Recently updated to macOS 26.5.2 and NordVPN 10.5.1.
The Nord menu bar tool is different, removed some tools, and the app wants to automatically connect and has appeared to remove the System’s VPN options:
No matter which search result I click on the left, there is nothing VPN on the right. (gratuitous digression: which is odd for Settings search function, often I search for a word and there are no results but manually poking thru Settings I find it). Persists across restarts and even my recent Recovery OS reinstall and 2x erase and migrate.
IIRC, there used to be a dialog asking if the user wanted to add a configuration when setting up a VPN app, and with Nord’s app installed, VPN options would still be in Settings. Seems odd.
My iPhone Nord App is not letting me log in so they sent manual instructions using OpenVPN. I might try that with on the Mac too.
Just a quick thought. I don’t know for what purposes you use a VPN but if NordVPN has stopped working well for you, it could serve as the motivation to make a switch to another provider. For me, the way NordVPN handled its 2018-2019 hacking incident made it untrustworthy. I feel transparency and accountability are extremely important for VPN companies.
Thanks, @Halfsmoke , yes I looked back at the VPN poll here some months ago and saw, iirc, that Mullvad was also popular. I sent a contact form with a few ‘pre-purchase’ questions that I couldn’t answer from their site about a week ago and haven’t heard back.
I changed from PIA to Nord a bit over a year ago, taking Nord’s 2-year discount, so I’ve already paid for another 9 months or so and don’t want to waste that.
They have a manual setup for iPhone using OpenVPN App and I’ve set that up on iPhone and it’s working. Their manual procedures for Mac are a lot more cumbersome.
I’m also getting started with using a laptop on Ubuntu Linux and have a tab open somewhere with some VPNs for Linux so maybe there is a cross platform option.
There are also articles online indicating ownerships of Nord and Mullvad have done some perhaps dodgy political contributions lately. Sigh.
Seems odd that an app that takes over VPN ops on macOS with no apparent user control other than quitting the app was allowed by Apple.
Thanks for flagging that. A quick search shows that one of Mullvad’s co-founders has personally backed a Swedish political party. I’ll have to check on the extent of this person’s current involvement in Mullvad.
You’ll note that Mullvad doesn’t show up here, either.
But it IS “on”. I can verify this by going to a site that reveals one’s IP address – and it’s not my “regular” (i.e., “unprotected”) address. It’s THEIR address.
You’ll also note that (again), ProtonVPN is disabled.
So I’m going to take A GUESS that Nord VPN works in a manner similar to Mullvad – whatever it’s doing, is done “beyond the view” of the Mac OS’s Network settings pane.
Someone with more technical knowledge will have to explain how that can work.
I have never configured any VPN, and my Network settings doesn’t show the category.
So I assume the category only appears if you have installed a VPN that hooks into Apple’s official VPN system. If you don’t have a VPN, or you have a VPN that uses some other mechanism, you won’t see it in the system settings.
But there is a drop-down menu to add one based on industry-standard protocols:
Thanks @Shamino , I used to set up vpns with the data fields shown in the Configurations area shown but these days those few details are harder to find, providers want users to use their or others’ apps. I used the OpenVPN app on iPhone to set up about 5-6 configurations, took a bit with a lot of copy paste and back n forth but seems to work. I’m not sure how “OpenVPN” figures into the connection, if it’s a company or protocol or what or if data is at risk using it but… it works so far thru opvn files and custom username/pw etc.
Nord offers Mac manual setup in IKEv2/IPsec as well as using something called Tunnelblick. I don’t have enough knowledge to know if one is better than the other but the configuration options in Settings only need a few bits of data, so why it takes so many steps and outside parties I can’t explain. Didn’t have the patience to do more with it last night and a lot to do today.
It’s an open source software project, where the maintainers also offer commercial products for those who require more than a “here’s the software, set it up yourself” level of support. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it can be a pain in the neck to set up the server side if you aren’t an experienced IT tech.
Tunnelblick is an open source graphical user interface for OpenVPN on Macs. I worked at a startup that used it. It worked well, but it was complex to configure.
If you decide to try it, read and understand the instructions thoroughly before attempting to install and configure it, and make sure to make notes on any configuration changes you make.
For personal use, I’d consider using a commercial solution that is easier to configure, but I don’t discourage you from exploring Tunnelblick or other open source solutions.
The Nord instructions involve .ovpn files for specific VPN servers. I’ve already got those for use on iPhone, and while I don’t understand them fully when viewed in TextEdit, some details are evident and nothing looks iPhone specific so I might be able to skip those steps and use these .opvn’s on Mac too.
I don’t mind going through this if it means I can still get value out of the NordVPN service I’ve paid for over the coming months and can avoid their app, which changes (imho for the worse) frequently, changes settings, reduces user control, and pushes its other products more and more aggressively. I’m happy at least that there is a manual option.
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Back to the title of this Topic though, from other comments it seems not just Nord is disturbing the appearance of VPN System Settings. I wonder if that it intentional on Apple’s part, if it is still occurring in GGate betas etc. Maybe it’s not Nords ‘fault’. Thanks again to those who’ve replied.
Ok just wrapping this Topic up. Had the focus and brainwidth to knock this out, got manual connections set up with OpenVPN app on iPhone and Tunnelblick on Mac.
Trying to figure out a few display quirks/settings in Tunnelblick but am much happier now.
Again back to Topic title, I have removed the NordVPN app and what remnants I can find in Finder (it has no uninstall function and their page for the procedure points to Apple, which only says to move the App in Applications folder to the Trash), and there is still nothing regarding vpns visible in the panes on the right when searching Settings. Ah well.
