What Is a VPN Kill Switch and How to Use It

A VPN encrypts and reroutes your internet traffic to one of its servers to mask your online identity, hide your browsing history, and protect your privacy. While searching for the best free VPN for PC, you may come across a confusing term: VPN kill switch, highlighted as a top feature of many VPNs. A VPN kill switch is a security feature that automatically disconnects your internet if the VPN connection drops, ensuring that your real IP address and personal data are never exposed, even for a moment.

While confusing, internet kill switches are easy to understand so that you can choose the right VPN.

Picture this. There’s an electrical voltage fluctuation at your home, causing the bulb to flicker. What’s the first thing you do? Cut off the bulb’s electricity supply by turning the switch off to protect it from damage. A kill switch is a similar switch, though not a physical button.

Whenever there is a fluctuation in the VPN server or it disconnects, a VPN kill switch cuts off your internet connection to prevent your location, online identity, browsing habits, and other details from being exposed.

Let’s help you understand the complete VPN kill switch meaning, its function, types, advantages, disadvantages, and whether you should use it.

What Is a Kill Switch in a VPN?

A VPN kill switch is an essential security feature in VPNs that turns off your internet access if the VPN connection drops. In other words, with a VPN internet kill switch, you cannot connect to the internet unless the VPN is working, preventing data leakage.

What would happen if there were no kill switch? If there were no kill switch in a VPN, your internet connection would default to the regular network, exposing your true IP address and online activities to hackers or network monitors. This makes the kill switch a crucial, not a good-to-have feature in a VPN. Moreover, besides being a safety net to protect your connection when the VPN experiences problems, a kill switch performs several functions.

What Does a VPN Kill Switch Do?

In addition to preventing data leaks when your VPN connection drops suddenly, a VPN kill switch ensures your internet traffic is always encrypted, as it won’t let you be online without being protected by the VPN, shields your identity by ensuring your true location is never exposed, and fortifies file sharing to prevent IP address exposure if the VPN disconnects when you share files with strangers. To do all this, the kill switch follows a four-step process of scanning, detecting, blocking, and reconnecting the internet.

How Does a VPN Kill Switch Work?

The VPN kill switch works by scanning the VPN server, detecting disruptions, blocking the internet, and reestablishing the connection. Here are all four of these steps.

• Scanning the network status: The VPN or internet kill switch scans your network status or IP address to check for real-time changes and analyze your VPN server connection.
• Detecting disruptions: The kill switch alerts you instantly about VPN connection disruptions.
• Blocking the internet: Depending on your VPN settings, the VPN kill switch can disconnect you from the internet or block specific applications.
• Reconnecting the internet: The kill switch automatically reconnects you to the internet once your VPN connection is reestablished.

Depending on whether a VPN kill switch works, it can be of three types.

What Are the Types of VPN Kill Switch?

System-wide kill switch, app-level kill switch, and always-on switch are the types of VPN kill switches. Each serves different user needs:

The system-wide switch suspends all internet traffic for the device. For example, a remote worker connecting to sensitive corporate resources will benefit from a system-wide kill switch, as it ensures that no data leaves the computer unprotected if the VPN disconnects.

The app-level switch blocks selected apps only. If you are torrenting files, you can set the kill switch to block only your torrent client so your downloads do not expose your IP address, while you can still use other apps like your browser.

The always-on switch changes your VPN into your default network connection. This is especially useful for frequent travelers who want automatic protection on public WiFi or anyone who wants to set their device to always use the VPN by default, such as streaming securely while connected to different networks.

Most reputable and premium VPN service providers certainly have one of the above three kill switches.

Also know: Best VPN for Binance 

Do All VPNs Have a Kill Switch?

While a kill switch is an important VPN feature, many free VPNs or older services may not have it. Hence, you must look at the VPN features carefully for a kill switch. The best VPNs with a free kill switch are Proton VPN, PrivadoVPN, and TunnelBear. In the premium VPNs, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and IPVanish are the best VPN services with a kill switch.

However, the question arises: if your VPN has a kill switch, should you turn it on?

Should You Turn On VPN Kill Switch?

Yes, you should turn on the VPN kill switch to stay protected during unexpected VPN disconnections. While rare, VPN disconnections can happen because of an unstable internet connection, a clash with your firewall or antivirus software settings, VPN server problems, or network congestion. In all these scenarios, a kill switch is the protective shield that protects you and your data.

How does a VPN kill switch protect you?

A VPN internet kill switch immediately suspends your internet access if the VPN connection breaks to protect your digital identity and data integrity. It ensures your original IP address remains hidden during VPN interruptions. A VPN kill switch safeguards your financial and personal information from the prying eyes of cybercriminals and those trying to monitor your activities. It also helps maintain your anonymity and privacy when you travel.

It turns out that the advantages of using a VPN kill switch are more than the risks of going without it.

What are the risks of using a VPN without a kill switch?

If you use a VPN without a kill switch, you may defeat the purpose of a VPN, which is protecting your IP address, location, and data. If the VPN connection drops without an active kill switch, your IP address can become visible, compromising online anonymity.

Moreover, without a VPN kill switch, anyone can intercept and access your sensitive information and browsing activities. Hackers and other cybercriminals can later use these details to execute their attacks. Hence, enable the VPN kill switch.

How to Turn On Kill Switch on VPN?

The exact steps to enable the kill switch may vary from one VPN to another, but the general steps are largely the same. As an example, we use the Proton VPN.

• Open the VPN application.
• Click the VPN settings.
• Next, toggle on the Kill switch.

• Lastly, click Apply to confirm the action.

After enabling the VPN kill switch, it is also important to check if it is working effectively.

How to Test If VPN Kill Switch Is Working?

To test if your VPN internet kill switch is actually working:

• Turn on the VPN and ensure you have an active internet connection.
• In your VPN settings, turn on the kill switch.
• Disconnect your VPN manually or force close the VPN application.
• Next, open any website. If the website does not load, the kill switch is working.
• Reopen the VPN application and reconnect the VPN.
• Your internet begins functioning normally after reconnecting to the VPN.

Please note that some VPN kill switches block the internet traffic only when the VPN connection drops suddenly and not when you disconnect manually. Also, if your VPN has both system-wide and app-level blocking, you should test both.

If, after testing, you want to turn off the kill switch for any reason, it’s also a simple process.

How to Disable the VPN Kill Switch?

To disable the kill switch in your VPN:

• Open the VPN app.
• Next, open the VPN settings.
• In the VPN settings, you can find and toggle off the kill switch options. Some VPNs also label it as a Network Lock.

It was all for enabling, testing, and disabling the kill switch. Note that while using a kill switch is a good privacy practice, it can also have its fair share of downsides.

Are there Any Downsides to VPN Kill Switches?

While there are not many, and the advantages always weigh more than the VPN kill switch downsides, a kill switch can be the reason some apps, such as gaming apps, fail. Moreover, the kill switch can sometimes disrupt your workflow in situations such as downloading large files, playing online games, or video conferencing.

To minimize the disruptions caused by the VPN kill switch:

• Ensure you choose a reliable VPN. A kill switch becomes active when the VPN connection drops; VPNs with tested servers drop less. Even if the connection drops, VPNs with protocols like WireGuard recover quickly.
• Whitelist applications to exclude them from the kill switch. Whitelisting an app from the VPN kill switch allows you to continue using the app hassle-free when the kill switch stops everything else. However, only whitelist apps that do not transfer sensitive data, as whitelisted apps use your default, unsecured network connection when the kill switch is active.
• Turn on the autosave function for documents and spreadsheets. It saves your work automatically and prevents loss of anything important because of the kill switch.

If you have more questions about the kill switch, you can check the commonly asked questions below for answers.

Also know: Best Free VPN for Hulu

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Is a VPN kill switch safe?

Yes, a VPN kill switch is safe to keep your data protected. It helps prevent data leaks when the VPN connection breaks suddenly.

Q2. When should I use the kill switch?

You should use a VPN kill switch when you access the internet through free public WiFi, as unsecured free WiFi is a soft target for hackers, when you download or share files, to prevent IP address exposure, and when you work remotely to prevent your information from being exposed to attackers or competitors.

Q3. Which VPNs have a built-in kill switch?

There are many free and premium VPNs with a built-in kill switch, such as Proton VPN, PrivadoVPN, TunnelBear, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and IPVanish.

Q4. Is there a free VPN kill switch?

Yes, free VPNs such as Proton VPN, PrivadoVPN, and TunnelBear include a kill switch in their free plans.

Q5. What to do if the VPN kill switch is not working?

If the kill switch feature of your VPN is not working, disable and re-enable the kill switch. If this does not work, restart your VPN.

To recap the VPN kill switch meaning, it is a feature that disconnects your internet when the VPN server is not connected. Hopefully, the guide above answers all the questions you may have about it. However, if any question remains unanswered or you have something to share about the kill switch or anything technology, feel free to let us know in the comments section.