VPN: How to Turn Off on iPhone (and Stop It Reconnecting)

The quickest way to turn off a VPN on iPhone is to open Settings, go to General > VPN & Device Management > VPN, and switch the status to Not Connected (or simply tap disconnect inside your VPN app). If it switches itself back on a moment later, tap the (i) next to the VPN and turn off Connect On Demand, then check the app’s own auto-connect setting.

That covers most people. The rest of this guide explains the different ways to switch a VPN off, why it sometimes refuses to stay off, and how to remove it completely. Menu names below reflect current iOS as of October 2026; Apple occasionally moves or renames them, so if a label looks slightly different on your phone, look for the closest match.

Three ways to turn off a VPN on iPhone

Method 1: Turn it off in Settings

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap General, then VPN & Device Management.
3. Tap VPN.
4. Switch the Status toggle at the top to Not Connected.

On some iOS versions, once a VPN is configured, a VPN row also appears near the top of the main Settings screen, which lets you skip a couple of taps. When the VPN is off, the small “VPN” badge in the status bar at the top of the screen should disappear.

Method 2: Disconnect in the VPN app

If you connected through a VPN provider’s app, disconnecting there is often the most reliable option. Several VPN providers note that flipping the switch in Settings may not stick if the app itself is set to keep the connection alive (Windscribe, Bitdefender).

1. Open the VPN app.
2. Tap the Disconnect, Stop or power button (the wording varies by app).
3. Check that the VPN badge has gone from the status bar.

Method 3: Delete the VPN configuration

If you don’t use the VPN anymore, remove it so it can’t reconnect:

1. Go to Settings > General > VPN & Device Management > VPN.
2. Tap the (i) button next to the VPN you want to remove.
3. Tap Delete VPN and confirm.

Uninstalling the VPN provider’s app normally removes its configuration as well. Depending on how the VPN was installed and your iOS version, you may see Remove Profile instead of Delete VPN (see the profile section below).

Why your VPN keeps turning back on

This is the number-one complaint behind this search, and it almost always comes down to one of three things.

Connect On Demand

iOS has a built-in feature called VPN On Demand. Apple’s deployment documentation describes it as rules the operating system uses to decide when a VPN should connect automatically, and Tailscale’s guide gives a typical example: a rule that brings the tunnel up whenever the phone leaves a trusted Wi-Fi network. If this is on, you can switch the VPN off and iOS will happily turn it straight back on.

To turn it off:

1. Open Settings > General > VPN & Device Management > VPN.
2. Tap the (i) next to the VPN.
3. Switch Connect On Demand off.

If the toggle isn’t there, the app or an administrator may have hidden it. Tailscale notes that a system administrator can hide the VPN On Demand settings.

The app’s own auto-connect setting

Many VPN apps have their own options with names like Auto-Connect, Always On, Connect on Launch, or “connect on untrusted Wi-Fi.” These work independently of the iOS switch, so you may need to turn them off inside the app’s settings as well.

Another app is using a VPN profile

Some security apps that aren’t VPNs still install a VPN profile to filter traffic. In Bitdefender’s community forum, the company explains that its iOS Web Protection feature relies on a VPN profile, and since iOS runs one VPN at a time, enabling it disconnects any other VPN. If a VPN you don’t recognise keeps appearing, check the VPN list in Settings for names belonging to security, ad-blocking or parental-control apps, and turn off that feature in the app or uninstall it.

Removing a VPN installed by a configuration profile

Some VPNs aren’t added through an app at all. They arrive in a configuration profile, which is common on work and school phones and with some manual setups. These may not show a Delete VPN button.

1. Go to Settings > General > VPN & Device Management.
2. Look under the profiles section (older iOS versions called this Profiles & Device Management).
3. Tap the profile that contains the VPN and choose Remove Profile.

Removing a profile also removes any other settings and accounts it supplied, so only do this if you know what the profile is for. If it’s your employer’s or school’s profile, ask them first.

Work and school iPhones: when you can’t turn it off

If the toggle is greyed out, missing, or the VPN comes back no matter what you do, your iPhone is probably managed by an organization. Apple’s Always On VPN documentation shows that administrators can push an Always On VPN to enrolled devices and control whether users are allowed to disable those connections. In that situation there is no official way for you to turn it off yourself. Contact your IT department.

Last resort: reset network settings

If a VPN entry is stuck and none of the above works, you can reset network settings at Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

Know what you’re giving up. According to Apple’s guidance quoted on Apple Community, this removes saved Wi-Fi networks and passwords along with VPN settings that weren’t installed by a configuration profile or device management. VPNs from a profile or MDM survive the reset, so it won’t help with a managed VPN. Your photos, apps and other data are not erased.

Is it Private Relay rather than a VPN?

If you pay for iCloud+, you might be seeing iCloud Private Relay, which hides your IP address in Safari but isn’t the same as a VPN. It has its own switch: Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Private Relay. You can turn it off fully or, on some versions, only until tomorrow. You can also turn off Limit IP Address Tracking for a single Wi-Fi network from that network’s (i) details screen if just one site or network is causing trouble.

Before you switch it off for good

Turning off a VPN is safe and reversible. Just remember that while it’s off, your internet provider and the Wi-Fi network you’re on can see which sites you connect to again, which matters most on public Wi-Fi. A sensible middle ground is to keep the VPN app installed, turn off Connect On Demand and auto-connect, and switch the VPN on manually when you’re on a network you don’t trust.