The kill switch blocks all internet traffic on your device the moment the VPN connection drops. Without it, your device automatically falls back to your regular internet connection when the VPN disconnects — briefly exposing your real IP address and sending traffic outside the encrypted tunnel. The kill switch prevents this by cutting off connectivity entirely until the VPN is restored. This matters most during:Documentation Index
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- Automatic VPN reconnections after a network change (switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data, or between networks)
- Server failovers when the VPN protocol retries on a different server
- Brief outages in your internet connection
How to enable the kill switch
Proton VPN’s kill switch on Android works through Android’s built-in Always-on VPN and Block connections without VPN options. There is no separate kill switch toggle inside the Proton VPN app itself — you enable it through Android’s VPN settings.Open the kill switch screen in Proton VPN
In the Proton VPN app, go to Settings and tap Kill switch. The screen explains the feature and provides a button to open Android’s VPN settings directly.
Open Android VPN settings
Tap Open Android VPN settings. This takes you to your device’s VPN management screen (the path varies slightly by Android version and manufacturer, but is typically under Settings → Network & internet → VPN).
Enable Always-on VPN
Toggle Always-on VPN on. This makes Android automatically launch and maintain the VPN connection on startup and after network changes.
Always-on VPN and Block connections without VPN
These are two distinct Android system settings that work together:| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Always-on VPN | Tells Android to automatically connect Proton VPN at device startup and reconnect it after network interruptions. Without this, the VPN only runs when you manually start it. |
| Block connections without VPN | The kill switch itself. Blocks all network traffic (both incoming and outgoing) when the VPN is not active. |
Impact on local network access
When Block connections without VPN is active, Android blocks all traffic that is not routed through the VPN tunnel. This includes traffic to devices on your local network — printers, smart home devices, network-attached storage, and similar. If you need to maintain access to local network devices while the kill switch is enabled, you can use split tunneling to exclude specific apps or IP ranges from the VPN tunnel. Traffic excluded from the tunnel is not subject to the kill switch block.The kill switch does not affect emergency calls. Android exempts cellular emergency services from VPN and network blocking rules.