How to set up a VPN on Android, and what each prompt means

To set up a VPN on Android, install a VPN app from Google Play, open it, tap connect, and accept Android’s connection request. That’s the whole job.

What slows people down is the prompts. Android asks a couple of serious-sounding questions on the way, and one of them says the app can “monitor network traffic”. This guide goes through each screen in order, explains it in plain words, and tells you what we’d tap.

The screenshots are from Tunnexa, because it’s our app. The Android prompts look the same for any VPN.

Before you start

You need a phone or tablet on Android 7.0 or later. You can check under Settings › About phone. You also need a VPN app from Google Play, not an APK from a download site. A modified copy of a VPN app is a bad idea, because you’re about to send all your traffic through it.

You don’t need Android’s own VPN menu. The “Add VPN” option in your phone’s settings is for manual profiles, usually handed out by an employer. A VPN app sets everything up for you.

Step 1: Install the app from Google Play

Search for the app in Google Play, or follow the link on the provider’s own website so you know you have the real one. For Tunnexa, the Tunnexa download page goes straight to the right listing.

Before you tap Install, scroll to the Data safety section. It’s the developer’s summary of what the app collects and shares, and it’s worth thirty seconds. Recent Android versions don’t ask for permissions at install time, so nothing pops up yet. The questions come later, at the moment the app needs something.

Step 2: Skip, or sign in

The first time you open Tunnexa, you land on a sign-in screen. Plenty of VPN apps open this way, and it’s easy to assume you must make an account before anything works. You don’t.

Our advice: tap Skip if you just want to see it working. You can sign in later from Settings, and the account costs nothing either way.

Step 3: Tap To Connect

On the home screen, tap the big round button labeled Tap To Connect. The server card above it shows which location you’ll use; tap the card to pick another. The first tap is when Android steps in, and depending on your Android version you’ll see one or two prompts before anything connects.

The notification prompt (Android 13 and later)

Since Android 13, apps have to ask before they post notifications, so this one may come first. A VPN uses its notification to show that it’s running and to give you a quick way back into the app.

Tunnexa connects whether you tap Allow or Don’t allow. We’d allow it. A visible notification is the easiest way to tell, at a glance, that the tunnel is up.

The VPN connection request

This is the one that matters. Android shows it the first time any app tries to start a VPN. The wording differs a little between phone makers, but it reads roughly like this:

“Monitor network traffic” is the line that makes people stop, and that’s fair. Any VPN sits between your phone and the internet, so you are trusting the company behind it. That’s why its no-logs policy matters more than its marketing. If you’re weighing that up, our guide on whether a free VPN is safe lists what to check.

Tap OK. You’ll only see this once per app, unless you clear the app’s data or use a different VPN app in between.

Step 4: Check that it worked

For a second opinion, open any “what is my IP” site in your browser. It should show the server’s location, not yours. To go one step further, a DNS leak test shows whether your lookups stay inside the tunnel too. We cover that in our guide to running a DNS leak test on Android.

Optional: keep the VPN on all the time

A VPN only protects you while it’s connected. If you’d rather not think about it, Android can keep it running and block anything that tries to go around it. We explain the Android side of this, along with per-app split tunneling, on our VPN for Android page.

In Tunnexa, sign in (it’s free), open Settings and tap Kill Switch & Always On. It opens Android’s own VPN settings, where you turn on two switches:

• Always-on VPN keeps the VPN running and starts it again if it stops.
• Block connections without VPN stops all traffic while the tunnel is down. This is the kill switch part.

If you’d rather find the settings yourself, the path depends on the phone. Menu names shift a little between Android versions.

One more thing: Android lets only one app hold Always-on VPN. If another VPN app already has it, turn it off in that app’s entry first.

Prompts you might see later

Once you’re set up, a few messages can pop up inside the app. None of them mean something is broken.

“Sign In to use AmneziaWG”

That protocol or feature needs a free account. Tap Sign In; there’s nothing to pay.

“Disconnect VPN?”

You can only change protocol while disconnected. Tap Continue, disconnect on the home screen, then pick the new one.

“Connection limit reached”

Your account is already connected on other devices. Tap Manage devices to sign one out.

“No Internet Connection”

The phone is offline before the VPN even starts. Check Wi-Fi or mobile data, then tap Retry.

Common questions