Disable Webrtc Safari
How to disable WebRTC on Mobile and Desktop
WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is an open-source tool that allows real-time, peer-to-peer connections to be created by websites you visit. WebRTC allows for direct delivery of high definition video and audio between two devices, which would otherwise be impossible without the installation of third-party plugins. Web applications such as Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger and Discord are all able to work straight from your browser thanks to WebRTC. 1. Why disable WebRTC? While WebRTC is necessary to allow many web apps to work, it can also leave your privacy vulnerable. Many VPN users who wish to protect themselves from targeted advertising, totalitarian governments, or any other snooping, are having their security put at risk through IP address creates a direct connection between your computer and the device you wish to connect to, going around the protection of your VPN. When you use Google Hangouts, for example, a direct connection between your device and the devices of the people you’re in a call with is formed, allowing direct exchange of video and audio data. This direct connection exposes your IP address to the WebRTC application programming interface (API), where it can be found and recorded by the app you are using. 1 How to check if WebRTC is leaking your IP addressUnless you disable WebRTC from your browser or use a VPN with a built-in WebRTC leak blocker, your IP address is vulnerable. You can easily check if your IP address is being leaked with tools like HMA! ’s WebRTC leak checker. 2. Disabling WebRTC2. 1 How to disable WebRTC in Google ChromeThe goods news is that WebRTC can be disabled in Chrome; the bad news is that they’ve hidden the option to do it in the application programming interface (API). Unless you feel like spending a few hours programming, you will need a third-party tool to access the setting for you. Luckily, there are many extensions that do exactly this in the Chrome store. WebRTC Control is a Chrome extension which allows you to turn WebRTC on and off, letting you choose when you want to use the peer-to-peer functionality and when you want to prevent IP leaks. As with all extensions, it has a high chance of breaking when the browser gets an update, so it’s a good idea to check it’s still working when a new version of Chrome is rolled out for your PC. WebRTC Leak Prevent doesn’t disable WebRTC, but rather changes its privacy settings. This essentially stops it from handing out your IP address left and right – but doesn’t prevent leaks entirely. It’s a compromise between protecting your IP and keeping WebRTC functionality, but is definitely not the most secure option. 2 How to disable WebRTC in Google Chrome on AndroidUnlike on the desktop version, Chrome on Android has an option to disable WebRTC right on the flags in chromeflags/#disable-webrtc into the address bar. A setting to disable WebRTC will show up. Click ‘Enable’ on this the browser from your applications screen or by rebooting your phone for the setting to take effect. 3 How to disable WebRTC in Mozilla Firefox Firefox has a built-in setting which allows you to turn off WebRTC without using any third-party the address bar, type about:config and press Enter. A warning screen appears to let you know you’re about to edit important settings. Click ‘I accept the risk! ’In the search box at the top of the page, type in erconnection. enabled and press on the erconnection. enabled setting, and the ‘Value’ column will change to ‘False’ to let you know that peer-to-peer connections including WebRTC are now disabled. 4 How to disable WebRTC in Microsoft EdgeTurning WebRTC off in Microsoft Edge is not currently possible, though there is an option to stop your local IP address from being revealed. This is not all that useful however, as WebRTC will still reveal your public IP address, which is the more important one as it can be used to identify the address bar, type about:flags and press ‘WebRTC’ tick the checkbox titled ‘Hide my local IP address over WebRTC connections. ’Restart your browser. 5 How to disable WebRTC in Safari (on macOS)There is currently no way to permanently turn off WebRTC in Safari, but what you can do is disable it for a single session. Just remember that it will be back on when you restart your ‘Safari’ on the menu bar, next to the Apple ‘Preferences. ’Go to the ‘Advanced’ tab in the settings window that opens the bottom, tick the checkbox titled ‘Show Develop menu in menu bar. ’On the menu bar at the top of your screen, click the ‘Develop’ option which will now be ‘Experimental Features’ -> ‘Remove Legacy WebRTC API. ’ WebRTC will now be disabled on your browser – for the current session. 6 How to disable WebRTC in Safari (on iOS)Apple, for a reason yet to be explained, removed the option to disable WebRTC on the iPhone browser in the iOS 12 you happen to have an older iPhone or otherwise haven’t updated to iOS 12 yet, you can disable WebRTC in a similar way to the desktop version. On iOS 11 and earlier iOS versions:Open the Settings and tap ‘Advanced. ’Tap ‘Experimental Features. ’Tap the switch next to ‘Remove Legacy WebRTC API. ’The switch will turn green to let you know that WebRTC has been disabled for the current session. 3. Keeping your browsing secure in the futureSince many browsers unfortunately lack the option to disable WebRTC, the best way to stop your IP address from being leaked is to use one of the VPN services that includes leak protection. The added bonus of using a VPN with this feature is that not only will your IP be protected, but you’ll also be able to safely use all of WebRTC’s functionality.
How to stop WebRTC leaks on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and …
@pabischoff UPDATED: November 17, 2020
WebRTC is used by web browsers for voice and video chat applications like Skype for Web, Discord, and Google Hangouts. The free and open-source project lets apps set up peer-to-peer connections without the need for any extra plugins or applications, allowing for efficient real-time communication (the ‘RTC’ in WebRTC). Most modern web browsers now support and enable WebRTC by default, including desktop browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, as well as mobile browsers on Android and iOS.
The problem is that WebRTC compromises the security provided by VPNs, or virtual private networks. When a user connects to a VPN server, all of the internet traffic from their device should go through an encrypted tunnel to the VPN server. Among other benefits, this prevents websites and apps from determining the user’s real IP address, which is masked by that of the VPN server. An IP address is a string of numbers and decimals unique to every internet-connected device that can be used to determine location.
Whenever a VPN user visits a site that has WebRTC enabled, WebRTC can transmit data outside the encrypted tunnel. This exposes the user’s real IP address and location to the website, which means the user can be tracked by advertisers and other third parties.
In this article, we’ll explain how to prevent WebRTC leaks when using a VPN on all major browsers.
Preferred solution: Use a better VPN
Not all VPNs suffer from WebRTC leaks. Some have added security features to their apps that prevent WebRTC traffic from traveling outside the encrypted VPN tunnel. Of the many VPNs we’ve tested, two stand out:
ExpressVPN
NordVPN
While many VPNs claim to prevent leaks, many fail to live up to their promises. We’ve put both of these VPNs through rigorous leak tests to ensure they never allow WebRTC leaks to occur under any circumstances. ExpressVPN and NordVPN will both prevent WebRTC leaks on any web browser or app.
By signing up for and installing either of these VPNs, you don’t need to worry about WebRTC leaks. No further tweaks are required.
How do I know if WebRTC is leaking?
When you connect to a VPN, your WebRTC IP address should either change to that of the VPN or be disabled entirely.
As an example, here’s my connection info while connected to a VPN that suffers from WebRTC leaks:
Notice that my standard IP address and WebRTC address are different. That’s because my real IP address is being leaked through WebRTC and WebRTC traffic is not going through the VPN. While connected to the VPN, both addresses should both be identical.
You can run this test on your own using our VPN leak tester.
WebRTC leak severity depends on permissions granted
Before we get into other ways to prevent WebRTC leaks, we want to clarify that not all leaks are equal. When it comes to WebRTC leaks, we categorize them into two levels of severity:
Leaks when permissions granted – less severe
Leaks when permissions not granted – more severe
When you visit a website that uses WebRTC, your browser will usually ask your permission before allowing a website access to your camera or microphone.
If a VPN leaks your IP address before you’ve even granted that website permission to use your camera or microphone, that’s a big red flag. That means any website could use some simple javascript to monitor your IP address and expose your real location. We label this a “persistent vanilla leak, ” which is the most severe type. Most VPNs that claim to prevent WebRTC leaks can at least stop this from happening.
Except for the two mentioned above, almost all VPNs suffer from the less severe version of WebRTC leaks, in which your IP address is exposed to the website only after you grant it permission to use your microphone or camera. Even though this leak is less severe, it’s still cause for concern. A VPN user should be able to safely visit WebRTC-enabled sites without exposing their IP address.
How to stop WebRTC leaks in Chrome
Google Chrome requires a simple browser extension to disable WebRTC. WebRTC Network Limiter lets you choose how WebRTC network traffic is routed. You can easily configure it to use only your VPN’s public IP address.
See also: Best VPNs for Chrome
How to stop WebRTC leaks in Firefox
In Firefox, you can disable WebRTC in the browser settings:
In the URL bar, enter:
about:config
Run a search for:
erconnection. enabled
Double-click the entry to change it to False
Note that changes you make to the settings may not carry across updates, so you might need to re-adjust this setting again if your browser updates.
How to stop WebRTC leaks in Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge now supports both WebRTC plus its own proprietary version, dubbed ORTC. Unfortunately, Edge does not allow you to disable either. You merely get the option to hide your local IP address over WebRTC connections, but not your public IP address.
A “WebRTC Leak Shield” extension is available on the Microsoft app store, but given it has no user feedback at time of writing and sparse details about the developers, we would avoid it for now.
If you’re an Edge user and you want to prevent WebRTC leaks, ExpressVPN and NordVPN will both get the job done. Websites will only see your VPN server’s public IP address and not your own when connected through either of their respective apps.
See also: Best VPNs for Microsoft Edge
How to stop WebRTC leaks in Safari
Safari blocks sites from accessing your camera and microphone by default, so we’re really only concerned about the less severe type of WebRTC leak here. You can turn WebRTC off in the developer settings:
Open Safari and go to Safari > Preferences…
Go to the Advanced tab and check the box at the bottom that says Show Develop menu in menu bar
Close the preferences menu and go to Develop > Experimental Features
Check the option for Remove Legacy WebRTC API
See also: Best VPNs for Safari
How to stop WebRTC leaks on Android
In the latest version of Chrome for Android (tested with 8. 1. 0 Oreo), it is not currently possible to completely disable WebRTC. Many other tutorials on this subject instruct users to disable WebRTC Stun origin header in the flags menu, but in our experience this does not work. Even if we disable every WebRTC-related setting, our real IP address leaks.
Notably, ExpressVPN and NordVPN do prevent this leak when we connect through their Android apps. Websites can still see an IP address, but it’s the VPN server’s IP address and not our real IP address.
We will update this section of the tutorial if we find a way to disable WebRTC in Android 8 Oreo or, when it is released, Android 9 Pie.
See also: Best VPNs for Android
How to stop WebRTC leaks on iOS
You can only disable WebRTC in mobile Safari on iOS 11 or earlier. The setting to disable it was removed in iOS 12. For later versions of iOS (12+), you can use ExpressVPN’s or NordVPN’s iOS app to mask your real IP address and prevent WebRTC leaks.
Disabling WebRTC on the Safari browser in iOS 11 or earlier is fairly similar to the desktop version:
Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad
Scroll down and tap on Safari > Advanced > Experimental Features
Tap the switch next to Remove Legacy WebRTC API so it turns green
We will update this article if we come across a way to plug WebRTC leaks in iOS 12 and later.
See also: Best VPNs for iPhone
How to stop WebRTC leaks with uBlock Origin
uBlock Origin is a popular browser add-on/extension for Firefox and Chrome. It can prevent your browser from leaking your device’s local IP address, but not your public IP address. For this reason, we recommend uBlock Origin more as a supplement to the other solutions in this list, and not a standalone solution.
After installing it, just go into the Settings and check the box that says, Prevent WebRTC from leaking local IP address.
What about VPN browser extensions?
There’s no shortage of browser plug-ins that claim to work like VPNs by redirecting internet traffic through a secure proxy. The vast majority of VPN browser extensions won’t protect you from WebRTC leaks. The only standalone VPN add-on we know of that does stop WebRTC leaks is NordVPN. In addition to its native desktop and mobile apps, its browser extension for Chrome and Firefox protects against WebRTC leaks.
Disabling WebRTC won’t break VoIP apps
If you want to stop WebRTC leaks but like to use voice and video chat apps like Google Hangouts, Discord, and Skype, worry not. Disabling WebRTC doesn’t usually break those apps; they just have to fall back on a different method of communicating. While the call quality might suffer a bit, you can still use voice and video chat normally with WebRTC disabled.
Test for WebRTC leaks
Once you’ve applied a fix, you can check to make sure it’s working using Comparitech’s DNS leak test. This page runs a test in two parts: with the VPN connected and with the VPN disconnected. The results will show you in plain terms whether your VPN is leaking DNS, IPv6, or WebRTC traffic. You can even choose whether to allow or disallow microphone and camera permissions to determine leak severity.
How to Disable WebRTC in Chrome and Other Browsers | VPN Unlimited
Updated on July 13, 2021: From now on, traffic filtering, malware protection, and suspicious DNS activity blocking are available as a part of the separate DNS Firewall app. Enabling a VPN to enjoy completely private and secure web surfing? You definitely go private this way. However, there’s a caveat. If your browser’s WebRTC technology is on, your IP address may be leaking regardless of your VPN. But no worries! Check out our article and learn what it is, how to disable WebRTC in your browser, and make sure you’re completely anonymous online.
What is WebRTC technology
WebRTC vulnerability
How to detect WebRTC leak
How to prevent WebRTC leak
Disable WebRTC leak using KeepSolid VPN Unlimited extension
Turn off WebRTC in your browser
How to disable WebRTC in Chrome
How to disable WebRTC in Opera
How to disable WebRTC in Firefox
How to disable WebRTC in Safari
How to disable WebRTC in Microsoft Edge
Final words on how to stay completely private online
Get guaranteed protection from WebRTC leaks with KeepSolid VPN Unlimited What is WebRTC Technology
WebRTC stands for Web Real-Time Communication. It is an open-source tool that allows direct P2P communication inside a webpage, thus eliminating the need to install additional plugins or programs. As an example, with WebRTC, you can have video conferences on web browsers without any intermediaries.
The audio and video communications conducted with the help of WebRTC are of the highest quality. What’s more, the WebRTC technology for P2P file-sharing and communication uses less bandwidth and has low latency.
WebRTC is quite useful, no doubt, as this technology considerably improves browser-to-browser communication. However, it doesn’t come without drawbacks.
Even if you’re using a VPN, WebRTC can put your online privacy at risk by revealing your real IP address. Many users are not even aware that WebRTC is on, as it’s enabled by default in many browsers, including Chrome, Opera, and Firefox.
This vulnerability poses great threat to VPN users who are concerned about their online privacy and wouldn’t want their real IP address to be exposed in any way.
How to Detect a WebRTC Leak
To check whether your IP address is being leaked via WebRTC, connect to a VPN server and run WebRTC leak test. As stated in Your IP addresses – WebRTC detection section of the website, if you’re connected to a VPN, and still can see your ISP’s IP, then your system is leaking WebRTC requests.
Conversely, if you can only see the IP address of the chosen VPN server your web surfing is private and secured
How to Prevent WebRTC Leak
There are several ways to avoid your IP address being leaked via WebRTC. The simplest one is to use a reliable VPN that blocks WebRTC leaks, like KeepSolid VPN Unlimited. The VPN service by KeepSolid securely encrypts internet traffic and protects your real IP address and all sensitive data.
The KeepSolid VPN Unlimited extension provides an easy way to disable WebRTC protocol in your browser, letting you enjoy the highest anonymity and privacy possible.
Disable WebRTC Leak Using KeepSolid VPN Unlimited Extension
The built-in feature that blocks WebRTC leaks in the KeepSolid VPN Unlimited extension is quite easy to use. Follow these simple steps:
Open the VPN add-on by KeepSolid and log in.
Navigate to the menu by clicking the icon at the top left corner.
Enable the WebRTC Leak Prevent feature in case it was turned off.
Turn off WebRTC in Your Browser
Another way to avoid WebRTC leaks is to disable WebRTC requests in your browser. This process is a bit more complicated, and the instructions will vary depending on your browser.
Unfortunately, Google Chrome doesn’t have any built-in settings to let its users disable WebRTC leaks. Therefore, you’ll need to install a special extension from Chrome Store for this, like WebRTC Leak Prevent, WebRTC Control, or Easy WebRTC Block.
The process is similar to adding any other extension to your Google Chrome browser:
Open the Chrome Web Store and search for the required extension: WebRTC Leak Prevent, WebRTC Control, or Easy WebRTC Block.
Click Add to Chrome and confirm installation by pressing Add extension.
Activate the extension and it’ll disable WebRTC in your Chrome browser.
Get started with the VPN Unlimited extension and improve your online privacy with no hassle! How to disable WebRTC in Opera
Similar to Chrome, Opera browser requires a special add-on for disabling WebRTC:
Open Opera Add-ons page and search for either of these extensions: WebRTC Leak Prevent, WebRTC Control, or Easy WebRTC Block.
Click on the necessary add-on and press Add to Opera.
Activate the add-on to disable WebRTC in your Opera browser.
If you’re a Firefox user, no need to install a third-party extension. Disable WebRTC directly in your browser’s settings:
In the address bar or your Mozilla Firefox browser, type about:config and press Enter.
Click I accept the risk! on the warning screen that shows up.
Type erconnection. enabled in the search bar beneath the address bar.
Double-click the search result to change the Value column to false.
Click the Safari menu and navigate to Preferences in the drop-down menu.
Proceed to the Advanced tab and check the box that reads Show Develop menu in menu bar.
Find the Develop tab in the menu bar and navigate to the WebRTC option in the drop-down menu. In case Enable Legacy WebRTC API is checked, click it to disable it.
Microsoft Edge does not allow to disable WebRTC completely. However, its settings let you stop it from revealing your local IP address. Here are steps to follow:
Type about:flags in the address bar and press Enter.
Check the box in front of Hide my local IP over WebRTC connections.
Restart your browser for the changes to take effect.
Final Words on How to Stay Completely Private Online
Despite the benefits the WebRTC technology brings to the table, it is recommended to disable this functionality in your browser so as not put your online privacy at risk. Follow the simple instructions above to disable WebRTC in your browser, connect to KeepSolid VPN Unlimited servers, and surf the web privately and securely with us! Ready to give VPN Unlimited a try? Our reliable VPN client is at your disposal to provide you with complete data security and online freedom.
Frequently Asked Questions about disable webrtc safari
How do I disable WebRTC in Safari iOS 14?
You can turn WebRTC off in the developer settings:Open Safari and go to Safari > Preferences…Go to the Advanced tab and check the box at the bottom that says Show Develop menu in menu bar.Close the preferences menu and go to Develop > Experimental Features.Check the option for Remove Legacy WebRTC API.Nov 17, 2020
How do I disable WebRTC browser?
How to disable WebRTC in ChromeOpen the Chrome Web Store and search for the required extension: WebRTC Leak Prevent, WebRTC Control, or Easy WebRTC Block.Click Add to Chrome and confirm installation by pressing Add extension.Activate the extension and it’ll disable WebRTC in your Chrome browser.Jun 12, 2019
How do I disable Google WebRTC?
Disabling WebRTC in Chrome mobileType this URL chrome://flags/#disable-webrtc in your Android Chrome address bar. It will open a settings page.Scroll down and you’ll find WebRTC STUN origin header. You can disable it here.You can even disable WebRTC hardware video encoding and decoding options if you want.
