion for Safari are based on Collusion, a Firefox add-on by Mozilla.
We suggest just using Disconnect Private Browsing as it offers greater protection and customization than Collusion. The major third parties that Disconnect Private Browsing filters are more likely to be privacy invading and to break pages, so Disconnect Private Browsing has an interface designed for convenient blocking and unblocking.
Collusion stays up to date by periodically downloading configuration files from disconnect.me. The configuration files determine which tracking sites can be filtered and whether experimental features can be enabled. Requests for the configuration files may include anonymous info about when you were last updated so we can optimize our infrastructure and the data we send you. As per our privacy policy, we never log your IP address or other personal info when our servers are contacted.
Our support team is here to help you with any questions about our products.