How to Use Proxifier to Route All Internet Traffic through Proxies

Most frequently used Internet-based software, including email clients, instant messengers, and web browsers, support proxies where you can enter the port and IP address of a proxy server to route all Internet traffic to the proxy. There are, however, software applications that do not support proxy servers or proxy authentication. Proxifier is the solution to this problem. This tutorial presents how to use Proxifier and lists three Proxifier alternatives.

What You’ll Learn

What is Proxifier?

Proxifier is a software application that enables network applications that don’t support proxy servers to work through a chain of proxy servers, or an HTTPS proxy, or a SOCKS proxy server. With Proxifier, it becomes easy to tunnel all TCP network connections, or it can be used to only tunnel selected ones.

How does Proxifier work?

Proxifier works transparently for any running application, and it is not necessary to make any changes to the configurations of applications before it can be used. However, if you were already using proxy servers before starting to use Proxifier in their place, any built-in proxy settings should first be disabled.

The applications’ configuration should then be changed to connect “directly” to the Internet, rather than through proxy servers.

How Proxifier Works Diagram

Advantages of Proxifier

Using the Proxifier application has several important advantages:

  • Proxy everything by redirecting any internet app’s connections, including the browser, emails, databases, games (acting as game proxies), etc., through a proxy (IPv4 or IPv6, HTTP, SOCKS version 5, SOCKS4). This works even for applications that do have built-in proxy support.
  • Take control of your corporate network by controlling access to all your resources. This is done by routing all the connections through one single entry point. Multiple configurations can also be updated remotely from one single location.
  • Improve your internet connection by routing all internet traffic through fast routes.
  • Security and privacy are vastly improved by this flexible and lightweight alternative to a VPN. This is achieved by tunneling all your connections through encrypted channels.
  • Bypass any restrictions by using a proxy as the gateway for all your internet activities.
  • Flexibility becomes easy by assigning different chains or single proxies to a different connection using the rule-based system built into Proxifier.

How to use Proxifier – Step-by-step tutorial

Proxifier is easy to configure so that it works with both HTTP and SOCKS proxies.

Before you start using Proxifier, you need access to one or more proxies. You may use free, open proxies, but they present security risks, as you probably know. My recommendation is to get access to paid proxies from trustful proxy services. For this tutorial, I have used proxies provided by MyPrivateProxy and Blazing SEO.

Simply follow the steps listed below in order to configure Proxifier:

  1. Download and install Proxifier. Both Windows and Mac OS versions are available.
  2. On Mac OS, you will get a security warning (Proxifier Extension Blocked). To continue, click Open Security & Privacy, then, in the Security & Privacy window, click Allow next to the System software from developer “Initex LLC” was blocked from loading text (see screenshot below)
    How to use proxifier MacOS - Security Warning
  3. Once you have opened Proxifier, go to the Profile menu and from there select Proxy Servers (or simply click on the Proxies icon from the top bar).
  4. Next, click on the Add button and enter the private or shared proxy server’s name (hostname or IP address) and proxy port. How to use Proxifier - Add Proxy
  5. Select SOCKS5, SOCKS4, or HTTPS from the Protocol field, depending on the proxy type you have access to.
  6. If you use a proxy with username and password authorization, select Enable on the authentication field, enter the username and password, and click on OK. For the proxies with the IP authorization leave Enable unchecked.
  7. You will see the newly created proxy profile. Further, you may add more proxies or close the window.How to use Proxifier - Proxy Proxy
  8. At this time, no proxy connection is active. It would be best if you switched the proxy profile on. Further, you need to create a proxification rule: go to the Profile menu and click Proxification rules. By default, there are two rules: one for bypassing the proxy settings and use the direct Internet connection for localhost requests, and the second one, the default direct connection for all requests. Next, click Add…How to use Proxifier - Proxy Traffic
  9. Enter a name for the rule, make sure that Enable is checked, and select the proxy rule from the Action drop-down. Read the Proxifier advanced features section for further information on settings available on this window. The default settings will proxify all the connections from all applications connecting to the Internet. Next, click OK and close the Rules window. You will see the applications that connect to the proxy.How to use Proxifier - Proxification Rules
  10. You are now ready to use the internet with the new IP address provided by the proxy. Open a web browser (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge) and load an IP checker website. You should see the IP of the proxy server. It shows that the proxy is running successfully.
  11. To switch off the proxy connection, go to Profile > Proxification Rules and uncheck the proxy rule. Alternatively, you may exit Proxifier.

Proxifier advanced features

The Proxifier application offers access to certain advanced and interesting features:

  • Proxy chains – Proxifier can work with chains of proxy servers. This is especially useful for ensuring a high level of anonymity. However, several drawbacks and restrictions are explained in the documentation. Proxy chains can be set up from the Add proxy window. Further, a proxification rule needs to be defined for the proxy chain.
  • Rules per application, hosts/domains, ports – When a proxification rule is defined (Profile > Proxification Rules > Add), you may apply the proxy settings only to specific applications, for certain websites, or even to particular ports. Thus, you may use proxies for specific needs while using the computer unbiased by the proxy settings.
  • HTTP servers support – Proxifier can work with HTTP proxy servers that do not support HTTPS on arbitrary ports. More on how this can set up, you may find here. 
  • Proxy rules for other users on your computer – From Profile > Advanced Options > Connections, you may activate an option that forces applications run by other users on the same machine to use the defined proxy settings.
  • Rules on DNS requests – From Profile > Name Resolution > More… you may establish rules regarding the way domain names are resolved.

Proxifier alternatives

Proxifier is not the only software application that will link to any software so that it can be operated through a proxy. However, it looks like it is the only one that is constantly updated.

Now that you have learned how to use Proxifier, here are 3 other proxifier software systems apart from Proxifier that you may try.

ProxyCap

ProxyCap is shareware that costs $30 with 3 years of full updates, unlike Proxifier, whose license only includes free updates for the minor versions. The main advantage of ProxyCap is that it supports SSH tunneling. ProxyCap works both on Windows and Mac OS.

FreeCap

FreeCap is one of the oldest free proxifier for Windows, with its latest release in 2006 (!). It does, however, seem to work on Windows 8.1. To get FreeCap to work with Windows 8.1, the first thing you need to do is to disable advanced hooking from the Settings. To do this, select File and then Settings. In the Program tab, uncheck “Use advanced hooking technique (for ASProtect’ed programs).” If this option is left enabled, it will cause any hooked programs to crash.

WideCap

Although many aspects of WideCap look very much like FreeCap, WideCap’s official website specifically states that this is an extended version of FreeCap and neither a new FreeCap version nor a branch.

Compared to FreeCap, WideCap is more powerful. It is easy to proxify any program simply by selecting an option and then dragging and dropping the program that should be proxified without browsing for the .exe file manually. WideCap only works on Windows.

Summary

If you use software that does not support proxy servers or proxy authentication, you can use proxifier software, including Proxifier, to overcome the problem and still provide safe, secure browsing and emails. The proxifier software links to any software and enables it to work through a proxy, even if the software itself does not support it.

Tags:

Chris Sar

I have a background in marketing and I have been working with proxies for several years. I started this blog to share my knowledge about proxies and proxy tools.

We will be happy to hear your thoughts

      Leave a reply