IPv6 Leak Test

Many older or budget-friendly VPNs were built exclusively for IPv4. When these clients route your traffic, they only create an encrypted tunnel for IPv4 packets. Because your operating system natively supports IPv6, any requests directed to IPv6-enabled websites will bypass the VPN tunnel entirely and use your local gateway instead.

During an IPv6 leak, websites you visit can see your real public IPv6 address. This address is linked directly to your local router and Internet Service Provider. Trackers can bypass your VPN’s location mask, identify your home country and city, and easily link your web activities back to your real-world identity.

If your VPN does not have built-in leak protection, you can manually disable IPv6 in your operating system. On Windows, go to Network Connections, right-click your network adapter, select Properties, and uncheck "Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)". On macOS, you can execute a terminal command or configure it inside your Advanced Network TCP/IP settings.

This means your device is currently not communicating over IPv6. This could be because your Internet Service Provider (ISP) hasn't enabled IPv6 on your home connection, your router has it disabled, or your active VPN is successfully blocking all incoming and outgoing IPv6 traffic to protect your privacy.

Some premium VPN services provide native dual-stack IPv4 and IPv6 routing inside their encrypted tunnels. However, the most common security measure utilized by modern VPN clients is "IPv6 Leak Protection," which dynamically blocks all local IPv6 traffic at the operating system level, forcing your browser to fall back to the secure, tunneled IPv4 connection instead.

For almost all home users, disabling IPv6 will have absolutely no noticeable impact on internet speeds or everyday web browsing. The vast majority of websites and online applications maintain dual-compatibility and will automatically default to using your standard IPv4 connection without any loss of performance.