Should you leave your VPN on all the time?

A VPN only protects you while it’s connected, which raises a simple question: should you just leave it on permanently? For most people, most of the time, yes — but there are a few sensible exceptions worth knowing.

Why “always on” is the right default

The main reason to leave it on is that you can’t predict the exact moment you’ll need it. Your phone silently hops onto networks, apps make requests in the background, and the one time you forget to connect on airport Wi-Fi is the time it matters. Leaving the VPN on — with auto-connect for untrusted networks and a kill switch — removes the human error. Modern VPNs are fast and light enough that you won’t notice it running.

The few times you might turn it off

There are legitimate reasons to toggle it off briefly:

• A specific app or bank blocks VPN connections — though split tunneling is a cleaner fix than turning the whole thing off.
• You need to reach a local device like a printer or NAS that isn’t visible through the tunnel.
• A captive portal (hotel/airport login page) won’t load until you connect once without the VPN, then switch it back on.

What about battery and speed?

These are the usual worries, and they’re smaller than people expect. A good VPN adds only a little battery use and, on a decent connection to a nearby server, a barely-noticeable speed change — sometimes none. We covered the details in does a VPN slow down your internet. For the protection you get, leaving it on is an easy trade.