Download tor browser 2019

Tor project is part of the privacy technologies designed to help sidestep censorship while maintaining anonymity. Popular among human rights activists, the open-source privacy browser protects user data by wrapping it in several different layers of encryption, similar to an onion, hence the name. When you use Tor to browse the internet, your traffic is thrown around randomly through a network of servers before reaching its final destination.

Owing to this misdirection, your location, identity, IP address, and online activities are all protected from prying eyes. The browser allows you to avoid surveillance and remain anonymous. Tor Browser looks and works like Mozilla Firefox because it is Firefox. However, Tor moves around traffic a lot more than standard web browsers, which makes it a bit slow. Regardless, the familiar interface allows for easy browsing while continuing to protect your freedom online.

While people can use the Tor Browser to surf the general web, they can also use it to visit the deep web , an internet found within the internet. The "deep web" consists of non-indexed sites with the suffix. There is a popular understanding that since users can use Tor to browse the dark web, it might be illegal to download. However, that is not the case. Tor Browser is just a web browser and is very similar to other browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

The only difference is that Tor makes it extremely hard for anyone to track your browsing activity. Using Tor becomes illegal only when used to access sites buying or selling materials legally unavailable. If you stray away from illicit websites, using Tor Browser is perfectly legal and can allow you to avoid censorship rules while protecting your location and identity.

Moreover, the Tor Browser is used by human rights, environmental, and political activists around the world to avoid surveillance. Tor Project offers security to users by bundling data into layers of encrypted packets before they enter the open-source Tor network.

Encrypted data is then routed across various servers, called relays or nodes. Every time data passes through a relay, a layer of encryption gets removed until it reaches the end of the journey. Therefore, tracing online activity through the volunteer-run network back to you is almost impossible. To protect users from surveillance, Tor Browser for Windows relays encrypted data randomly from one point to another, taking a while to reach the end node. Due to this relay, Tor Browser is not as fast as other web browsers.

The privacy browser stops trackers and ads from following your browsing habits, prevents others from monitoring your activity, protects your device information, and allows you to visit both unrestricted and restricted websites.

The current version of the Tor Browser lets you access sites that are blocked by your primary network. Tor Browser is just as vulnerable to attacks as other browsers.

Add the code to specify specific countries. Save the file and restart Tor. Did this summary help you? Yes No. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers.

Please log in with your username or email to continue. No account yet? Create an account. Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article Steps. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. Open Tor at least once. You'll need to run Tor at least once to create the file you'll be editing. Just double-click the Start Tor browser icon in the folder where you've installed Tor and click Connect at least one time.

If you've already started Tor, close it—you'll need to make sure the app is closed so you can effectively edit the configuration file. Open the Tor folder. If you're using Windows or Linux, the location varies depending on where you installed the app. If you're using a Mac, you'll actually need to open a different folder: Windows and Linux: The default install location for Tor is the desktop on both operating systems.

Navigate to the "torrc" file. This is the configuration file you'll need to edit. To find it: Windows and Linux: Double-click the Browser folder, double-click the TorBrowser folder, double-click the Data folder, and then double-click the Tor folder. Mac: Just double-click the Tor folder. Open the file called torrc in a text editor. To do this, double-click the file.

If it doesn't automatically open a text editor, you'll be prompted to choose one e. Add the EntryNodes line. Add the ExitNodes line. Find your entry and exit country codes. You can add multiple countries if you'd like. For example, if you want your Tor browsing session to start in Canada and exit in Egypt, you would look for the "Canada" country code ca and the "Egypt" country code eg.

It is safe to install Tor Browser — after all, it was created to let users surf the internet safely and protect online privacy. However, while installing the software itself is safe, Tor can be used for risky activities, such as accessing the deep or dark webs. Care should be taken when accessing this heavily encrypted collection of websites. Installing Tor is as simple and easy as downloading popular and common browsers, such as Google Chrome , Mozilla Firefox , although neither provides as much privacy protection.

Tor functions similarly to regular browsers. The main distinction, though, is that Tor takes a few moments to configure itself every time you launch it. When you launch Tor, you don't need to restart your computer or device each time.

Tor Browser is available for Windows, Mac , and Android operating systems. Orbot , meanwhile, provides anonymity for Android users. Tor Browser hides your location and prevents your web traffic from being tracked, making it virtually impossible to trace your activity on the internet.

It also lets you get around jammers and sensors. Concerned users may wish to switch off Tor's plugins and scripts as these can be used to expose information such as your IP address. In addition, Tor's system has a few vulnerabilities. Each server in the browser's network is operated by volunteers so you never truly know who is managing the relays your data travels through.

Normally this isn't a problem, as each relay is only able to access the location of the previous and following relays — all except the exit node. The exit node removes your data's final layer of encryption. One of Tor's key features is its ability to unblock censored websites. The browser lets you choose from several proxy tunnels based on a geographical world map, which displays exactly where each proxy tunnel is located.

In recent years, Tor has become popular for businesses, allowing secure and confidential exchanges of information. It's a useful tool for journalists and human rights defenders who may be targeted online, as well as victims of domestic violence, high-profile whistleblowers, and activists.

Tor is inevitably linked to the dark web. The dark web, which forms part of the deep web, is a collection of websites that are encrypted and cannot be accessed through ordinary software and conventional search engines. Users instead require special browsers, such as Tor, to access them. Websites on the deep web are recognized by.