How to Set Up a Proxy in Chrome and Firefox

The important thing to know before you start: Chrome has no proxy settings of its own. It uses your operating system’s. Firefox does have its own, which is why it is often the easier browser for this.

Firefox

Firefox keeps proxy configuration internal, so nothing else on your machine is affected.

1. Settings → General → Network Settings → Settings…
2. Choose Manual proxy configuration
3. HTTP Proxy: your proxy IP, Port: the HTTP port
4. Tick Also use this proxy for HTTPS
5. For SOCKS5 instead, fill the SOCKS Host field and select SOCKS v5
6. OK

Browse to any site and Firefox will prompt for your username and password on the first request.

Do this too: tick Proxy DNS when using SOCKS v5. Without it Firefox resolves hostnames locally, so your ISP sees every domain you visit even though traffic goes through the proxy. This is the browser equivalent of the socks5h distinction covered in SOCKS5 vs HTTP.

Chrome

Chrome’s proxy button just opens your OS settings, which changes the proxy for everything on your computer — other browsers, updaters, background apps.

macOS: System Settings → Network → your connection → Details → Proxies → enable Web Proxy (HTTP) and Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS).

Windows: Settings → Network & Internet → Proxy → Manual proxy setup.

Linux: Settings → Network → Network Proxy → Manual.

That system-wide scope is usually not what you want.

The better way: a profile-scoped extension

For Chrome, an extension that sets the proxy per profile is almost always the right answer. Extensions like Proxy SwitchyOmega let you define several proxies, switch between them in two clicks, and route different sites through different proxies — all without touching your system settings.

This also lets you run one browser profile per proxy, which matters if you manage multiple accounts. Same IP, same cookies, same profile, consistently — see proxies for social media.

A caution: a proxy extension can read everything you browse. Install widely-used ones only, and check the permissions.

Separate profiles for separate identities

If you are using proxies to keep accounts apart, the proxy is only half the job. The browser profile carries cookies, localStorage and a fingerprint that will link accounts regardless of IP.

Create a distinct Chrome or Firefox profile per identity and assign each its own proxy. Sharing one profile across proxies defeats the point entirely.

Verify it worked

Visit https://api.ipify.org — you should see the proxy’s IP, not yours.

Then check for leaks at https://browserleaks.com/ip, which shows your IP, DNS resolvers and WebRTC address together.

WebRTC is the one that catches people. It can reveal your real IP even with a working proxy, because it bypasses proxy settings entirely. In Firefox, set media.peerconnection.enabled to false in about:config. In Chrome you need an extension — there is no built-in setting.

A proxy that passes the IP check but leaks through WebRTC is not hiding you.

Common problems

Endless credential prompts. Usually a special character in the password being mangled. Try IP whitelisting instead — see authentication methods.

Some sites load, others do not. Often the HTTPS proxy field was left blank. Both HTTP and HTTPS need setting.

Everything is slow. Expected to a degree — traffic takes a longer path. Large slowdowns usually mean geographic distance; pick a proxy closer to you or the target.

Connection refused. Wrong port. HTTP and SOCKS5 use different ports on the same IP.

Browsers are for testing, not volume

Manual browser configuration is right for checking a proxy works, browsing geo-restricted content, or managing a handful of accounts. For anything automated, drive it from code instead — see Python requests or Puppeteer and Playwright.

Every proxy in your froxproxy dashboard shows its IP, both ports and credentials ready to paste into these fields. See pricing or the FAQ.