How to Set Up a Proxy by Hand on a Computer and in Software

Proxy setup comes down to four values: address, port, and login and password if access uses them. The whole difficulty is where to enter them: there are half a dozen places, and they are not interchangeable. First decide the level: does the whole system need the proxy, or only one program? System setup is simpler, targeted setup is safer, since it does not pull in traffic that has no business in the proxy.

What you have on hand

Lines come in two forms: ip:port with no authorization, as in packages with access by server IP, and host:port:login:password, as on pay-per-gigabyte plans. In the second case, check the protocol you chose when creating the list, because it decides which field takes the line. If your software wants another format, do not rearrange the parts by hand, run the list through the converter.

Windows

Settings, "Network & Internet", "Proxy", the manual setup block: turn it on, enter address and port, save. This covers Chromium-family browsers and most programs. Two pitfalls. First: there is no login and password box here, the system asks at the first request, but some software does not get along with this; lines with authorization are more reliably entered in the software itself. Second: the exceptions field, addresses separated by semicolons. Remember to add local resources there, or your printer and home router panel will go through the proxy.

macOS

System Settings, "Network", the active connection, "Details", the "Proxies" tab. Choose the type: web proxy and secure web proxy for HTTP lines, SOCKS proxy for SOCKS, enter the address with port, and login and password below. The setting lives on a specific connection: Wi-Fi and cable are set separately.

Browsers and anti-detect tools

Chrome and its relatives keep no settings of their own and use the system ones. Firefox is independent: Settings, "Network Settings", manual setup; the "Proxy DNS when using SOCKS v5" switch lives there too and helps privacy. Anti-detect browsers take a proxy per profile: usually four fields or a whole line. Remember the practical rule: in browsers and anti-detect tools, use the HTTP protocol for lines with a login, because the Chromium engine does not pass credentials to SOCKS5 and the profile stays offline. This is the most common cause of a "dead" line in an anti-detect browser.

Console and scripts

A one-off tool gets the proxy right in the command, and in curl it looks like this:

curl -x "http://LOGIN:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT" https://ifconfig.me
curl --socks5-hostname "LOGIN:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT" https://ifconfig.me

Both commands return the exit address, which is handy for testing a line before entering it somewhere for the long term. Permanent setup for console tools uses the HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY environment variables, and exceptions use NO_PROXY. Package managers and version control systems may have their own config files, which take priority over variables.

Python and Node scripts get a proxy through request parameters or the same variables. A good practice for scrapers: keep a list of lines in a file nearby instead of a hard-coded string, and then rotating or replacing a pool needs no code changes.

Smartphones

Android: current Wi-Fi network settings, advanced, manual proxy. iPhone: Wi-Fi settings, the network icon, "Configure Proxy". Both systems tie the proxy to a specific network and apply it to Wi-Fi only. Smartphones have no SOCKS field, only HTTP, so create lines accordingly.

Typical mistakes

• A scheme in the address field. Where only a host is asked for, people paste a whole line with a scheme. The host field takes the address, and everything else has its own field.
• Invisible spaces. Copying from tables and chats drags in spaces and line breaks. The line looks right and does not work: paste through the converter or check its edges by eye.
• A line of one protocol in another's field. A SOCKS line in an HTTP field stays silent with no clear error. Check what you chose when creating the list.
• Two middlemen at once. A system proxy plus an extension or VPN makes an unpredictable route. Keep one middleman and switch the others off.
• Empty exceptions. The local router panel and internal addresses should not go through a proxy: add them to exceptions right away.

Checking the result

After any setup, open the IP lookup page: the address should change to the proxy's. Then look at the anonymity check: it shows whether your real address leaks through headers or WebRTC. If the address did not change, go through the levels in this article from top to bottom: usually another setting overrides yours, or the line sits under the wrong protocol. For the reverse operation, fully disabling all found proxies, we have a mirror guide.