How to Set Up a Proxy on Windows & macOS (Step-by-Step)

Setting up a proxy on Windows or macOS takes a few minutes: open the system network settings, enter the proxy host and port, add your credentials where the system allows it, and save. Everything that follows the system setting, starting with your browser, then connects through the proxy. This guide walks through Windows 11 and macOS step by step using Shifter’s residential proxies, and covers the parts that usually go wrong: credentials, apps that ignore the setting, and forgetting to turn it off.

If you only need the proxy in your browser, a system-wide setting is more than you need. Our guide to setting up a proxy in Google Chrome covers browser-only options, and the Shifter browser extension does it in one click for Chrome and Firefox. This article is for when you want the operating system itself to use the proxy.

Before you start

Have these four details ready from your Shifter dashboard:

• Host: p.shifter.io
• Port: 443
• Username: your proxy username, with any targeting options added to it
• Password: your proxy password

Location and session options live in the username. customer-USERNAME-country-de routes through Germany, and customer-USERNAME-country-us-city-new_york through New York. Our guide to connecting to a residential proxy explains every part of that format.

For a system-wide proxy, use a sticky session. Your computer opens many connections at once, and on a rotating IP each one can leave from a different address, which breaks logins and makes sites suspicious. Add a session ID and a time to live in seconds, for example customer-USERNAME-country-us-sid-desk1-ttl-1800 for 30 minutes on the same IP.

Windows 11: set up a proxy in Settings

1. Open Settings (Windows key + I) and go to Network & internet > Proxy.
2. Under Manual proxy setup, click Set up next to Use a proxy server.
3. Turn on Use a proxy server.
4. Enter p.shifter.io in Proxy IP address and 443 in Port.
5. Optional: in the exceptions box, list addresses that should skip the proxy, separated by semicolons, for example localhost;127.0.0.1;*.local. Tick Don’t use the proxy server for local (intranet) addresses so printers and your router stay reachable.
6. Click Save.

On Windows 10 the path is the same (Settings > Network & Internet > Proxy), but the switch and the fields sit directly on the page instead of behind a Set up button.

Signing in on Windows

The Windows dialog has no field for a username or password. When an app sends traffic through the proxy, the proxy asks for credentials and the app has to answer. Edge and Chrome show a sign-in prompt: type your full proxy username, including any targeting options, and your password. Apps that cannot show such a prompt simply fail to connect, which is the most common reason a Windows system proxy “works in the browser but nowhere else”.

Also note that the Windows setting is meant for HTTP proxies. Shifter’s gateway also speaks SOCKS5, but for the system setting, stay with HTTP.

Windows: the command line and WinHTTP

The Settings page configures the proxy that browsers and most desktop apps read. Some Windows services use a separate stack, WinHTTP, with its own proxy setting. To copy your user proxy into it, open Command Prompt as administrator and run:

netsh winhttp import proxy source=ie

Check it with netsh winhttp show proxy and remove it later with netsh winhttp reset proxy. Most people never need this. Change it only if a specific service ignores your proxy.

Command-line tools such as curl, Git, pip and npm read environment variables instead of either setting. For a single PowerShell session:

$env:HTTP_PROXY  = "http://customer-USERNAME-sid-desk1-ttl-1800:PASSWORD@p.shifter.io:443"
$env:HTTPS_PROXY = $env:HTTP_PROXY

The variables disappear when you close the window, which is usually what you want. Percent-encode any @, : or / in your password, or the URL will not parse.

macOS: set up a proxy in System Settings

These steps are for macOS Ventura and later. On older versions the same options are under System Preferences > Network > Advanced > Proxies.

1. Open System Settings and click Network.
2. Select the connection you use, such as Wi-Fi, and click Details.
3. Open the Proxies tab.
4. Turn on Web proxy (HTTP). Enter p.shifter.io as the server and 443 as the port.
5. Turn on Proxy server requires password and enter your full proxy username and password.
6. Turn on Secure web proxy (HTTPS) and enter the same server, port and credentials.
7. Optional: add hosts to Bypass proxy settings for these hosts & domains, separated by commas, for example localhost, 127.0.0.1, *.local.
8. Click OK.

Unlike Windows, macOS stores the proxy password for you, so apps that use the system networking APIs, including Safari, can sign in without asking.

Proxy settings on a Mac belong to one network service. If you switch from Wi-Fi to Ethernet, or plug in a USB network adapter, the proxy you set on Wi-Fi does not follow. Repeat the steps for each connection you use.

macOS: the command line

The networksetup tool sets the same options from Terminal, which is handy for scripts. First list your network services:

networksetup -listallnetworkservices

Then set the web and secure web proxies for the service by name:

networksetup -setwebproxy "Wi-Fi" p.shifter.io 443 on USERNAME PASSWORD
networksetup -setsecurewebproxy "Wi-Fi" p.shifter.io 443 on USERNAME PASSWORD

The on turns on authentication. Run networksetup -getwebproxy "Wi-Fi" to check the result, or scutil --proxy to see what the system is actually using. Avoid typing a real password into a command you keep in your shell history.

Which apps follow the system proxy

This is where most confusion comes from. A system proxy is a setting that apps may read, not a tunnel that forces every connection through it.

Usually follows the system proxy	Usually does not
Safari, Edge and Chrome	Command-line tools (they use environment variables)
Firefox, when set to “Use system proxy settings” (its default)	Many games and peer-to-peer apps
Many desktop apps built on the system networking stack	Apps with their own proxy settings
App stores and some system updates	Some background services

If you need every connection on the machine to leave through another location, that is closer to what a VPN does. For browsing, testing and checking sites as a local visitor, the system proxy or a browser extension is usually the better fit. One more thing to keep in mind: system traffic such as updates and cloud sync can follow the proxy too, and residential traffic is billed per GB, so switch the proxy off when you are done.

Check that it works

Open ip-info.com in your browser. You should see the proxy’s IP address, country and network instead of your own. If you set a location in the username, check that it matches. On Windows, a sign-in prompt should appear on the first page you load; on macOS the page should load without one.

Troubleshooting

The browser keeps asking for a password. The credentials are being rejected. Check the password, and check that targeting options in the username are spelled correctly and joined with hyphens. Our guide to fixing 407 proxy authentication errors goes through every cause.

The browser works but another app does not. That app either ignores the system proxy or cannot answer the sign-in request. Look for a proxy option inside the app, or use environment variables for command-line tools.

Pages load slowly or logins drop. You are probably on a rotating IP. Add a session ID and a time to live so the address stays the same.

Nothing loads at all. The computer cannot reach the proxy. Check the host and port, then try another network, because some office and public networks block outgoing proxy connections.

Turning the proxy off

On Windows 11, go to Network & internet > Proxy, click Edit next to Use a proxy server and switch it off. If you changed WinHTTP, run netsh winhttp reset proxy as administrator.

On macOS, open Network > Details > Proxies, switch off the web and secure web proxies and click OK. From Terminal, networksetup -setwebproxystate "Wi-Fi" off and networksetup -setsecurewebproxystate "Wi-Fi" off do the same.

If you need the same city and network for days or weeks rather than one session, look at ISP proxies: each one stays in the city and on the ISP (ASN) you choose for the whole billing period.

Don’t have proxy details yet? Start a free trial: 100 MB of Residential Proxies over 3 days, or 1 day of ISP Proxies with up to 10 IPs, enough to try every step in this guide.