What Does a VPN Hide? (And the Things It Can’t Hide)

 A virtual private network (VPN) is a private, encrypted tunnel through which your internet activity flows. VPNs encrypt your internet traffic with security protocols, offering enhanced privacy and security as you browse the web, place sports bets, stream geo-restricted content, and more. As you use the internet, the VPN IP address masks your real IP, making it appear that your online activities occur at the location of the VPN server. 

But a VPN won’t necessarily hide your full search history, erase your browsing history, or protect you from malware. 

Read on to learn more about what a VPN can and can’t hide and the best VPNs for maintaining online privacy.

What a VPN can do

Using a VPN doesn’t give you absolute anonymity and online security, but it can boost your cybersecurity and make it harder to track your activity. A VPN can hide your IP address, secure your connection, disguise your location, reroute your online traffic, and give you access to regional content.

1. Hide your IP address

An Internet Protocol or IP address is a unique identifier assigned to every internet-connected or network-connected device. This allows other devices to communicate with it. 

While IP addresses are necessary for online communication between devices, they pose privacy and security risks. For instance, a hacker may be able to expose sensitive information or personal data using your IP address.

Fortunately, a primary feature of a VPN is to route your internet traffic through a server that has a different IP address, effectively hiding your real IP address. 

Other online privacy tools, like firewalls, might not offer this same functionality. Proxies can route your traffic, but they don't offer military-grade encryption of your data like VPNs. 

2. Secure your connection

Apart from masking your IP address, another primary VPN feature is encrypting your internet connection, even on a public network. 

This doesn’t necessarily mean your internet service provider (ISP) or another interested party wouldn’t be able to see that someone is online and engaging in activities. It means they probably wouldn’t be able to see what you’re doing, especially if you activate your VPN kill switch. 

A kill switch is handy because it secures your privacy in the event of your VPN dropping. If your VPN stops working, your internet will also stop working to prevent any leaks. Not being able to see what you’re doing reduces the likelihood of successfully tracking your online traffic.

3. Disguise your location

Your IP address reveals some information that could affect your overall privacy, including the general physical location of your device. This can be an issue if you prefer maintaining as much online privacy as possible.

Using a VPN routes your online traffic through another IP address, often to a server in a different location than where your device is located. A VPN server’s IP address, rather than your own, is assigned to your online activity, effectively hiding information about your device’s physical location.

Premium VPNs offer an advanced security feature called double VPN (also called double hop or multihop), which routes your internet traffic through two secure servers for ultimate privacy. 

4. Reroute your traffic

A VPN reroutes your online traffic through a secure VPN tunnel. This allows you to pass your online activity through a remote server that may be in another state or country.

One specific scenario where this might come in handy is when using torrent file-sharing services. Torrent online services allow users to download and upload files through a process shared between several devices over the internet.

An ISP may flag a user for engaging in certain torrenting activities. However, using a VPN connection allows you to reroute your traffic through a remote server and encrypt the traffic you receive, which may keep your ISP unaware of your actions.

Keep in mind that while torrenting in itself is legal, downloading certain files can be illegal. Using a VPN for illegal activities doesn’t make them legal. Learn more about when VPNs are legal to use.

5. Give you access to regional content

Using a VPN isn’t always about privacy and security. Sometimes, people simply want to access content that wouldn’t usually be available to them.

For example, using Netflix or another streaming service will populate all the content available in your region. But what about content that’s available in a different country, such as Australia, Germany, or the U.K.?

Since several VPNs offer access to many servers worldwide, you can pick and choose where you want to connect your device — basically spoofing, or changing, your geo-location. You can often open an applicable streaming service and access content from that region of the world.

What a VPN can’t do

VPNs have many uses, but they still have certain limitations and things they can’t hide or protect you from.

1. Can’t fully hide your search history

A VPN should hide your search activity from your ISP or anyone trying to detect your online traffic. But that doesn’t mean your activity is completely hidden.

You likely still have to worry about cookies and other tracking files that keep tabs on your digital footprint or online identity. A VPN doesn’t remove trackers and may not protect you against them.

Your search history may also be recorded by the search engine you use, and it may be associated with your account. A VPN wouldn’t help you hide this information either. 

Solution: Select a VPN that includes its own secure browser or a web blocker to stop unwanted ads, trackers, and cookies. For example, Surfshark VPN automatically comes with Surfshark CleanWeb ad-blocking technology. Upgraded tiers include Surfshark Search, an ad-free browser. Similarly, NordVPN includes Threat Protection, which blocks ads, trackers, cookies, and malicious websites. 

2. Can’t disguise activity on logged accounts

If you log in to a website or a social media app, that website or app knows who you are, even if you’re using a VPN. This is because logging in essentially gives a website access to certain identifying information linked to your account. This may include your name, email address, previous activity, and more.

You may also have more than one account on a certain website. Using the same VPN connection to log in and out of two or more of these accounts may show that these accounts belong to the same device or owner.

Solution: Use the Tor browser to hide your web activity. Premium VPNs like NordVPN include a specialized server for using Tor called Onion over VPN or Tor Over VPN. These secure servers encrypt your traffic through the VPN, keeping your data and activity safe while you browse anonymously. 

3. Can’t erase your browsing history

A VPN helps hide your browsing history but doesn’t erase it. Your browsing history is often stored locally on your device or is synced through a cloud service between several devices.

Erasing your history is often a manual practice you can do yourself by selecting the applicable action in your web browser. Here are a few examples of ways to clear your browsing history with different browsers:

• Google Chrome: Open the settings menu and select Delete browsing data.
• Microsoft Edge: Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services, then scroll down to Delete browsing data. Select Clear browsing data now.
• Mozilla Firefox: Go to Settings > History > Clear recent history.

Solution: Use a secure browser that's included with your security software (such as a VPN or antivirus protection) or another private browser like Tor, Brave, or Opera. 

4. Can’t protect you from malware

Most VPN software isn’t designed to protect you from malware, viruses, or malicious computer software, even if it includes ad-blocking technology that can warn you of malicious websites.

You might use a VPN to hide your IP address and encrypt your online traffic. However, a VPN on its own won’t prevent you from clicking on suspicious links, downloading harmful programs, or being at risk from cybercriminals if you’re on a public Wi-Fi network, for example. 

Solution: The best deal is to use a VPN that bundles with real-time antivirus protection. Surfshark One plans offer a VPN, tested antivirus software, and an ad blocker for comprehensive security. 

How to choose a VPN for privacy

There are lots of VPNs to choose from, but some are more reputable for their privacy standards than others. 

• No-logs policy: Check that the VPN provider you select doesn't log user data. Bonus points if its no-logs policy has been reviewed and approved by a third party. 
• Headquarters: Where a VPN is based can reflect its commitment to privacy. Some countries are part of intelligence-sharing alliances, like the Eyes alliances, so VPN based in those jurisdictions could be required to turn over user data.
• Leak protection: Your VPN should keep your true IP address and online activities private. That's why we test all the VPNs we review to make sure there are no DNS leaks or WebRTC leaks. 
• Kill switch: Be sure your VPN has a kill switch that will stop your internet if your VPN drops. We also test the kill switch on all the VPNs we review to confirm that it works as it should.  
• Extra security features: Many of the best VPNs come with ad and tracker blockers, which help increase your anonymity online. 

The best VPNs for privacy

To start your search for a privacy-focused VPN, we've selected three of our favorites. All three have strong encryption, audited no-logs policies, and headquarters outside of data-sharing alliances. 

Price	$3.09–$17.99/mo	$4.49–$9.99/mo	$2.19–$12.99/mo
Encryption	AES-256-GCM	AES-256 or ChaCha20	AES-256
No-logs policy
Headquarters	Panama	Switzerland	Romania
Kill switch
Blocks trackers
Learn more	Get NordVPN	Get Surfshark	Get CyberGhost

FAQs about VPN capabilities

Bottom line

VPNs offer increased privacy and cybersecurity, and they can hide your IP, location, and certain search and browser activities. But it’s important to understand what a VPN can and can’t do if you want to cover all your bases.

Fortunately, using a VPN is often safer than not using one. Review our guide on the best VPNs to find one that best suits your needs.