How To Disable A VPN On Any Device

How to Temporarily Disable A VPN On Any Device

When we talk about disabling a VPN, it could mean either temporarily or permanently disabling it. Let’s start with temporarily disabling, but before that, let’s cover what a VPN is and how disabling it affects our privacy.

What Is a VPN?

A VPN is an internet security service that provides privacy, security, and anonymity. When you enable a VPN, it routes your device’s internet traffic through an encrypted VPN tunnel. Basically, it conceals your online activity from the prying eyes of your internet service provider (ISP), hackers, and even the government. Adversely, when you disable your VPN, your internet traffic goes through public networks unencrypted and thus unprotected. Disabling your VPN even for just a few seconds could expose your online activity, so consider yourself forewarned.

The More You Know: When you disable your VPN, all of your internet traffic becomes visible to your ISP. The websites you visit also see your real IP address, which is tied to your physical location. And if you’re on public Wi-Fi, hackers connected to the same network can see and even steal your online data.

Temporarily Disabling a VPN the Easy Way

Most VPNs come with a software program or app from which you can manage the VPN. If you’re using a Windows, Mac, Android, or iOS VPN, simply launch the VPN software and click, tap, or toggle the same button you used to enable it. The button might read Disconnect, Turn Off, or Stop, or it might just be a power icon. Regardless, the purpose is the same.

This works 99-percent of the time. As we shared above, VPN apps sometimes malfunction. When they do, you’ll need to know these manual methods we’re about to share.

In most VPN apps, you’ll find a power button or disconnect option prominently displayed. It’s usually in the top corner or center of the main screen.

Some Linux VPNs work differently than your normal desktop or smartphone VPN. So let’s talk about temporarily disabling Linux VPNs, specifically those that don’t have an interface. Some Linux VPNs run on a command-line interface, which means you have to enter a code into the Linux terminal to enable and disable them. The exact code varies by VPN provider. The common commands we know include “sudo systemctl stop [vpn-service-name]” or “nmcli connection down [vpn-connection-name]”. The exact code you need to enter depends on your VPN, so do a quick search (e.g. “[VPN name] disconnect Linux”) on Google to find the answer.