VPNs for Chromebook: what works on ChromeOS

Android apps do the heavy lifting

Google's Chromebook help says it plainly: Chromebooks with the Play Store can install Android VPN apps. That is the route for a VLESS key on ChromeOS. Install Hiddify or v2rayNG from the Play Store, paste the key and connect. ChromeOS's built-in VPN settings cover IKEv2, L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN, WireGuard and PPTP, but not VLESS, so the Android client is what makes the key work.

Setting it up

1. 1

   Check that the Google Play Store is turned on under Settings, Apps.

2. 2

   Install Hiddify or v2rayNG from the Play Store.

3. 3

   Get the key from the Telegram bot; the first five days cost nothing.

4. 4

   Import the key from the clipboard in the client.

5. 5

   Connect and accept the Android connection request.

6. 6

   Open an IP check page in Chrome to confirm the address changed.

VPN browser for Chromebook, or a VPN extension

A VPN extension for Chromebook from the Chrome Web Store protects Chrome and nothing else. Android apps, system updates and anything outside the browser go around it. Google's own list of Web Store VPN apps is mostly business clients such as Cisco AnyConnect and GlobalProtect, built for company networks. For a key that should cover the whole laptop, the Android client is the better fit. It also keeps working when you switch from Chrome to an Android app, such as a streaming or chat app, which an extension would leave exposed.

School and work Chromebooks

A managed Chromebook belongs to the school or company, and its administrator decides what can be installed, including whether the Play Store is available at all. Administrators can also push their own VPN apps and settings. Google's advice for VPN problems on such a device is to contact the administrator. Getting around a school's network rules is not what Softech VPN is for; use your own device for personal browsing.

Family Chromebooks and public Wi-Fi

Android apps on a Chromebook belong to the Google account that installed them. If several people sign in to the same Chromebook, each of them needs the client set up under their own account, and each one counts as a device for the key.

On cafe or library Wi-Fi, ChromeOS usually opens the network's sign-in page by itself. Finish it before connecting the key; if you connect first, the sign-in page cannot load and the Chromebook looks offline. Lower-priced models have modest processors, so the nearest server gives the smoothest result, especially for video calls.

If the key will not connect

• The Play Store is missing: on a managed device, only the administrator can turn it on.
• Another tunnel app is already active: disconnect it first.
• The Wi-Fi has a login page: finish it with the key off, then connect.
• ChromeOS is out of date: update it and try again.

Questions