What Is Split Tunneling? VPN Modes, Uses and Risks

Split tunneling is a VPN setting that lets you choose which apps, websites or IP addresses use the VPN and which use your normal connection. It solves real problems, such as a banking app that rejects VPN addresses or a printer on your home network. But every excluded app is exposed as if you had no VPN at all.

How split tunneling works

A VPN app normally changes your device’s routing, the rules that decide where your data goes. Every piece of data then goes into the tunnel and out through the VPN server. The tunnel is the encrypted connection between your device and that server. Our how a VPN works page walks through that path.

Split tunneling adds exceptions to the rule. Depending on the app, an exception can be an application or a destination. For an application, the VPN app ties it to your real network connection instead of the tunnel. For a destination, the VPN app adds a route so that traffic to it skips the tunnel. The destination can be a specific IP address, a network range or a domain. An IP address is the number that identifies a device or site on the internet. A network range is a block of addresses, and a domain is a website’s name.

Everything else behaves as before. It is encrypted and carries the VPN server’s address.

Private Internet Access’s documentation sorts the feature into four kinds. They fit what VPN apps on the market offer:

• App-based: you exclude individual apps.
• Inverse: only the apps you choose go through the VPN.
• Route-based: you set rules by IP address or network range.
• URL or domain-based: you exclude individual websites.

Most apps offer one or two of these. Which ones depends heavily on the operating system.

App-based vs website and IP-based rules

App-based rules are the most common, especially on Windows and Android. Those operating systems let a VPN app see and steer the traffic of other apps. You tick a torrent app, a game or a bank’s app, and only that program leaves the tunnel.

Website and IP-based rules work on destinations instead. They help when the problem is one site rather than one program. An example is a service you open in the same browser you use for everything else.

Support varies. Our provider records showed this on 31 October 2026:

• ExpressVPN documents apps and websites on Windows, apps, IPs and subnets on Linux, and IPv4 address exclusions on iOS. A subnet is a block of addresses. IPv4 and IPv6 are the two versions of internet addresses.
• Surfshark’s Windows Bypasser accepts apps. In its Bypass VPN mode it also accepts websites or IP addresses, according to its help center article on the feature.
• Proton VPN’s Windows app takes apps and IPv4 or IPv6 addresses, and its browser extension handles domains. Its support page says that macOS split tunneling is experimental and works for apps only. It may not cleanly separate WebKit-based apps, because they share networking processes. WebKit is the web engine behind Safari.
• NordVPN’s browser extensions offer a domain-level exclusion.
• CyberGhost’s Windows app has website exceptions, and its Android app has per-app rules.
• IPVanish documents domain rules on Windows, macOS, iOS and visionOS.

One limit applies to all website rules. A domain can point to many addresses, and large sites spread across content networks. These are groups of servers that deliver a site from many places. So a rule for one domain may not catch every connection the site makes. App rules are less precise but more predictable.

Inverse split tunneling

Normal split tunneling protects everything by default and lets a few things out. Inverse split tunneling flips that: nothing uses the VPN except the apps you choose. It is also called reverse mode or include mode. Providers name it differently:

• Surfshark’s Windows app calls it Route via VPN and limits it to applications. Its Android app offers a Reverse Bypasser.
• Proton VPN calls it Include mode.
• Private Internet Access describes it as inverse split tunneling.
• hide.me documents both normal and inverse modes on Windows, macOS and Android.

Inverse mode suits people who want the VPN for one job, typically a torrent app. The rest of the device uses the local connection at full speed, and local services keep working. The risk is reversed. If the one app you send through the VPN is the sensitive one, make sure the rule is applied. Also make sure the app has no side channels outside it. A side channel is any other way the app can send data, outside the route you set. Pair inverse mode with a kill switch that can stop that specific app. A kill switch blocks traffic if the VPN connection drops.

When split tunneling helps

• Apps that refuse VPN connections. If a banking, payment or ticketing app will not work while the VPN is on, excluding it is the usual fix. A dedicated IP is the alternative if you would rather keep the app inside the tunnel. A dedicated IP is a VPN address that only you use.
• Printers, NAS drives and smart home devices. A NAS drive is a storage box on your home network. Private Internet Access’s documentation gives printers as the classic example. A VPN can get in the way of reaching devices on your local network. Excluding the app you print or stream from fixes that.
• Streaming. Keep one streaming app on your local connection to watch your home library. Or send only the streaming app through a server abroad while everything else stays local. Which services work with which provider is the provider’s documented claim. Our best VPNs for streaming page records those claims.
• Bandwidth. Bandwidth is how much data your connection can carry at once. Large downloads and game updates do not need encryption. Sending them outside the tunnel leaves the tunnel for the traffic that does.
• Work VPNs. Excluding your employer’s VPN app from a consumer VPN stops the two tunnels from fighting over the same routes.

The risks: everything outside the tunnel is exposed

Split tunneling leaks traffic on purpose. Make sure that only the traffic you chose is leaking.

• Your ISP and network see excluded traffic. Your ISP is your internet provider. Anything outside the tunnel is as visible as it would be with no VPN.
• Websites see your real IP. An excluded browser reports your home address. So does an excluded app with a built-in web view, which is a browser window inside the app.
• DNS can go the wrong way. DNS is the system that turns website names into IP addresses. An excluded app may send these lookups to your ISP’s DNS server. That reveals the sites you visit, even when the connection itself is encrypted.
• WebRTC and IPv6 are separate paths. WebRTC is a browser feature for voice and video calls. A browser excluded from the tunnel can reveal your address through WebRTC. If your network has IPv6, an app’s IPv6 traffic may bypass rules written for IPv4. Run our WebRTC leak test and IPv6 leak test in any excluded browser.
• The kill switch does not cover exclusions. A kill switch blocks traffic when the tunnel drops. It has no say over traffic you told the app to keep outside.

After you change split tunneling rules, open our VPN check tool in a protected browser. Open it again in any excluded browser. Confirm that each shows the address you expect.

Platform support by provider

Operating systems decide what is possible:

• Windows and Android let VPN apps control traffic app by app.
• Linux allows the same for apps that build it in.
• On macOS, support is uneven. Proton VPN’s version, for example, is still experimental.
• Apple documents per-app VPN on iOS and iPadOS as a device-management feature for managed apps. Device management is the system organizations use to control the devices they hand out. That is why consumer iPhone apps offer address-based rules or nothing.

The table shows what our provider records documented on 31 October 2026. Check the app on your own device, because support changes with app versions.

Here is what our data shows for the other providers:

• Private Internet Access covers Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, but not iOS.
• Windscribe lists Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.
• hide.me has normal and inverse modes on Windows, macOS and Android.
• IVPN covers Windows, Linux and Android, but not its Snap build for Linux. Snap is one way to install apps on Linux. IVPN added macOS in app version 3.16.1 on 20 October 2026.
• IPVanish works by app on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Fire TV and Apple Vision Pro. It works by domain on Windows, macOS, iOS and visionOS.
• CyberGhost offers per-app rules on Android and website exceptions on Windows.
• PrivadoVPN’s record confirms split tunneling on Android, Fire TV and iOS. The iOS option arrived with app version 3.9.0 in May 2025 and lets chosen websites and IP addresses bypass the VPN. PrivadoVPN’s SmartRoute is a different feature, which sends your traffic through two VPN servers.

The full feature list for each provider is on its review page, starting with Surfshark, ExpressVPN and Proton VPN. Our NordVPN vs Surfshark comparison sets the two most-searched brands side by side. More explainers are in the Learn hub.

Related

• What is a VPN kill switch?
• How does a VPN work?
• What is a VPN?
• What is a dedicated IP?
• Surfshark review
• ExpressVPN review
• Proton VPN review
• All VPN reviews