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Fix Internet connectivity problem with an app or a program after connecting to Norton VPN

Certain applications, such as banking, financial, e-commerce, streaming, or email services, may block or limit VPN connections to enforce security controls or regional access requirements. When this happens, the app or service may not work properly or may not let you access its online features while Norton VPN is turned on.

Please follow the instructions below to resolve this issue.

Change the VPN protocol.

Change VPN protocol settings

The Norton VPN Protocol setting is available in Norton VPN on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, and in Norton 360 for Android and macOS. If you are using Norton 360 for Windows or iOS, skip this step, as this setting is not currently available in those apps.

To change the VPN protocol, depending on the operating system, choose one of the following:

Windows

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

  • Open Norton VPN on your desktop.

  • Click Settings in the left pane.

  • On the right side, under the VPN Preferences tab, scroll down to the VPN Protocol Settings section, and choose one of the following.

    • Automatic (recommended)

    • WireGuard

    • Mimic

    • OpenVPN (UDP)

    • OpenVPN (TCP)

Norton 360

The VPN Protocol Setting is currently unavailable in Norton 360 for Windows.

Mac

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

  • Open Norton VPN on your Mac.

  • Click Settings in the left pane.

  • On the right side, under the VPN Preferences tab, scroll down to the VPN Protocol Settings section, and choose one of the following.

    • Automatic (recommended)

    • IPSec

    • WireGuard

    • Mimic

Norton 360

  • Open Norton VPN on your Mac.

  • Click Privacy in the left pane.

  • Click Open under the Secure VPN.

  • Click the Settings tab, scroll down to the VPN Protocol Settings section, and choose one of the following.

    • Automatic (recommended)

    • IPSec

    • WireGuard

    • Mimic

Android

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

  • Open Norton VPN.

  • Tap the VPN (first tile) at the bottom.

  • Tap the Settings (Gear icon) at the top-right side.

  • On the VPN Preferences screen, scroll down and tap the VPN Protocol Settings section, and choose one of the following.

    • Automatic (recommended)

    • WireGuard

    • Mimic

    • OpenVPN (UDP)

    • OpenVPN (TCP)

Norton 360

  • Open Norton 360.

  • Tap the Menu (second tile) at the bottom.

  • From the Menu screen, under the Privacy section, tap VPN.

  • Tap the Settings (Gear icon) at the top-right side.

  • On this screen, scroll down and tap the VPN Protocol Settings section, and choose one of the following.

    • Automatic (recommended)

    • WireGuard

    • Mimic

    • OpenVPN

iOS

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

  • Open Norton VPN.

  • Tap the VPN (first tile) at the bottom.

  • Tap the Settings (Gear icon) at the top-right side.

  • On the VPN Preferences screen, scroll down and tap the VPN Protocol Settings section, and choose one of the following.

    • IPSec

    • WireGuard

    • Mimic

Norton 360

The VPN Protocol Setting is currently unavailable in Norton 360 for iOS.

If the issue persists, Refresh the IP manually.

The "Manual IP Refresh" feature is applicable only for Norton VPN on Windows and macOS. You can ignore this step if you are using Norton VPN on other Operating Systems or Norton 360.

Manual IP Refresh

The Manual IP refresh feature in Norton VPN allows you to refresh your IP address while maintaining your chosen virtual location. This can be helpful if you are experiencing issues with streaming, website loading, or frequent CAPTCHAs.

To manually refresh the IP, depending on the operating system, choose one of the following:

Windows and macOS

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

  1. Open and connect to the VPN.

    1. Open Norton VPN
    2. Choose your preferred VPN location.
    3. Click Connect and wait until the status shows Connected.

  2. Find the Manual IP Refresh button.

    1. While connected, look next to the Disconnect button.
    2. Click the refresh icon (circular arrow).

  3. Confirm Kill Switch (if prompted).

    1. If you see a prompt to turn on Kill Switch, click "Go To Settings" to enable it, then go back to main screen and click the "Manual IP refresh" icon again.
    2. If you do not want to try the Manual IP Refresh, click “Go Back”.
    3. If you wish to refresh the IP without enabling the Kill Switch, click “Continue to refresh IP”.

  4. Get your new IP and retry the site.

    1. Wait for the short “Obtaining new IP…” message to finish.
    2. Once connected again, your IP address is refreshed (same location, new IP).
    3. Go back to the app or program and refresh or retry.

Note:

  • The refresh icon only appears when the VPN is connected and not paused.
  • This feature is ideal when streaming fails, sites don’t load, or CAPTCHAs keep appearing.

Norton 360

  1. Open and connect to the VPN.

    1. Open Norton 360
    2. Click Privacy at the left pane.
    3. Click Open on the Secure VPN tile.
    4. Choose your preferred VPN location.
    5. Click Connect and wait until the status shows Connected.

  2. Find the Manual IP Refresh button.

    1. While connected, look below to the connected region.
    2. Click the button Refresh IP.

  3. Confirm Kill Switch (if prompted).

    1. If you see a prompt to turn on Kill Switch, click "Go To Settings" to enable it, then go back to main screen and click the "Manual IP refresh" icon again.
    2. If you do not want to try the Manual IP Refresh, click “Go Back”.
    3. If you wish to refresh the IP without enabling the Kill Switch, click “Continue to refresh IP”.

  4. Get your new IP and retry the streaming site.

    1. Wait for the short “Obtaining new IP…” message to finish.
    2. Once connected again, your IP address is refreshed (same location, new IP).
    3. Go back to the app or program and refresh or retry.

Note:

  • The IP refresh icon only appears when the VPN is connected and not paused.
  • This feature is ideal when streaming fails, sites don’t load, or CAPTCHAs keep appearing.

If the issue persists, connect to a different VPN region.

Connect to a different VPN region

To manually change the geographic region, depending on the operating system, choose one of the following:

Some Advanced VPN features, including additional regions, city-level region selection, Double VPN, and IP Rotation, are currently available on Norton VPN for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, and Norton 360 on macOS only. Support for Norton 360 on Windows and mobile platforms will be included in a later rollout.

Windows

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

  1. Open Norton VPN on your desktop.

  2. On the Norton dashboard,

    • Click the down arrow next to the current region (above the Connect button).

    • A list of available countries/regions will appear. From this list, select a different Country or City to connect.

Norton VPN also allows you to choose specific cities within a country to connect to. To choose a specific city, in the Change VPN location screen, click the drop-down list present next to the country.
You may also use the search box to search and find a country or city to connect.

Norton 360

  1. Open Norton 360.

  2. On the Norton dashboard, click Privacy on the left side of the window.

  3. In the Privacy window, under Secure VPN, click Open.

  4. In the Secure VPN window, under the Connection tab, click Change Location.

  5. In the Change VPN location window, a list of available countries will appear. From this list, select a different country to connect.

You may also use the search box to search and find a country to connect.

Mac

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

  1. Open Norton VPN on your Mac.

  2. On the Norton dashboard,

    • Click the down arrow next to the current region (above the Connect button).

    • A list of available countries/regions will appear. From this list, select a different country or city to connect.

Norton VPN also allows you to choose specific cities within a country to connect to. To choose a specific city, in the Change VPN location screen, click the drop-down list present next to the country.
You may also use the search box to find a country or city to connect.

Norton 360

  1. Open Norton 360.

  2. On the Norton dashboard, click Privacy on the left side of the window.

  3. In the Privacy window, under Secure VPN, click Open.

  4. In the Secure VPN window, under the Connection tab, click Change.

  5. In the Change VPN location window, a list of available countries/regions will appear. From this list, select a different country or city to connect.

Norton 360 on Mac also allows you to choose specific cities within a country to connect to. To choose a specific city, in the Change VPN location screen, click the drop-down list present next to the country.
You may also use the search box to find a country or city to connect.

Android

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

This applies to Norton VPN Standard, Norton VPN Plus, and Norton VPN Ultimate users.

  1. Launch Norton VPN.

  2. Tap VPN (first tile) at the bottom, then tap the down arrow next to the current region (below the Connect button).

  3. On the Change VPN Location screen, select a different country or city from the list.

Norton VPN also allows you to choose specific cities within a country to connect to. To choose a specific city, in the Change VPN Location screen, tap the three-dots located next to the country.
You may also use the search box at the top to search and find a country or city to connect.

Norton 360

  1. Launch Norton 360.

  2. At the bottom of the main screen, tap Menu, then tap VPN.

  3. Tap the down arrow next to the current region (below the Connect button).

  4. On the Change VPN Location screen, select a different country from the list.

iOS

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

This applies to Norton VPN Standard, Norton VPN Plus, and Norton VPN Ultimate users.

  1. Launch Norton VPN.

  2. Tap VPN (first tile) at the bottom, then tap the down arrow next to the current region (below the Connect button).

  3. On the Change VPN Location screen, select a different region from the list.

Norton VPN also allows you to choose specific cities within a country to connect to. To choose a specific city, in the Change VPN Location screen, tap the three-dots located next to the country.
You may also use the search box to find a country or city to connect.

Norton 360

  1. Launch Norton 360.

  2. On the Norton VPN screen, tap the drop-down list next to Fastest location.

  3. Tap the down arrow next to the current region (below the Connect button).

  4. On the Change VPN Location screen, select a different country from the list.

You may occasionally encounter issues logging in to certain apps when the VPN is enabled. If you face this issue, log in to the respective app and turn on the VPN.

Log in to the respective app and turn on VPN

  1. Open Norton VPN on your desktop or mobile device.

  2. Depending on your operating system, choose one of the following:

    • On Windows and Mac: On the Norton dashboard, click Disconnect to disable VPN.

    • On Android and iOS: Tap VPN(first tile) at the bottom and Tap Disconnect to disable VPN.

  3. Launch your streaming service and sign in.

  4. Open your VPN product on your desktop or mobile device.

  5. Connect to your desired country and access the content you wish to watch.

If the issue persists, use Split Tunneling in Norton VPN to exclude any application traffic from passing through VPN.

The Split Tunneling feature is currently available only on Windows and Android. Please ignore this step if you are using Mac or iOS.

 

The VPN must be in turned OFF state to adjust the split tunnel settings. Therefore ensure the VPN is turned OFF before you make the below changes.

Exclude the app via Split Tunnel

Depending on the operating system that you are using, choose one of the following:

Windows

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

  1. Open Norton VPN.

  2. On the Norton dashboard, click Settings on the left pane,

    • On the VPN Preferences screen, click Edit Apps under Split Tunneling section.

    • Click Add Application.

  3. A new Open window will appear, in this windows, browse and select the respective application/program executable file to exclude from using VPN traffic. To find the app executable file, try the below,

    • Right-click the app Desktop shortcut / Start menu / Taskbar→ Click Properties.
    • Under the Shortcut tab, look for the Target field. That field shows the app’s full .exe path.
    • Copy the full path from the Target field.
    • Go to the Open window and paste the path in the File Name field at the bottom and click Open.

  4. Click Save.

  5. Toggle the slider to enable the Split Tunnel setting.

  6. Turn ON the VPN and check the app.
To remove an app from the exclusion list, in the Exclude specific apps from VPN screen, click Remove next to the app that needs to be removed from the list.

Norton 360

  1. Open Norton 360.

  2. On the Norton dashboard, click Privacy on the left pane,

    • Click Open under the Secure VPN tile.

    • Click the Settings tab at the top.

    • In the Settings screen, click Edit Apps under Split Tunneling section.

    • Click Add Application.

  3. A new Open window will appear, in this windows, browse and select the respective application/program executable file to exclude from using VPN traffic. To find the app executable file, try the below,

    • Right-click the app Desktop shortcut / Start menu / Taskbar→ Click Properties.
    • Under the Shortcut tab, look for the Target field. That field shows the app’s full .exe path.
    • Copy the full path from the Target field.
    • Go to the Open window and paste the path in the File Name field at the bottom and click Open.

  4. Click Save.

  5. Toggle the slider to enable the Split Tunnel setting.

  6. Turn ON the VPN and check the app.
To remove an app from the exclusion list, in the Exclude specific apps from VPN screen, click Remove next to the app that needs to be removed from the list.

Android

Depending on your product, choose one of the following:

Norton VPN

  1. Launch Norton VPN.

  2. Tap VPN (first tile) at the bottom.

  3. Tap the Settings (gear) icon on the top-right.

  4. In the VPN Preferences screen, tap Split Tunneling.

  5. In the Split Tunneling screen, move the slider to enable the feature.

  6. Select the app that you want to exclude or Tap the search icon (magnifier glass) at the top-right and type the app name, and select the app.

  7. Turn ON the VPN, and check the app.

Norton 360

  1. Launch Norton 360.

  2. At the bottom of the main screen, tap Menu and then tap VPN.

  3. In the VPN screen, tap the Settings gear icon on the top-right.

  4. In the VPN screen, tap Split Tunneling.

  5. In the Split Tunneling screen, move the slider to enable it.

  6. Select the app that you want to exclude or Tap the search icon (magnifier glass) at the top-right and type the app name, and select the app.

  7. Turn ON the VPN, and check the app.

If the issue persists, uninstall and reinstall Norton VPN. To uninstall and reinstall Norton VPN, refer to Learn how to uninstall Norton VPN.

If you are still having issues, please share your feedback via our Feedback option in the Norton product. You may also contact us by visiting Member Services and Support.

Disclaimer: We do not condone or endorse any unlawful, illicit, criminal or fraudulent activities perpetrated by using the VPN services. For more information, refer to our License Service Agreement.

DocID: v122748273
Last modified: 06/04/2026

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