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Need connection help?
Contact SupportIf your internet stops working after you’ve disconnected from ExpressVPN, please perform the following steps to restore your internet connection.
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Preliminary Check: Network Lock
Change the properties of your Network Connections
Change ExpressVPN’s DNS settings
Preliminary Check: Network Lock
If you are unable to access the internet when disconnected from ExpressVPN, it may be because you have Network Lock enabled.
Network Lock is ExpressVPN’s kill switch, which blocks internet access when you are disconnected from ExpressVPN. Network Lock only allows internet access when you are connected to the VPN. That way, your traffic won’t be redirected to your internet service provider and potentially exposed to third parties.
To resolve the issue, see how to access the internet when disconnected from the VPN. Note that your network traffic might then be exposed to others.
Need help? Contact the ExpressVPN Support Team for immediate assistance.
Change the properties of your Network Connections
First, make sure you are disconnected from your VPN network.
Go to the Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change Adapter Settings.
Important: You MUST do the following steps for all network connections with their statuses set as Enabled or Network. (In other words, do the following steps for all connections NOT marked with the red “x”, which indicates “Disabled”.)
Right-click on the Network Connection and click Properties.
In the Networking tab, select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties.
Select the option that says Obtain DNS server address automatically.
Repeat these three steps for all of your remaining network connections.
Need help? Contact the ExpressVPN Support Team for immediate assistance.
Change ExpressVPN’s DNS settings
After updating the properties for your Network Connections, go back into your ExpressVPN app.
For ExpressVPN 6.x:
Click the hamburger menu (≡), then click Options.
Select the Advanced tab. Uncheck the box for Only use ExpressVPN DNS servers while connected to the VPN, then click OK.
For ExpressVPN 5.x:
Click the three dots (…), then click Options.
Select the Advanced tab. Uncheck the box for Only use ExpressVPN DNS servers while connected to the VPN, then click OK.
For ExpressVPN 4.2:
Click the three dots (…), then click Options.
Select the Advanced tab. Uncheck the box for Only use ExpressVPN DNS servers while connected to the VPN, then click OK.
For ExpressVPN 4.0 and 4.1:
Click the three dots (…), then click Options.
From the General tab, uncheck the box for Only use ExpressVPN DNS servers while connected to the VPN, then click OK.
For ExpressVPN 3.X:
Go to Options and uncheck the option that says Only use DNS servers set by the VPN.
Need help? Contact the ExpressVPN Support Team for immediate assistance.