I’m on Windows 11 x64 (Pro). The ProtonVPN app starts on boot and directly connects to my preferred server without issues.
However, when I disconnect the VPN and try to reconnect or pick any other VPN server, it keeps attempting to connect but never succeeds. The ProtonVPN icon keeps flashing to connected/disconnected as you can see in this short screen recording: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/scl/fi/hloydoqmnyu2fhz4p15t9/0FNHhsgy2AB7GmWgvvAm.mp4?rlkey=hrm6t45i7tltwuvonnoz6350m&dl=0
I’m running the Bitdefender Total Security 2023 software. It’s quite intrusive so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what’s causing the issues. I have tried disabling it and all its components but I guess it’s never fully disabled until uninstalled?
I would rather not uninstall my security software completely so does anyone know how to solve this or is there any logfile that I can view that (hopefully) gives more information?
Experiencing the same, but I don’t think it’s my AV
Can you check in the Proton VPN App whether it is stuck at Initializing connection or at Assigning IP?
What Proton VPN version are you running? If not the latest (currently v.3.2.6), can you fully uninstall Proton VPN and install it again with the newest version:
- Uninstall Proton VPN from the Control Panel
- Check if TAP-ProtonVPN Windows Adapter V9 and ProtonVPN Tunnel are listed in Control Panel → Device Manager → Network Adapters. If yes, right click → Uninstall device → confirm Uninstallation. If there are no such entries, skip to next step
- In the Windows Explorer go to %LocalAppData%, or C:\Users\Your_username\AppdData\Local and check if there’s a Proton VPN folder there. If yes, delete it.
- Download the latest Proton VPN Version from Download VPN | Proton VPN and try again.
If the issue persists, please do contact the support team, best directly through the app.
Tried changing protocols?
I should note I’ve also reset the Proton VPN service and WireGuard Service in Services.msc. Doesn’t help. So angry.
You also running Bitdefender?
Yep it’s Proton NOT Bit Defender I am 100% sure of it. I spoke with both support teams and Proton is clearly experiencing issues with their VPN and won’t admit.
It’s not. It’s 100% proton. I have looked into DEEPLY behind the scene let’s say and there VPN in particular the WireGuard Protocol is failing to connect. It’s not me, it’s you Proton.
Like mentioned in an earlier reply, I’m running ProtonVPN on two machines:
1) Desktop: Windows 11 x64 Pro (clean installed in october 2023)2) Laptop: Windows 10 x64 Pro (clean installed in october 2023)
On both machines it hangs at “Initializing connection” and both run v3.2.6.
I’ll follow the provided steps for uninstalling and doing a clean install of ProtonVPN. If that doesn’t solve my issues, I’ll reach out to support.
LOL. See my comment above. I’ve tried every trick in the book and your app is broken. Fix it. It works just fine in Kali Linux or any other Linux distro I’ve ran it with, Windows, no bueno.
Running Wireguard with Mullvad never had any issues.
I’m connecting via the Wireguard protocol with a custom profile I set as default. Whenever I’m experiencing issues disconnecting/connecting to another server (or profile) on the Wireguard protocol, it helps when I switch to a profile using the OpenVPN protocol and then back to a profile using the Wireguard protocol. Been doing this for a couple of days now and thus far I managed to “fix” it everytime.
Definitely not ideal but better than rebooting Windows.
Nearly as if switching to a different protocol does additional “clean up” in the background, no clue.
Old post, eh…just in case someone else watches it…
Disable VPN Accelerator, you won’t lose speed.
I am running avast premium security, already had a long talk with support about this but we couldn’t get to a solution. Basically I get occasionally stuck on Initializing Connection
Reason I am proposing is because I had the same issue (Initializing connection) at my desktop. I did a clean App reinstall as listed above and (so far?) haven’t had the issue again. If the issue persists, please send us the support ticket number by modmail: https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/ProtonVPN
Really strange. I’ve been running Mullvad VPN for years before, never had any issues. Must be the ProtonVPN app on Windows that’s causing the issues.
What else can we try? It’s unlikely to be caused by our AV’s.
Okay, so here’s what I did on my laptop:
- Did a full uninstall of ProtonVPN;
- Did a full uninstall of Bitdefender Total Security and ran an additional “removal tool” by Bitdefender to be 100% sure it’s removed;
- Did all Windows updates and rebooted laptop;
- Installed latest version of ProtonVPN (v3.2.6 at this moment);
- FYI… I created a new default profile which the app uses on startup as well: Standard, Protocol: Wireguard, Country: Netherlands, Server: fastest;
- Reboot my laptop again.
Upon boot it seemed to work fine. The ProtonVPN app only took a few seconds to connect. I also tried disconnecting/reconnecing again, so far without issues. After 2 hours of using my laptop (on the same location and same network) solely for simple Office work, I tried disconnecting/reconnecting again. However, this time it showed exactly the same behaviour as explained in my opening post and it simply failed to connect. To be clear: thus far I’ve only been using my default Wireguard profile as explained in step 5.
Being clueless, someone adviced me to switch to the OpenVPN protocol and try again. So I created a second profile (Standard, Protocol: OpenVPN (TCP), Country: Netherlands, Server: fastest) and tried connecting to it. It kept hanging at “Assigning IP” for a minute or so before it stopped. Then I tried the Wireguard profile again, it hang on “Waiting for a usable network” for about 20-25 second and suddenly connected and worked.
For about a day now, I’ve been trying to disconnect/reconnect while on my Wireguard profile. Everytime I encountered connectivity issues I switched to the OpenVPN profile and back to the Wireguard profile. While switching to the OpenVPN profile only sporadically manages to connect, it does seem to magically solve the connectivity issue for the Wireguard profile. This “fix” works on both my Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices that experience exactly the same issues.
It looks like the profile functionality doesn’t work properly or the “cleaning up” of old/previous connections is broken, I have no clue. Either way, I think it’s safe to conclude there’s something seriously borked in the ProtonVPN app as of right now. I sincerely hope this gets better test and more attention by the developers!
Trust me I’m trying my best, I’ve been trying since April, I literally tried everything. So recently I decided to contact support and we got on weeks trying to diagnose what could it be, basically after 30+ mails of deep diagnosis we just concluded that there were some “network circumstances” that were not met so the app could not connect. Reality is that it’s just the app to be flawed and needs a fix, especially the Wireguard part.
If you scroll a bit you might find my posts in this subreddit where I was asking for help for being stuck on Initializing connection.
Can you please submit a ticket directly through the app, add this information there and then please send us the ticket number?
same here. See my comment in this subbredit. Wireguard is completely broken and they won’t admit it. It sure likes Open VPN UDP though which I will not use. I’ve probably spent over 100 hours trying to resolve the issue I am not exaggerating. I’ve ran every reset and test, reinstalled windows even and it’s fucked. I’m pissed off and frustrated. About to try and reinstall it for the 100th time now and I’m sure I’m gonna be even more infuriated. They claim it’s likely a Firewall blocking it lol I’ve tried back in the day using Bit defender while simultaneously using Windows Defender and it worked fine SOOOO that’s some Grade A bullshit and I want a fix not some run around it’s your firewall. I am a penetration tester and I know for a fact their VPN is BROKEN!