Adding a proxy to your Android phone, no rooting required

In plain English: your Android phone already has a proxy setting built in. There's nothing to root (rooting means unlocking the phone's protected system files, and you don't need it here) and no extra app to install. The setting is saved with each Wi-Fi network, so the phone uses the proxy on that one network and connects normally everywhere else, mobile data included. Samsung, Google Pixel and other brands arrange their menus a little differently, but the steps come in the same order on all of them.

Quick start in 3 steps

1. Open Settings, go to your Wi-Fi list and tap the gear icon beside the network you're connected to.
2. Find Proxy (it sits under View more or Advanced options), switch it to Manual, type the host and port, and save.
3. Open Chrome on the phone and load our What is my IP page. If it shows the proxy's address, you're done.

The one catch: there's no password box

Android's built-in proxy screen has a box for the host and one for the port, plus an optional list of sites to skip. Nowhere on it can you type a username or password. If your proxy signs you in with a login, pick one of these:

• Switch to IP whitelisting. In your dashboard, add the public IP address of the Wi-Fi you'll use, such as your home broadband. The proxy then recognises that connection without asking for a login, so the host and port are all the phone needs.
• Use an app with its own proxy login. Some apps have proxy fields in their own settings, username and password included, and those work on any connection.

Whitelisting suits most people. Keep in mind that it's tied to the connection you approved: if you also set the proxy up on a friend's Wi-Fi, add that network's IP address too, or the proxy will turn the phone away.

Have these to hand

• What your dashboard shows. Under your active order, the address appears as HOST:PORT, with your login in separate USER and PASS fields. The part before the colon is the proxy server's address, and the part after it is the port.
• The phone connected to the Wi-Fi you want to use. Android only lets you edit networks it has saved.
• A plan, if you haven't got one yet. Our proxy types are explained without jargon, and the "Which type should I pick?" section below narrows it down.

Step 1: open the Wi-Fi network's settings

1. Open Settings. On a Samsung phone tap Connections; on a Pixel tap Network & internet.
2. Tap Wi-Fi (recent Pixels call it Internet) and check you're on the right network.
3. Tap the gear icon next to the network's name. On some older phones you press and hold the network instead, then choose Modify network.

Step 2: type in the proxy

1. Show the extra options. Samsung: tap View more. Pixel: tap the pencil icon at the top to edit the network, then open Advanced options.
2. Find Proxy and change it from None to Manual.
3. In Proxy hostname, enter the host from your dashboard, for instance gateway.example.com, or an IP address.
4. In Proxy port, enter the number, for instance 8000.
5. Leave Bypass proxy for empty, unless there are local addresses you want to reach without the proxy.
6. Tap Save.

The setting stays with this saved network. Turn Wi-Fi off and on again, or restart the phone, and the proxy is still in place.

Check that it worked

Open Chrome on the phone and visit our What is my IP page. The address shown should belong to the proxy, not to your broadband or mobile provider. Our proxy checker confirms the proxy itself is answering, and the DNS leak test shows whether the phone's DNS look-ups (the step that turns a website's name into a number) still go out over your normal connection.

When nothing loads at all, check three things in order: the host and port for typos, whether your proxy expects a login the Android box can't send, and, if you use whitelisting, whether the IP you're connecting from is actually on the list.

Testing a username-and-password proxy with Termux

Want proof that your login details are right before you blame the phone? Termux is a free terminal app (a window where you type commands) that you can get from F-Droid. Install it, then run this with your own details in place of the capital letters:

curl -x "http://USER:PASS@HOST:PORT" https://api.ipify.org

A reply showing the proxy's IP address means your username and password are fine, and anything still wrong lies in the phone's settings or in the app you're using.

Wi-Fi only: what about mobile data?

This setting belongs to a Wi-Fi network, so it does nothing once the phone moves over to 4G or 5G. Covering mobile data as well would take an app-level setup or a tunnelling app that handles the whole phone. For most beginners Wi-Fi is plenty: it's where you'll test a website, see how a shop looks from another country, or look after your own accounts.

Need an address from a mobile network in particular? You don't have to be on mobile data for that. A mobile proxy gives you a 4G or 5G carrier IP at the far end, even while your phone sits on home Wi-Fi.

Which type should I pick?

• Trying proxies for the first time, or browsing on a small budget: datacenter proxies are the lower-cost type and handle most everyday sites.
• Seeing a site or app the way a local person would: residential proxies route you through addresses that belong to home broadband lines.
• Checking what people on phone networks get: mobile proxies.

Whichever you choose, whitelisting makes Android much easier, because it sidesteps the missing password box. Prices for every type are on the pricing page.

Common mistakes

• Extras in the hostname box. Type the bare host, with no "http://" in front and no port on the end. The port has a box of its own.
• Editing the wrong network. The proxy works on the network you edited and nowhere else. If the phone has hopped onto another Wi-Fi, it connects directly.
• Waiting for a login prompt. Android never asks for a proxy password. If your proxy needs one and your IP isn't whitelisted, pages just fail to load.
• A whitelisted IP that has changed. Some home broadband connections are given a new public IP from time to time. If a setup that worked suddenly stops, compare your current IP with the one saved in your dashboard.
• Forgetting the proxy is there. Once your plan runs out, the proxy stops answering and your home Wi-Fi will seem broken. Set Proxy back to None and everything works again.

Is this allowed?

Running a proxy on your own phone is legal in most countries, and there are plenty of fair reasons to do it: privacy on shared Wi-Fi, checking how a website or app appears in another region, or managing accounts that belong to you. It isn't a way round the rules, though. Don't use it to get past an app's sign-in checks, to come back to a service after being banned, or for anything else that breaks an app's terms of service. The law where you live applies as usual.

How to switch it off

Open the same network's settings, change Proxy to None and save. Since each network keeps its own setting, you can leave the proxy on one Wi-Fi network and have the rest connect directly.

Beginner questions

Do I need to root my phone?

No. Every step above uses the standard Settings app your phone came with.

Will every app use the proxy?

Not necessarily. Android's own proxy screen warns that the browser uses the setting but other apps may not. Chrome follows it; for anything else, test with the proxy switched on.

Can different Wi-Fi networks use different proxies?

Yes. Every saved network has its own proxy setting, so home, work and a friend's Wi-Fi can each be set up differently, or not at all.