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Using your proxy in Chrome or Firefox, with nothing to install

It works, it costs nothing and it is enough for one account — provided you know what each browser really does with your setting.

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Firefox: the only one that handles this cleanly

Firefox has its own proxy setting, independent of the system. That is what makes it the better choice here.

Settings → General → at the very bottom, Network Settings → Settings…

  1. Tick Manual proxy configuration.
  2. SOCKS Host: frproxy.com, Port: your SOCKS5 port.
  3. Tick SOCKS v5.
  4. Tick Proxy DNS when using SOCKS v5 — without it your DNS queries leave in the clear through your internet provider, and your browsing is readable even when the traffic is not.

On the first page load Firefox asks for the username and password. It does not always remember them: that is the main annoyance of this method.

Then turn WebRTC off: about:config → media.peerconnection.enabled → false. Otherwise a page reads your real IP straight past the proxy.

Chrome: careful, it changes the WHOLE machine

Chrome has no setting of its own. Its "Proxy settings" button opens the Windows one, and that setting applies to the entire computer: your mail client, your updates, your other browsers.

That is almost never what you want. Two ways around it:

A. A dedicated Chrome shortcut. Create a shortcut with this target:

chrome.exe --proxy-server="socks5://frproxy.com:15002" --user-data-dir="C:\chrome-proxy"

--user-data-dir is the important part: it gives this instance its own cookies, separate from your everyday Chrome. Without it, the two share everything.

Known limit: Chrome cannot send SOCKS5 credentials on the command line. You will have to type the password on the first request, and this method does not work in every case. On an HTTP port with authentication it is frankly painful.

B. An extension. This is the sensible route: see FoxyProxy.

What this method does not do

Neither one touches your fingerprint: Canvas, WebGL, fonts, resolution and time zone stay those of your machine. Two accounts opened this way, even on two different proxies, are linked in a single request.

For one account it is perfect and free. For several you need real compartmentalisation — see AdsPower, Dolphin{anty}, BitBrowser.

See also: HTTP or SOCKS5 · WebRTC and DNS leaks

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