Tunnelblick
Tunnelblick is a macOS OpenVPN client that helps you connect your Mac to VPN services and private networks using OpenVPN configurations.
What is Tunnelblick?
Tunnelblick is a native macOS VPN client for OpenVPN that helps users connect securely to private networks and VPN services from a Mac. It is designed for people who already have VPN access from a workplace, school, server administrator, or commercial provider that supplies OpenVPN configuration files and credentials. The app gives you a menu bar interface for connecting, disconnecting, importing configurations, and viewing connection details and logs. Tunnelblick also supports personal and shared configurations, login-time launching, and management of multiple VPN setups on one Mac. Because it focuses on OpenVPN, it is especially useful for users who need compatibility with existing OpenVPN-based services rather than a general-purpose consumer VPN subscription app. Tunnelblick is published by Jonathan Bullard and is widely used as a dedicated OpenVPN tool on macOS.
Key features
- Import and manage OpenVPN configuration files for VPN connections
- Connect to private networks from the menu bar
- Switch between multiple VPN configurations on one Mac
- View connection status, logs, and detailed VPN information
- Launch at login for faster access to saved VPN connections
- Use personal or shared configurations for different Mac user accounts
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Safety overview
Status: Mostly safe
Tunnelblick is legitimate VPN software for macOS, but VPN apps naturally handle network traffic and may install privileged helper components so they can create and manage secure connections. That level of access is normal for this type of app. If you use it, install configurations only from a VPN provider or administrator you trust, because connection settings, certificates, and scripts included with a VPN configuration can affect how the connection behaves.
Recommendation: Keep Tunnelblick if you use an OpenVPN-based VPN for work, school, remote access, or privacy. Remove it if you no longer use any OpenVPN connections on this Mac, but expect any saved Tunnelblick VPN setups and related connection convenience features to stop working.
Common paths
/Applications/Tunnelblick.app
Support paths
~/Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick/Configurations/Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick/Shared/Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick/Logs/Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick/Backup
Preference paths
~/Library/Preferences/net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.plist
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