Running Tor on Mac¶

Install Homebrew¶

If you do not 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/master/install.sh)"
Note

On new (M1) Macs, you might need to be root for this in which case add sudo at the front of the command, with a space before /bin/bash
You will be prompted for your system password before installation; proceed with entering your password. You may be asked more than once.
You will be notified which directories Homebrew is going to create, hit RETURN:

Homebrew creates the directories and downloads any other files it needs e.g. “Command Line Tool for Xcode” and “Homebrew”.

Wait a few minutes while it downloads and installs what it needs.

Warning

Surprisingly, Homebrew uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous usage data. You can deselect the option to share usage data by opting out.

Caution

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

In the command line, install Tor:
brew install tor
Once it is finished you have the following options:
Then run 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.