Having issues getting Freedom to work on your desktop? We've created this document to provide some troubleshooting tips to make sure you're able to get Freedom up and running on your computer!
1. Make sure the Freedom app is installed and logged in
The first step to troubleshoot is to make sure that the Freedom app is installed and logged in on your computer. If it isn't, you can install from our Freedom downloads page.
Next, sign in to our website and make sure that you see that your computer has shown up in your devices list. Once you see that, you should be good to go.
If you need help getting Freedom installed and logged in our computer, we've got detailed instructions:
If it still isn't working, you might want to try quitting and restarting the client, or even doing the old faithful computer restart. If you're seeing some delay in sessions getting started, this document can help.
2. Make sure your security software isn't blocking Freedom
Unfortunately, over-zealous security software may prevent Freedom from running.
To fix this, you can add Freedom to the allowed list on any security software you're running. Here's instructions on how to add programs to various allowed lists:
- Add Freedom to Windows Defender allow list
- Add Freedom to Norton (Symantec) allow list
- Add Freedom to Avast allow list
- Add Freedom to MacAfee allow list
- Add Freedom to BitDefender allow list
Note: this list isn't comprehensive. A simple Google query will generally return instructions for how to add programs to the "allowed list" for your security software of choice.
3. Check to see if you're using Hola, or another Tunnel/VPN
Here are some VPNs you might be running:
- Hola
- Ghostery
- Tunnelbear
- ZenMate
- Hotspot Shield
- Browsec
- Corporate/Work VPN (Cisco, etc.)
If you would like to run a VPN alongside Freedom but you're having trouble, it should help to run Freedom in non-proxy mode. Find information on how to do that here: Non-Proxy Mode for Mac and Windows.
To ensure that Freedom works with your browser-based VPN, you can install our browser extensions.
4. Check that the Windows proxy settings aren't being changed
If a session is running but sites aren't being blocked, check that the Windows proxy settings haven't been unset by something else in your system. Here is how to do that: /troubleshooting/general-troubleshooting/how-to-check-windows-proxy-settings
Browser Specific Troubleshooting
If Freedom doesn't work on Chrome:
If Freedom doesn't work on Chrome, we've found the most common cause is a VPN service like Hola. To test if that's the case, you can try running Chrome in incognito mode (which generally disables all plugins). If Freedom works properly in incognito mode, then we know the issue is due to a Chrome extension. To help us troubleshoot, please open chrome://extensions/ ( instructions here) and send us the list of your enabled Chrome extensions.
Additionally, we've just released our browser extensions for Chrome, so installing the extension can help solve many issues!
If Freedom doesn't work on Firefox:
If you run into any trouble getting blocks to work on Firefox, please make the following configuration change: Open up Firefox Preferences, and then go to Advanced -> Network -> Connection -> Settings and choose "Use System Proxy Settings." Once these changes are complete, restart Firefox. If Firefox continues to give you troubles, ensure that you're not running a Tunnel or VPN such as Hola or Ghostery (see above).
Additionally, we've just released our browser extensions for Firefox as well, so installing the extension can help solve many Firefox specific issues.
If Freedom doesn't work on Safari:
Please ensure that you're not running a Tunnel or VPN such as Hola or Ghostery (see above).
Known Limitations of Freedom for desktop:
Here are the known limitations of the desktop apps.
Still having trouble?
If you're having any difficulty, please feel free to send us an email at support@freedom.to or chat with us via the green chat bubble in the bottom right corner of the page. We're happy to help!