Routing All macOS Traffic Through the Tor Network

For certain tasks, I need to use macOS and sometimes prefer to route all my traffic through the Tor network. In this tutorial, I will guide you through the process.

While you can download and use the Tor Browser for enhanced anonymity, I find that simply routing traffic through Tor’s network suffices for my needs while maintaining a civilized workflow.

Installation

First, install Tor using Homebrew and start the Tor service:

brew install tor
brew services start tor

Configure Network Settings

Next, configure your network settings to use Tor as a SOCKS proxy:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Navigate to Network.
3. Select your active network connection and click Advanced.
4. Go to the Proxies tab.
5. Check SOCKS Proxy and enter localhost as the server and 9050 as the port.

Verify Tor Connection

To ensure that your traffic is being routed through the Tor network, visit Check Tor Project. You are able to use Onion-Links like: https://duckduckgogg42xjoc72x3sjasowoarfbgcmvfimaftt6twagswzczad.onion/

Managing the Tor Service

To restart Tor, use the following command:

brew services restart tor

To stop Tor, use:

brew services stop tor

Note: After stopping Tor, remember to disable the SOCKS Proxy in your Network Settings to resume browsing without Tor.