The beauty of most premier VPN services is that they have an intuitive Windows 10 app that makes setting up a connection as easy as clicking a big green button that says “connect.” However, if you’re running Windows 10 in S mode and can’t install apps from outside the Store, or you’re using a VPN without a client, you can still configure a VPN manually. This is especially important as many people move to working from home and require a VPN. Here’s everything you need to know.
Once you subscribe to a VPN service — keep in mind there are plenty of great options out there — you should have access to a list of servers that you can connect to. It will differ depending on the VPN service you’re using, but you should have access to a webpage or desktop app section that lists the server’s location, the address needed to create a manual connection, and the current load of the server.
Your VPN provider should also provide manual sign-in information that can be used as credentials. This might be some sort of username and password or certificate depending on the service.
Once you have the required information to make a connection, you can jump into settings and get everything running.
- Right-click the Start button.
- Click Settings.
- Click Network & Internet.
- Click VPN.
- Click Add a VPN connection.
- Click the dropdown menu below VPN provider.
- Click Windows (built-in).
- Click the Connection name field.
- Type a name for the VPN connection. (In this case, I’ll use the name of my provider and the server location.)
- Click the Server name or address field.
- Type the server’s address. (You can likely find this in your VPN account.)
- Click the dropdown menu below VPN type.
- Choose a connection protocol.
- Click the dropdown menu below Type of sign-in info.
- Click a sign-in method. (This will no doubt change depending on your VPN provider.)
- Click Save.
- Click the VPN you just set up. (It will now appear in the VPN list.)
- Click Connect. (Depending on the sign-in method used by your provider, you might have to enter your username and password.)
How to disconnect and remove a VPN on Windows 10
If you don’t want to use a VPN anymore, or if you just want to remove a server from the list, you can disconnect or altogether remove it. There is a VPN button for quick on and off located in the Windows 10 action center (the small speech bubble in the bottom-right corner of your display), but we’ll go through the entire process, which includes completely removing a VPN from your system.
- Right-click the Start button.
- Click Settings.
- Click Network & Internet.
- Click VPN.
- Click a VPN connection you want to disconnect or remove.
- Click Disconnect.
- Click Remove.
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Click Remove again to confirm.