Tor & Anonymity
Discover how Tor helps protect your identity online, how onion routing works and why privacy is not quite the same as anonymity.
What is Tor?
Tor stands for The Onion Router. It is a network designed to improve online privacy by routing internet connections through several independent relays rather than connecting directly to a website.
Each relay knows only part of the journey. This makes it harder for any single relay to connect your identity with the websites you visit.
✓ Tor helps hide your IP address from websites.
✓ Tor does not guarantee complete anonymity.
✓ HTTPS still matters when browsing through Tor.
Follow your connection.
Select Next Step to see how a typical Tor connection reaches a website.
Your device
What difference does HTTPS make?
Switch between HTTP and HTTPS to see what an exit relay may be able to read.
Educational simulation only. This demonstration does not establish a Tor connection or collect visitor information.
What are .onion websites?
Most websites use familiar addresses such as .com or .co.uk. Tor also supports special addresses ending in .onion.
These are called onion services. Unlike ordinary websites accessed through Tor, onion services do not use a conventional exit relay. The connection stays within the Tor network.
Onion services can help protect the network location of both the visitor and the website. They are used for private communication, journalism, whistleblowing and other legitimate purposes.
Which browser do you need?
The recommended way to access onion services on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android is Tor Browser, developed by the Tor Project.
Download Tor Browser from the official Tor Project website .
For iPhone and iPad, the Tor Project recommends Onion Browser as an alternative, although its privacy protections differ from Tor Browser.
Ordinary browsers such as Chrome, Edge and Safari do not normally support .onion addresses directly.
Is the dark web the same as Tor?
No. Tor is a privacy network, and onion services are one of its features. Not every onion service is part of illegal activity.
However, malicious websites, scams and unsafe downloads can exist on onion services just as they can on the ordinary internet.
✓ Use trusted, verified onion addresses.
✓ Keep Tor Browser updated.
✓ Avoid unknown downloads and suspicious links.
✓ Never assume Tor guarantees anonymity.
Does Tor make you invisible?
No. Tor improves privacy, but your actions can still reveal who you are.
✓ Logging into personal accounts can identify you.
✓ Malware can compromise your privacy.
✓ Sharing personal details can reveal your identity.
✓ Tor can be slower than ordinary browsing.
✓ Powerful observers may still perform traffic analysis.
Tor vs VPN
A VPN routes your connection through a provider you choose to trust. Tor uses multiple independent relays to distribute that trust.
Neither automatically makes you anonymous. Both have advantages, limitations and different uses.
When might Tor be useful?
Tor can help people reduce online tracking, research sensitive subjects and access information with greater privacy. Journalists, researchers and ordinary internet users can all benefit from understanding how it works.