4 Ways to Route All Traffic Through the Tor Network

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Surf the web anonymously by funneling traffic through Tor

Written by Travis Boylls

Last Updated: December 10, 2025 Fact Checked

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Using Windows

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Using Mac

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Using Torctl on Linux

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Using OnionFruit on Windows

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Tips

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Warnings

The Tor Network is a service that allows you to make your internet traffic anonymous. It is designed to transmit data that uses the SOCKS protocol. Any data that does not support this protocol cannot be routed through the Tor Network. Therefore, it is not possible to route all traffic through the Tor Network. You can route internet traffic through the Tor network by setting up a SOCKS proxy in your internet settings. There are also a number of scripts available that you can use to route traffic through the Tor browser on Linux. You can also use an open source program on Windows. This wikiHow teaches you how to route all supported network traffic through the Tor Network.

Route Network Traffic through TOR Network

Download and open the Tor browser. Open the Internet settings on your computer’s operating system and enable a proxy server. Enter the server address 127.0.0.1 with port number 9150 as a SOCKS proxy. Save your settings.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Using Windows

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1
Open Tor. It has a purple icon that resembles an onion. Click the Tor icon in your Windows Start menu to open Tor.
- Tor should connect to the Tor network automatically when you open it. If it does not, click Connect.
- If you haven’t downloaded Tor, you can download it from www.torproject.org/download.
2
Open the Control Panel. To do so, click the Windows Start menu and then type "Control Panel." Then click Control Panel to open it.

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3
Open the Internet Options page. If you don’t see Internet Options when you open the Control Panel, click Network and Internet, followed by Internet Options.
4
Click the Connections tab. It’s the fifth tab at the top of the Internet Options window.
5
Click LAN Settings. It’s at the bottom of the Internet Options window under the Connections tab.
6
Check "Use proxy server for your LAN." It’s the checkbox at the bottom of the page. This will enable your proxy server settings.
7
Click Advanced. It’s next to the address and port settings. This opens a new window for advanced options.
8
Enter the IP address 127.0.0.1 next to "Socks." "Socks" is the last line below "Servers." This is the server address needed to route all traffic through the TOR network.
9
Enter 9150 as the port. Enter port "9150" in the box below "Port" next to the "Socks" server.
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Click Ok to exit all the windows. Click Ok to exit out of the Advanced Settings window, the LAN Settings window, and the Internet Options window. You should now be routing your traffic through the Tor network.
- You can test your connection using browserleaks.com/dns. Your IP address should appear to be coming from a different country.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Using Mac

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1
Open Tor. It has a purple icon that resembles an onion. Click the Tor icon in your Windows Start menu to open Tor.
- TOR should connect to the Tor network automatically when you open it. If it does not, click Connect.
- If you haven’t downloaded Tor, you can download it from www.torproject.org/download.
2
Open the Network Settings menu. Use the following steps to do so:
- Click the Apple icon in the menu bar at the top.
- Click System Settings (or System Preferences on older versions of macOS).
- Click Network in the menu bar to the left.
3
Click your internet connection. Your active internet connection will be listed at the top with a green dot next to it. If you are connected to Wi-Fi, click Wi-Fi. If you are connected via a wired connection, click Ethernet at the top.
4
Click Details. Next to your internet connection. This opens your connection settings menu.
5
Click Proxies. It’s in the menu bar to the left.
6
Click the toggle switch next to "SOCKS proxy." This allows you to enter a SOCKS proxy server.
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Enter 127.0.0.1 as the server address. This is the proxy server needed to route all traffic through the Tor network. Enter this IP address next to "Server."
8
Enter 9150 as the port. Enter this as the port number.
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Click Ok. This saves your proxy settings. You should now be able to route your internet traffic through the Tor network.
- You can test your connection using browserleaks.com/dns. Your IP address should appear to be coming from a different country.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Using Torctl on Linux

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1
Open the Terminal. The Terminal usually has an icon that resembles a black screen with a text cursor. Click the Terminal icon in whichever Linux distribution you are running.
- Torctl is built for BlackArch, but it can also be installed on other Linux distributions.
- If you are running BlackArch Linux, simply type sudo pacman -S torctl and press Enter to install Torctl. Then go to the second step 5
- If Torctl does not work for your Linux distribution, you can find other scripts here. You can also use iptables to route traffic through Tor.
2
Install Tor. If you haven't already done so, install Tor by entering the following command and pressing Enter:
- sudo apt install tor
3
Install GNU MAC changer. GNU MAC changer allows you to change your MAC address. Enter the following command and press Enter to download and install the MAC changer:
- sudo apt install tor macchanger secure-delete
4
Install Git. If you haven't already done so, enter one of the following commands and press Enter to install Git on your Linux distribution:
- RPM-based Linux distributions: sudo dnf install git
- Debian-based Linux distributions: sudo apt install git
5
Clone the Torctl directory. Enter the following command in the Terminal and press Enter to clone the GitHub directory on your Linux system.
- git clone https://github.com/BlackArch/torctl
This opens the Torctl directory that you just created. All the files you need to install Torctl are in this folder.^{[1]
X
Research source}
7
Move the contents of the "service" and "completion" folders. If you are using a regular Linux distribution, there are a few files you need to move. Enter the following commands and press Enter to move the contents of the folders.
- sudo mv service/* /etc/systemd/system/
- sudo mv bash-completion/torctl /usr/share/bash-completion/completions/torctl
8
Edit the input commands of the script. If you are using a regular Linux distribution, you need to edit the input commands of the script. Skip this step if you are using BlackArch. Enter the following commands and press Enter to edit the input commands of the script:
- sed -i 's/start_service iptables//' torctl
- sed -i 's/TOR_UID="tor"/TOR_UID="debian-tor"/' torctl
9
Move the Torctl script you just edited. After you finish editing the script, go ahead and enter the following command and press Enter to move it to the proper folder:
- sudo mv torctl /usr/local/bin/torctl.
10
Remove the Torctl script from the original folder. After you move the script to its new folder, enter the following command and press Enter to delete the original copy:
- cd .. && rm -rf torctl/
11
Use Torctl Terminal commands to operate Torctl. Enter any of the following commands in the Terminal and press Enter to operate Torctl.
- Display list of commands: torctl --help
- Find your IP address: torctl ip
- Start Torctl and start routing traffic: sudo torctl start
- Stop Torctl: sudo torctl stop
- Check Torctl status: torctl status
- Change your IP address on the Tor Network: sudo torctl chngid
- Change MAC address: sudo torctl chngmac
- Recover original MAC address: sudo torctl rvmac
- Automatically start Torctl on startup: sudo systemctl enable torctl-autostart.service
- Remove Torctl from startup services: sudo systemctl disable torctl-autostart.service
- Add automatic memory cleaning when you shut down your computer: sudo systemctl enable torctl-autowipe.service
- Disable automatic memory cleaning: sudo systemctl disable torctl-autowipe.service

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Using OnionFruit on Windows

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1
Download and install OnionFruit. OnionFruit is a tool for Windows that allows you to connect your PC to the Tor network and use it like it's a VPN. It's only available for Windows. Use the following steps to download and install OnionFruit:
- Go to dragonfruit.network/onionfruit in a web browser.
- Click Download latest version below "Connect to Tor in seconds."
- Click the Install.exe file in your web browser or Downloads folder.
OnionFruit will open automatically once it finishes downloading. To open OnionFruit manually, click the purple icon that resembles a diamond with a lock next to it on your Windows Start menu.
If you don't see the OnionFruit toggle switch pop-up in the lower-left corner of your computer screen, click the orange circle icon in the taskbar to open OnionFriut.
If you want to select a country to connect to as your point of entry, use the drop-down menu in the OnionFruit interface to select a country. If you don't have a particular country you want to connect to in mind, leave it as "Random."
It's the orange bar in the interface. This switches the toggle switch on and connects your PC to the Tor Network. When it is connected, the orange bar in the OnionFruit interface will turn green. Your web browser will also open a landing page that says you are connected to Tor.

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Tips

Other scripts for Linux include torghost, anonsurf, and orjail.

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Even if you don't have Linux, you may want to consider installing Linux on a virtual machine.

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If you want an OS that routes traffic through the TOR network automatically, you can install TailsOS on a USB thumb drive and boot any computer from the thumb drive.

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Warnings

Don't connect to dangerous onion links with JavaScript enabled!

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This only affects programs that use a proxy!

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