How to connect to Surfshark in countries with internet restrictions on Android – Surfshark Customer Support

In this tutorial, you will learn how to set up the OpenVPN app on your Android device. This app is an alternative way of connecting to Surfshark servers that will come in handy if you can't connect to the VPN due to network restrictions or any other reasons.

You will need a phone or tablet running Android and an active Surfshark subscription, which you can purchase on our pricing page.

You will learn how to:

Get your credentials
Download configuration files
Download and install the app
Add and connect to the VPN profile
Ensure your connection is successful

Get your credentials

NOTE: These are not your regular credentials, such as your email address and password.

Go to the Surfshark login page and log in. Tap on Products > VPN > Manual setup > Desktop or mobile > OpenVPN

Download configuration files

Open the same page on another browser tab, go to the Locations tab, and locate the server that you wish to connect to.
Download configuration files by clicking on the arrow pointing downwards next to your chosen location.
Choose which file to download: UDP or TCP.

These are 2 different VPN protocols. We recommend the UDP protocol because it tends to be faster, but feel free to find out more about Surfshark protocols and decide for yourself.

Download and install the app

If you don't have access to the Google Play Store on your device, or can not find the OpenVPN app there, download the .apk version of this app from here.

If you have access to the Play Store, check the following steps:

Launch the Google Play Store app.
Use the search bar to search for OpenVPN.
You may find several different apps for OpenVPN. We used the one you can see in the picture below. Press the Install button.
Once the installation finishes, you will find the app on your device.

Add and connect to the VPN profile

As you open the OpenVPN app, you will see a screen, as in the picture below.
You need to upload your configuration file (refer to the Download configuration filesin this article). To do so, switch to the UPLOAD FILE tab and tap on BROWSE.
Locate your device's Downloads folder and tap on the Surfshark configuration file.
Confirm the action by tapping OK.
Fill in the required details.

NOTE: make sure to tap on Save password.

Profile name: Use any name
Username: the service username (Get your credentials section in this article)
Password: the service password (Get your credentials section in this article)
You may get a pop-up informing you about the certificate. The certificate in included in the configuration file, so click CONTINUE.
When connecting for the first time, you will see a request to set up a VPN connection. Without your permission, the OpenVPN app won't be able to make a VPN connection. Click OK.
If the VPN connection is successful, you will see the connection status on your screen.

It shows that you're connected, as well as some details about the connection.
To disconnect from the VPN, tap on the switch (which is green now). As soon as you disconnect, the switch will turn gray.
To change the VPN location, download a new configuration file for your preferred location (refer to Download configuration files section in this article), then add a new profile (refer to Add and connect to the VPN profile section of this article).

Ensure that the connection is successful

We always recommend checking if Surfshark VPN is working after setting it up for the first time. You can easily do it by performing Surfshark IP leak test and a DNS leak test. For your convenience, both are available on our website.