How to Turn Off a Proxy on Windows 11, Mac, Chrome, and Your Phone

Most people who search for how to turn off a proxy never turned one on. The setting arrived with something else: a VPN that was uninstalled but left its configuration behind, a school or office laptop that came home, a "web shield" in an antivirus suite, an ad blocker that filters traffic through a local port, or an unwanted program that routes browsing through a server it controls. The symptom is always the same. Pages stop loading, the browser blames a proxy server, and the setting you are being told to check is one you have never seen.

The switch itself takes a minute to flip. The reason this guide is longer than a minute is that the setting lives in several places at once, and some programs only read one of them. Turning off the obvious toggle while another copy stays on is the most common reason people report that "turning off the proxy did not work". This walks through each place for each system, then shows how to prove the proxy is actually gone, and what it means when it comes back.

Which programs read which proxy setting

Before touching anything, it helps to know who reads what. Chrome, Edge, Safari, and the great majority of desktop programs do not have a proxy setting of their own. They ask the operating system, and the operating system hands them whatever is configured in the pages below. Firefox and Tor Browser are the notable exceptions: each keeps its own proxy setting and ignores the system one unless told to use it. Browser extensions with proxy permission sit on top of everything and win.

The practical rule: if Chrome fails but Firefox works, the problem is in the operating system or a Chrome extension. If Firefox fails but Chrome works, the problem is Firefox's own dialog. If everything fails, start with the operating system.

Windows 11

Windows keeps the proxy setting in two panels that write to the same place but do not always agree with each other, plus a third layer for system services. Clear all three.

1. The Settings app

1. Open Settings and go to Network & internet, then Proxy.
2. Under Manual proxy setup, click Edit next to Use a proxy server. Switch the toggle off and click Save. Before you do, note the address and port shown in the box. That address tells you who set it, which matters if the setting comes back.
3. Under Automatic proxy setup, look at Use setup script. If it is on, click Edit, switch it off, and save. A setup script is a small file that hands out proxy rules; home networks never need one, and an unknown script address is a warning sign.
4. Automatically detect settings can stay on. It is on by default and only asks the local network for a proxy announcement, which a home router does not make.

2. Internet Options

Internet Options is the older control panel from the Internet Explorer era. Windows 11 still ships it, and some programs, installers and launchers read their proxy from here.

1. Press Windows+R, type inetcpl.cpl, and press Enter.
2. Open the Connections tab and click LAN settings.
3. Uncheck Use a proxy server for your LAN and Use automatic configuration script. Leave Automatically detect settings as it is. Click OK twice.
4. While you are on the Connections tab, look at the list above the LAN settings button. If a VPN or dial-up connection is listed there, select it and click Settings. Each entry has its own proxy configuration, separate from the LAN one, and a leftover VPN entry with a proxy set is a common trap.

3. The WinHTTP layer

Windows Update, the Microsoft Store, and other services that run as the system rather than as you use a separate proxy setting called WinHTTP. It does not follow the toggles above. If your browser works but Windows Update, the Store, or Microsoft 365 activation fail with a proxy or connection error, this is the layer to check.

Open Terminal or PowerShell as administrator and run:

netsh winhttp show proxy

The healthy answer is Direct access (no proxy server). If a proxy is listed and you are not on a managed corporate network, reset it:

netsh winhttp reset proxy

Do not run the reset on a work computer that is supposed to use a proxy. On a managed device, the administrator set that value on purpose.

Windows 10

The path is the same as Windows 11 with slightly different furniture. Open Settings, then Network & Internet, then Proxy. The toggles sit directly on the page: switch Use setup script off under Automatic proxy setup, and switch Use a proxy server off under Manual proxy setup. Then follow the Internet Options and WinHTTP steps above, which are identical on Windows 10.

macOS

macOS stores proxies per network service, so Wi-Fi and Ethernet each carry their own set. Clear the one you are using, then check the other if you switch between them.

1. Open System Settings, click Network, and select the active connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet).
2. Click Details next to the network you are connected to, then choose Proxies in the sidebar.
3. Switch off every enabled protocol. The ones that matter for browsing are Web proxy (HTTP), Secure web proxy (HTTPS), SOCKS proxy, Auto proxy discovery, and Automatic proxy configuration. Note any server address you see before switching it off.
4. Click OK. Reload a page to test.

On macOS Monterey and earlier the same panel is under System Preferences, Network, Advanced, Proxies.

Then check for a configuration profile. Profiles are how employers and schools push settings to a Mac, and they can also be installed by software you did not want. If a profile sets the proxy, the toggle will flip back the moment you close the panel. On macOS Sonoma and later open System Settings, General, Device Management; on Ventura it is under Privacy & Security, Profiles. Anything you do not recognise can be selected and removed with the minus button. A managed work Mac will not let you remove the organisation's profile, which is by design.

Finally, confirm the change took from Terminal:

scutil --proxy

A clean Mac prints a short dictionary in which every Enable line reads 0 and no HTTPProxy, HTTPSProxy, or SOCKSProxy address appears.

Chrome

Chrome does not have its own proxy setting on Windows or macOS. Open Chrome's settings, go to System, and click Open your computer's proxy settings: that link opens the Windows or macOS page described above, and nothing else is stored inside Chrome. Two things in Chrome can still force a proxy after the operating system is clean.

Extensions. Any extension with proxy permission can set one, and a proxy or VPN extension that is broken, expired, or pointed at a dead server produces exactly the failures people attribute to "Chrome's proxy". Open chrome://extensions, disable every proxy, VPN, unblocker, or "secure browsing" extension, and reload. If the page loads, one of them was the cause. Re-enable them one at a time to find it.

Policy. If Chrome shows "Managed by your organization" in its menu, a policy is setting the proxy. Open chrome://policy and look for ProxyMode, ProxyServer, ProxyPacUrl, or ProxySettings. On a work machine that is expected. On a personal computer these values come from a leftover registry key or unwanted software, and the section on greyed-out settings below explains how to remove them.

On a Chromebook the proxy is set per network: open Settings, Network, choose the network, and set Proxy to Direct connection.

Edge

Edge behaves exactly like Chrome. Settings, System and performance, Open your computer's proxy settings leads to the operating system. Extensions live at edge://extensions and policies at edge://policy, with the same policy names.

Firefox

Firefox is the browser that people forget, because it keeps its own setting. Open Settings, scroll to Network Settings at the bottom of the General page, and click Settings. Choose No proxy, or Use system proxy settings if the system is clean and you want Firefox to follow it in future. Manual proxy configuration and Automatic proxy configuration URL are the two options that carry an address; if either is selected and you did not choose it, an add-on or another user of the profile set it. Check Add-ons and themes for any proxy or VPN extension while you are there.

Android

Android sets the proxy per Wi-Fi network, and separately for mobile data. If a proxy is causing trouble only on one Wi-Fi network, that is why.

1. Open Settings, then Network & internet, then Internet (or Wi-Fi). Tap the gear next to the connected network, then the pencil or Edit.
2. Expand Advanced options and set Proxy to None. Save.
3. On Samsung phones the path is Settings, Connections, Wi-Fi, the gear next to the network, View more, Proxy, None.

Mobile data carries its own proxy fields inside the APN (access point name) configuration. Some carriers ship a proxy there on purpose, so do not clear fields you did not fill in. If mobile data is broken and you suspect the APN, use Reset to default in the APN menu rather than editing individual fields.

Also check for a VPN app under Settings, Network & internet, VPN, and turn off Always-on VPN if it is set for an app you no longer use.

iPhone and iPad

Open Settings, tap Wi-Fi, tap the i next to the connected network, scroll to HTTP Proxy, and tap Configure Proxy. Set it to Off. Like Android, the setting is per network, so repeat it for any other network that misbehaves.

Then look at Settings, General, VPN & Device Management. A configuration profile listed there can set a proxy for the whole device and re-apply it every time you change it by hand. Remove any profile you did not install yourself. A supervised device managed by a school or employer will not let you, and that is expected.

Linux

Linux has no single proxy switch. The environment variables http_proxy, https_proxy, and all_proxy are read by curl, wget, pip, and most command-line tools; the desktop setting under Settings, Network, Network Proxy governs the browser and desktop apps; and package managers like apt keep their own file. Our Linux proxy setup guide covers all of them, including the section on turning everything off and how to see which one is actually in use. The short version: run env | grep -i proxy to see what the shell has, unset http_proxy https_proxy all_proxy HTTP_PROXY HTTPS_PROXY ALL_PROXY to clear the session, then remove the lines from ~/.bashrc, ~/.profile, or /etc/environment so they do not return at the next login.

Prove it is off

A toggle in the off position is a claim. Verify it.

1. Open our IP lookup and read the address and the network owner. It should be your own internet provider in your own city. An address that belongs to a hosting company, or a country you are not in, means traffic is still leaving through a proxy somewhere.
2. On Windows, run netsh winhttp show proxy as administrator and confirm Direct access. Then run this in a normal terminal, which reads the per-user setting the Settings app writes:

reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings" /v ProxyEnable

A value of 0x0 means off. 0x1 means something switched it back on.

3. On macOS, run scutil --proxy and confirm the Enable values are all 0.
4. Load a page in a second browser. If Chrome works and Firefox does not, or the reverse, the surviving setting is browser-side and the sections above tell you which dialog holds it.

When it turns itself back on

A proxy that returns after you disabled it is not a bug in the toggle. Something is writing the setting again on a schedule, at login, or when a particular program starts. The three common writers are a VPN or security product that left a service behind, a configuration profile or policy, and malware that uses a proxy to sit between you and the web. Each has a different fix and a different level of urgency, and we cover them one by one in proxy settings keep turning back on. If the address you noted earlier was unfamiliar, especially a remote IP rather than 127.0.0.1, read that guide before you do anything else, because a proxy you did not choose can read everything you send through it.

If you turned off a proxy you actually wanted

One group of readers arrives here from the other direction: the proxy was deliberate, it stopped working, and turning it off was the only way to get online. Chrome's version of that failure is ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED, and Firefox's is the proxy server is refusing connections. In almost every case the proxy itself died. Free proxies have lifetimes measured in minutes, so an address that worked when you set it up is routinely dead by the time you need it. Paste it into our proxy checker to confirm, then pick a replacement from the free proxy list, which shows when each address was last verified. If you need the proxy to stay up for longer than a browsing session, a residential or ISP proxy with a fixed address is the tool for that job, and the setup guides for Windows and macOS put it back in the same panels you just cleared.