Running Tor (Mac)

Contents

  1. Install Homebrew
  2. Install Tor
  3. Enable Tor System Wide

Install Homebrew

  1. If you do not already have Homebrew installed, follow the installation instructions here. TLDR: Open the Terminal and paste the following line:

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

  2. You will be prompted for your system password before installation; proceed with entering your password. You may be asked more than once.

  3. You will be notified which directories Homebrew is going to create. Hit RETURN:

    Setup

  4. Homebrew may take a few minutes to download and install everything it needs.

    
Homebrew uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous usage data. You can deselect the option to share usage data by <a href="https://docs.brew.sh/Analytics#opting-out" target="_blank">opting out</a>

Install Tor

  1. If you have the Tor Browser open, close it and quit the application.

    
If you are on a very old version of macOS, such as High Sierra (10.13) or below, first execute this command in a Terminal window, then close the Terminal app.

     echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bash_profile

  2. Open the Terminal app and install Tor using the following command:

    brew install tor

  3. Then start Tor with:

    brew services start tor

    This will start Tor and ensure that it is always running, even after a restart. See the Tor Project docs for more details.

Enable Tor System-Wide

Content

  1. Sonoma
  2. Pre-Sonoma

Sonoma (MacOS 14)

  1. Enable the proxy autoconfig file (This will download the Start9 standard proxy config file. You can use your own if you prefer):

    sudo curl https://start9.com/assets/proxy.pac --output /Library/WebServer/Documents/proxy.pac

  2. Enable Apache:

    sudo launchctl enable system/org.apache.httpd
sudo launchctl kickstart system/org.apache.httpd

    
If these commands fail, your version of macOS may still use the older launchctl syntax:

    sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist

  3. Go to System Settings > Network and select the interface to edit. We recommend editing both Ethernet and WiFi. First do one, then the other:

    Sonoma Network

  4. Click Details > Proxies and paste the following URL into "Automatic Proxy Configuration": http://localhost/proxy.pac. Click "OK".

    Sonoma proxy config

  5. Repeat the previous two steps for Wifi/Ethernet, depending on which interface you haven't done yet.

Pre-Sonoma (MacOS 13 and Older)

  1. Enable the proxy autoconfig file (This will download the Start9 standard proxy config file. You can use your own if you prefer):

    sudo curl https://start9.com/assets/proxy.pac --output /Library/WebServer/Documents/proxy.pac

  2. Enable Apache:

    sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist

  3. Go to System Preferences > Network and select the interface to edit. We recommend editing both Ethernet and WiFi. First do one, then the other:

    Pre-Sonoma Network

  4. Click Advanced > Proxies and paste the following URL into "Automatic Proxy Configuration": http://localhost/proxy.pac

    Pre-Sonoma proxy config

  5. Repeat the previous two steps for Wifi/Ethernet, depending on which interface you haven't done yet.