How to Set Up a VPN on Android, Step by Step

Checked 30 October 2026

Most people in the UAE who use a VPN on Android install one app from Google Play and tap Connect. That works, but two settings decide whether the phone really stays inside the VPN: Always-on VPN, which reconnects by itself, and the VPN app’s own kill switch, which blocks the internet when the tunnel drops. This guide sets up both.

Before you start

• Pick a VPN with an Android app from a known company. Our Android VPN guide lists the ones we checked, with their Google Play links.
• Install it from Google Play or the provider’s own website, never from an APK mirror site. Copies of VPN apps on mirror sites can be changed by whoever uploaded them.
• Menu names differ between Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei and Pixel phones. If you cannot find a menu below, open Settings and search for VPN, as Google itself suggests.

Install the app and connect

1. Open Google Play, search for the VPN by its exact name, and check the developer name under the title (for example NordVPN S.A. or Proton AG) before you tap Install.
2. Open the app and sign in. Paid services usually sell the plan on their website; free plans such as Proton VPN Free need only an account.
3. Tap Connect. Android shows a Connection request box the first time; tap OK. This lets the app create the VPN tunnel. A key icon then appears in the status bar while the VPN is on.

Turn on Always-on VPN

Android can keep one VPN app connected all the time, so it starts again after a restart or a network change. Google describes the setting under Settings › Network & internet › VPN; on Samsung phones it sits under Settings › Connections › More connection settings › VPN.

1. Open the VPN menu and tap the gear icon next to your VPN app.
2. Turn on Always-on VPN.
3. If you see Block connections without VPN on your phone, turn it on too. Apps then cannot reach the internet at all while the VPN is down, instead of quietly using your normal connection.

Turn on the app’s kill switch

Most good VPN apps have a kill switch in their own settings. On Android, many of them open the system VPN screen for you, because Android’s Always-on and block settings do that job. Proton VPN, for example, says Android’s built-in kill switch behaves like its stricter “advanced” kill switch. See our kill switch guide for what each mode does.

Split tunnelling: only some apps through the VPN

Several apps (NordVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN and others) let you choose apps that skip the VPN. This is useful for a UAE banking app or a government app that refuses to open through a foreign IP address. Keep the list short: every app on it uses your normal connection.

Check that it works

1. With the VPN on, open a connection check in Chrome and confirm that the IP address and country are the VPN’s, not your UAE provider’s.
2. Turn on airplane mode for ten seconds and turn it off again. If Always-on and blocking are set, the VPN reconnects before apps load anything.
3. Read our leak-test guide for the DNS and WebRTC checks.

Common problems

• The app connects but nothing loads. Change the protocol in the app (WireGuard, OpenVPN or the provider’s own) or try another server. Some networks block one protocol but not another.
• Battery savers kill the VPN. Exclude the VPN app from battery optimisation (Settings › Apps › the VPN app › Battery › Unrestricted, on most phones).
• Another VPN app took over. Android allows one VPN at a time. Turning on a second one disconnects the first.

Before you use any VPN in the UAE, read what UAE law says about VPN use. The law punishes misuse, not the app.

Sources

Checked on 30 October 2026. Providers change their apps, servers and terms, so check the official page before you pay.

1. Android Help: Connect to a virtual private network (VPN) on Android
2. Proton VPN: How to use kill switch
3. Mullvad: Connection check