Incognito Browser Won't Load Any Websites w/ProtonVPN Extension

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Description of the issue:
When ProtonVPN is connected to a server and enabled as an extension for incognito/private mode, no websites will load. It will just hang indefinitely on the start page for incognito mode.

How can this issue be reproduced?

  1. Connect to a server in the ProtonVPN extension
  2. Open incognito/private mode
  3. Try to navigate to any website

Expected result:
A website should load, such as youtube.com loading after typing the web address and hitting enter.

Brave Version( check About Brave):

1.71.114

Additional Information:
I have tested this on two different Windows 10-based computers. Incognito/private mode w/tor does seem to work, though not well.

1 Like

@Omega_M Just a thought—have you checked whether the extension is allowed to run in private windows? To check, go to brave://extensions, find the extension, click on Details, and make sure the option to allow it in private is enabled. (Instructions from top of mind, am on phone so can’t double check accuracy).

By default, private windows open with extensions disabled and no cookies, which might cause some conflict in your situation. It’s worth testing to see if this helps.

If that doesn’t work, I’d suggest trying a few things:

  1. Create a new browser profile and see if the issue persists. (Perhaps not needed since you said occurring on two different devices but thought I’d list in case)
  2. Test in Brave Beta or Brave Nightly.
  3. Finally, check if the same issue occurs in Chrome.
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Hi @Saoiray

Thanks for replying! I can ensure that ProtonVPN is enabled for Private Browsing. I’ve tested the suggestions you made:

  1. Same problem
  2. Worked as expected in Brave Beta. I connected to the VPN and then opened a private tab with the extension enabled for private browsing. I searched for a website and it loaded like it was supposed to. I went to a 2nd website to ensure it worked and it still did.
  3. Worked as intended in Chrome as well.

It appears this issue is only occurring for me on the non-Beta version of Brave in a private browser. I can confirm the issue still persists for me there too as of today.

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Thanks for the feedback there @Omega_M. I’m going to tag in @Mattches so he can follow up but it makes it sound like it might just be some issue within the specific build. I’m not sure if it will change when they do the next update. The only other thing I can think of is if you had changed anything in brave://flags or something.

But Mattches is from Brave and official support. Thinking the info you provided will be a good start for him to be able to guide better.

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I apologize, I think I made a mistake the first time I tried to test with another profile. I tried it again and it seems to work when I use a different profile:

  1. Setup new profile
  2. Install ProtonVPN extension & sign in
  3. Allow extension to run in private browsing
  4. Connect to server in extension
  5. Navigate to website (successful)

My guess is that this a problem between my two computers is because I’m syncing between the two. Would I need to switch to a new profile an discard the one I’ve been using?

Edit: The only other extension I use in Private Browsing is 1Password, so I don’t think it’s any potential conflicts with another extension. I have tested with 1PW disabled in Private Browsing and it didn’t solve anything. I would also assume it would cause problems in regular browsing if it was an extension conflict.

Edit 2: Sometimes in Private Browsing with ProtonVPN on it will just hang indefinitely, other times it will tell me every site I try to visit “The connection to [website] is not secure.” If I try to continue, nothing ever happens at that point.

Hi @Saoiray - Just wanted to followup and see if the new info I provided might help give a better idea what my problem here might be. Thank you again for all your help!

@Omega_M Hey, let me clarify here. You are saying it indeed works on the new profile still? And just that it’s not working in private browsing? And it doesn’t matter which of the extension settings you use in terms of allowing or disallowing it to run in private window, right?

Hi @Saoiray ,

Correct, in a new profile I can setup ProtonVPN, grant it access to private browsing, and it works just fine/as intended. In that particular profile ProtonVPN is the only extension I’m using so I haven’t tried it with anything else.

On my main profile though, even with ProtonVPN as the only extension enabled for private browsing, I either get an indefinite hang on any websites loading, or an error that the connection is not secure. In regular/non-private browsing I have ProtonVPN on all the time and I have zero issues browsing.

@Omega_M,
Thank you for testing and for the detailed information.
One of our team members tested and confirmed that Private browsing does work for them when ProtonVPN is enabled.

It is odd that it would work for you in a fresh profile but not your main profile. If you don’t have any other extensions installed, then both profiles are the same, with the obvious exception of any cache/browsing data stored in your main profile.

I know that it might be a bit of a pain, but I’m curious if simply un/reinstalling the extension (on your main profile) might be enough to shake loose whatever is causing the issue. If you’re willing to try that, let me know what happens. In the meantime I’ll see what other potential causes might be at play here and get back to you.

Hi @Mattches

Unfortunately uninstalling and reinstalling doesn’t seem to change anything. I think it’s also interesting that it must be a problem that is being synced as well, since it is affecting two unique computers. I only sync bookmarks, extensions, history, settings, and theme.

I’ve made sure it’s not a specific server/region in ProtonVPN. I’ll also note that if I try google.com I get the error I mentioned previously about it not being a secure connection. If I try youtube.com it just hangs forever.

1 Like

Still looking into this.
To confirm, if you’re not connected to ProtonVPN on your main profile and open a Private browsing window, do sites load normally when using it or does the same issue occur regardless of whether or not you’re actively using the VPN extension?

You’ve got it. If I disable the VPN either before I open private browsing or during private browsing, everything works like normal. If I start private browsing disconnected from the VPN and then connect while in private browsing it doesn’t work, nor does it work if I start private browsing while connected.

Essentially, all private browsing is broken as long as there is a connection to ProtonVPN. Private Browsing with TOR does work with ProtonVPN connected, however.

1 Like

Thank you for confirming.
At this point I’m wondering if the solution might be as simple as clearing your cache/browsing data. Not all of it, but specifically Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files:

Again, I know it’s kind of a pain to have to do considering you’ll likely need to log back into several sites and may lose some data from sites that leverage the browser cache but I cannot think of any other reason that would cause this (nor do I think clearing any of the other browser data types would be relevant here — although I have been surprised before!).

Just to exhaust all options, you could try downloading the Beta build, install the ProtonVPN extension there and check to see if the issue occurs in Beta as well. Although I’m inclined to think it won’t, given that the issue is not present in a fresh profile.

If you don’t want to try either of those options I’m happy to keep digging around for alternative solutions but I would recommend trying the Beta and then — assuming the issue is not present in Beta — try clearing out browsing data in the main profile and see if this resolves the issue.

Let me know what you try and what you find out.

Hi again @Mattches

I tried deleting cookies & other site data and cached images & files, setting the time range to all time, and I’m still having the issue in private browsing not working if ProtonVPN is connected to a server.

@Saoiray had me try the beta build as well and it did work for me there.

Happy to explore other options or follow any other guidance you might have for me. Thank you so much!