How to confirm your VPN is working
- Turn your VPN offand note the IP and city shown above. That's your real connection.
- Connect your VPN and reload this page.
- If the IP, ISP and location now show the VPN server (a different city/country and a datacenter network), your VPN is working correctly.
Reading the VPN status
The banner gives a confidence score. A high score with a recognised provider name means we're confident your traffic is going through a VPN. A normal home or mobile connection reports "No VPN detected". Note that some privacy-focused VPNs use residential-looking IPs and can slip past detection, and a non-detection is not proof your VPN is off.
Why use a VPN?
- Hide your real IP and approximate location from websites.
- Encrypt traffic on public Wi-Fi.
- Access region-restricted content.
New to this? Read how to hide your IP, or check your current IP address.
Frequently asked questions
Is my VPN working?
If the status banner above says a VPN or proxy is detected and the location shown matches your VPN server (not your real city), your VPN is working. If it shows your real ISP and home city, your VPN is off or not routing traffic.
How do you detect a VPN?
We check whether your IP belongs to a known VPN brand (NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN, Mullvad and others), whether it sits on a datacenter/hosting network rather than a consumer ISP, and whether it is flagged as a proxy. These signals are combined into a confidence score.
Can a VPN be 100% undetectable?
No tool can guarantee detection. Some premium VPNs use residential or obfuscated IPs that look like normal connections, so they may show as 'No VPN detected' even while active. A confident detection is reliable; a non-detection is not proof a VPN is off.
What is a DNS or IP leak?
A leak happens when some of your traffic slips past the VPN tunnel, exposing your real IP or DNS provider. If the IP shown here is your real one while your VPN is connected, you probably have a leak, so try reconnecting or turning on your VPN's kill switch.