Freedom Troubleshooting for Mac

This article provides in-depth troubleshooting steps for the Mac Freedom app.

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Written by Freedom
Updated over a week ago

Having issues getting Freedom to work on your Mac? 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!

CONTENTS:

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, the app has been successfully installed and logged in.

If you need help getting Freedom installed and logged in on your computer, we've got detailed instructions: How to install Freedom for Mac.

If it still isn't working, you might want to try quitting and restarting the client, or even doing the old faithful computer restart to clear out any bad data.

2. Make sure your security software isn't blocking Freedom

Unfortunately, over-zealous antivirus software may prevent Freedom from running.

To fix this, you can add Freedom to the allowed list on any security software you're running. 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 a VPN

Here are some VPNs you might be running:

  • NordVPN

  • ExpressVPN

  • Surfshark

  • CyberGhost

  • Private Internet Access

  • 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.

To ensure that Freedom works with your browser-based VPN, you can install our browser extensions.

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 websites aren't blocked on Firefox, please make the following configuration change: Open up Firefox Settings, and then go to General -> Network Settings and choose "Use System Proxy Settings." Once these changes are complete, restart Firefox. If Firefox continues to give you trouble, ensure that you're not running a Tunnel or VPN such as Hola or Ghostery (see above), and try adding the Firefox browser extension from our downloads page.

If Firefox or Opera won't open at all during sessions, this is likely because you are using the Non-Proxy Mode or Website Exceptions features, which are not compatible with these browsers currently. For more information, please see Supported Browsers for Website Exceptions and Non-Proxy Mode on Mac.


Having trouble?

If you're having any difficulty, please feel free to contact us. We're happy to help!

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