The VPN Turns Itself Off on iPhone: 6 Reasons and How to Keep It On

In short: a VPN on an iPhone “turns itself off” for one of six reasons, most often: you turned on another VPN, the app was updated or the phone restarted, the network changed, the system ran out of memory in a game, the test build expired, or the balance ran out. Below: how to find your reason, and the two ProxysVPN switches that bring the VPN back without you and keep the internet from leaking around the tunnel while it recovers.

Six reasons and what to do about them

Why this happens

• One VPN at a time. Any VPN app, an ad blocker with a VPN of its own or a work profile adds its configuration to iOS. Turn one on and the system turns the other off. If the “VPN” list has extra rows, delete them.
• Updates and restarts. While an app updates, iOS stops it together with its VPN. After a restart the VPN is off too: the system turns it on by itself only if the app asked for that with a rule.
• A change of network. Moving from Wi-Fi to mobile data, the tunnel reconnects. While it does, apps may reach the internet directly, around the VPN. See VPN keeps disconnecting.
• Memory. iOS gives a VPN extension about 50 MB of memory and removes it if the limit is exceeded. In online games this happens more often: a game opens hundreds of short connections. In October 2026 we reworked how ProxysVPN handles such connections, so keep the app up to date.

How to keep the VPN from switching off

1. 1Open ProxysVPN → More → “Protection”.
2. 2Turn on “Turn the VPN on in an unknown Wi-Fi”: the device turns the VPN on by itself in a Wi-Fi network that is not among the known ones, with the country you used last — after a restart or an update too.
3. 3Under “Known networks” list your home Wi-Fi, where you do not need the VPN: one name per line, exactly as in Settings, no more than 20.
4. 4Turn on “Block the internet if the VPN drops”: while the VPN is on, nothing goes to the internet around it, and if it drops, the internet waits until the VPN is back.
5. 5Switch the VPN off with the button in the app, not in the iPhone's Settings, and switch it off before you update the app — otherwise the block leaves the phone without internet until the VPN returns.

If the VPN still switches off

• See which build is installed: TestFlight → ProxysVPN. A new build arrives there by itself, and you can turn on automatic installation on the app's page in TestFlight.
• Choose the WataFast row in the country list — the automatic mode, which picks the country and the protocol by itself and brings the connection back if it drops.
• Send a report while the VPN is on: “Check” → “Send report”. It carries the tunnel log, which shows why iOS stopped it.
• On Android the same questions are solved differently — see the VPN turns itself off on Android. A general walkthrough for iPhone and iPad is VPN not working on iPhone or iPad.

What it costs

The app itself is free; what you pay for is the subscription: $1.50 per device per month, taken from your balance, with nothing charged to your card automatically. Top-ups start at $5. An account opened on the Russian site is priced in roubles instead: an account keeps the currency it was opened in, whatever card tops it up. Both protections are part of the app; they cost nothing extra. To put ProxysVPN on an iPhone, use the iPhone button on the apps page.