• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
GoBestVPN

GoBestVPN.com

  • Best VPN
    • Best VPN for Netflix
    • Best VPN for Torrenting
      • Best VPNs for Torrenting According to Reddit
    • Best VPNs for Windows
    • Best VPN for macOS
    • Best VPN for Linux
    • Best VPN for Android
    • Best VPN for iOS
    • Best VPN for Kodi
    • Best Free VPN
    • Best VPN Extensions for Chrome
  • Reviews
    • ExpressVPN Review
    • NordVPN Review
    • Private Internet Access VPN Review
    • Full VPN List
  • Guides
    • What is a VPN?
    • What is OpenVPN?
    • What is TOR?
    • What is a Proxy?
    • Five, Nine, Fourteen Eyes Surveillance Alliances Explained
    • All VPN Protocols Explained (And When to Use Them)
    • Full Guides List
  • Comparisons
    • NordVPN vs. ExpressVPN
    • NordVPN vs. PIA
    • NordVPN vs. IPVanish
    • NordVPN vs. PureVPN
  • Coupons
  • Our 17-Step Review Process
Home » How to Set Up and Use NordVPN OpenVPN

How to Set Up and Use NordVPN OpenVPN

Last Updated: July 15, 2019

David Schultz

OpenVPN – a fan favorite. People just love open-source projects! Let’s find out how to get the OpenVPN config from NordVPN and connect with ease.

nordvpn openvpn

With NordVPN, it is easy to create your own manual OpenVPN connection by using the open-source OpenVPN application. By doing this, though, you do not use the NordVPN native Windows app.

Sometimes, though, using the native NordVPN Windows app is not an ideal solution (even if it’s the best VPN).

This can either be because users have had trouble setting up and using the native app itself or because the user is technically adept and prefers to configure things manually.

Additionally, if you are configuring a VPN connection through your computer’s network settings or preferences, then you will need to configure some things manually.

It is very easy to do, though. Let’s find out how!

Getting Started With OpenVPN

Before we get going, there are a few things that you need to do to make this process a success.

1. Download the OpenVPN GUI

OpenVPN is an open-source commercial software released under the GNU General Public License. This is what makes it the safest tunneling protocol available; its source code is freely accessible and so any attempts to add in back doors or loopholes will immediately be found by its worldwide community of volunteer contributors.

The same can be said about the OpenVPN GUI—it is completely safe to download and install as it is the most widely used protocol. It takes a couple of seconds to download since it’s a tiny executable file. Once it has, click the .exe installer.

2. Go through the setup wizard

openvpn installation wizard

The setup wizard will walk you through the OpenVPN GUI installation. Again, this is a very quick process that requires minimal input on your part.

OpenVPN Config and Settings

When the installation is complete, we can start setting NordVPN up via the GUI. Don’t try to run or launch the OpenVPN GUI yet—it has not been configured and will not work.

1. Download NordVPN server files

The first thing we need to do is download NordVPN server configuration files.These files tell the OpenVPN app how to connect to the NordVPN network. You can set up as many NordVPN servers as you like—up to a maximum of 50—however, we recommend starting with one.

You can download configuration files from the NordVPN website.

nordvpn recommended server

For this tutorial, we are going to use NordVPN’s US server #3430 as this is the one the site recommended to us as the most optimal.

nordvpn openvpn config download

When you have settled on a server, click ‘Show available protocols’ and then download both OpenVPN configurations—OpenVPN TCP and OpenVPN UDP by clicking ‘Download config’.

2. Add them to OpenVPN’s config folder

Go to your downloads folder (or wherever your files download to) and copy both of these OpenVPN configuration files.

nordvpn config show

Once copied, paste them in the OpenVPN config folder. You can find this in one of two ways—

  1. Navigate to its installation location, likelyC:/Program Files/OpenVPN/Config
  2. Find the OpenVPN GUI shortcut on your desktop, right-click, and then click ‘Open file location’.

We used the second option as an example:

openvpn file location

If you use the second option, you will end up in OpenVPN’s ‘bin’ folder, not the ‘config’ one. Make sure you back out of the ‘bin’ folder and head to the ‘config’ folder before you paste your two copied OpenVPN config files.

openvpn config folder

3. Block outside DNS

To prevent leaks, you may or may not need to manually add the line below to the .ovpnconfiguration files to prevent DNS leaks. We recommend doing this anyway.

block-outside-dns

To do this, simply right-click on your OpenVPN config files and open it with notepad or whichever word processor you use. Scroll to the bottom of the file and paste in the ‘block-outside-dns’ line above.

openvpn edit file

Do this for both OpenVPN config files.

4. Launch OpenVPN

Double click the OpenVPN GUI desktop shortcut to launch OpenVPN. The app may ask for administrative permissions, click ‘Yes’ because it needs these to function.

openvpn uac

It will start running in your system tray (note: the program will launch without connecting) at the bottom-right of your taskbar. Right-click the OpenVPN GUI icon, hover over one of the servers, and then click ‘Connect’.

connect with openvpn

Enter your NordVPN login credentials and then press ‘OK’.

openvpn nordvpn credentials

After a few seconds, the OpenVPN GUI will connect you to the NordVPN server you have chosen and the OpenVPN GUI window will disappear. In the system tray, the OpenVPN icon will turn green to indicate a successful connection.

That’s it—this is how you set up OpenVPN manually with NordVPN on a Windows device. The process of setting up OpenVPN for NordVPN is quite similar across all devices.

nordvpn connected status

If you’re unsure about whether you set up OpenVPN correctly, then visit NordVPN. You’ll see on the top of the website which indicates that you’re “Protected” in green.

Try this feature out yourself.
Sign Up Here

ShareTweet

Comments

  1. Samson Cheung says

    February 7, 2020 at 4:52 pm

    Excellent. Your explanation is far simpler and clear in English than the one posted in NordVPN.com/Tutorials.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get Started

Need help understanding what a VPN does and how it can help you? Read our guides:
What is a VPN?
What is TOR?
What is the Five Eyes Alliance?

Our Vision

GoBestVPN Logo

Our mission is to deliver nothing but the unfiltered, unrestricted truth for a secure Internet browsing experience for everyone.

About Us

Organizations We Support
Contact Us
Scholarships
Privacy Policy
Terms and Conditions
Disclosure
Sitemap

Engineered with by the Internet's most trusted technology experts.

fb logo twitter logo youtube logo
Go to mobile version