While you may well be familiar with virtual private network apps, you might not have come across one of the best features available inside these privacy protectors: a feature called split tunneling.
In simple terms, split tunneling lets you choose which apps or sites use the protection of a VPN and which don't. While VPNs are worth using for extra security and privacy online—foiling trackers, spoofing your location, and stopping your internet provider from seeing your browsing—they do by their nature come with some compromises in speed.
If, for example, you want to get the fastest possible speeds with your online games, you might want to leave your games outside of the VPN's remit. Likewise, since VPNs typically obfuscate your actual location, if you want to make sure you can always check movie showtimes in your local area, you can use split tunneling to keep those ticketing apps outside your VPN. Putting a VPN in place can also interfere with access to other devices on your local network, like smart home gadgets and printers.
For all these reasons, you might want the extra control that split tunneling gives you, and it's available in a lot of VPN packages. Here's what you need to know about it.
How VPN Split Tunneling Works
Split tunneling on Android.Courtesy of David Nield
VPNs work by offering an encrypted bridge for data going to and coming from the web. This bridge means your internet provider, law enforcement agencies, and people connected to the same Wi-Fi can't see what you're doing online. Split tunneling lets you route some online traffic away from that bridge, without you having to constantly turn your VPN on and off.
App-based split tunneling is the most common type you'll come across, as it's the most straightforward and easiest to understand. Some of your apps use the VPN, and some don't. So maybe you want your banking app connected to a VPN for maximum protection, but you're less concerned about a weather app, and you don't want to see forecasts from whatever location the VPN is spoofing.
Depending on the VPN, you might also see URL-based split tunneling. This lets you set the rules based on domain names. It's the same idea as with apps: For websites that need fast internet access and where privacy is less important, there's no VPN. So you can keep the VPN turned on for a search engine page where you're typing information you want protected, but off for a local news site.
There are other types of VPN tunneling too, including route-based tunneling (based on specific IP addresses on the internet) and policy-based tunneling (essentially a set of overarching rules), but these are less common in consumer VPN software, and you're unlikely to come across them unless you're somehow managing other users.
It's not a complicated technology to understand, and it can be genuinely useful—but it's also a feature that users tend not to notice or think about when they're enabling and disabling VPNs on their devices.
How to Enable Split Tunneling
Split tunneling on Windows.Courtesy of David Nield
The exact steps needed to enable split tunneling will vary depending on the VPN software you're using, but they shouldn't be too difficult to find. Most, but not all, VPN programs now offer some kind of split tunneling feature. If you're using a popular app, then you should find the option somewhere, especially if you're on a paid tier.
To give you some idea how it works: In ProtonVPN for Windows, on the main console there's a split tunneling link on the right, together with other features like a kill switch and port forwarding. Click Split tunneling, and once it's enabled, you can start picking your apps. You can either select a list of apps to be included by the VPN (with everything else excluded) or a list of apps to be excluded (with everything else included).
For NordVPN on Windows, you can access the feature by clicking the cog icon in the bottom left of the main interface, then choosing Split tunneling and enabling the Split tunneling toggle switch. Again, you'll be able to choose which apps are included in the VPN protections and which ones aren't.
On mobile, it's a similar process: Delve into the settings for whatever VPN app you're using, wherever those settings might be. Note, though, that iPhones don't allow as much freedom for VPNs here as Android devices and desktop platforms: You'll typically be limited to selecting websites and IP addresses to exclude, rather than apps.
Most of the time, it's going to be a set-it-and-forget-it type routine, and you're not going to need to keep diving back into the options screen to change around the apps that have VPN access—though you can if you want. It means VPN peace of mind where you need it, without the inconvenience of having a VPN applied where it's not useful.