Disable WebRTC in Your Browser and Protect Your Proxy IP

What Exactly is WebRTC?

WebRTC, which stands for Web Real-Time Communication, is an open-source technology that popped onto the scene back in 2011. At its core, it lets web browsers establish direct peer-to-peer connections with websites for real-time interactions.

Think about video calls, voice chats, or even file sharing directly within your browser, often without needing extra software or plugins. WebRTC is the magic behind many of these features.

With remote work and online communication becoming standard, WebRTC's convenience made it incredibly popular. It's a straightforward way to handle live audio and video streams online.

So, if it's that useful, why the fuss about disabling it? Here’s the catch: WebRTC can inadvertently expose your actual IP address, potentially undermining your privacy efforts, especially when using proxies.

How Can I Check for WebRTC Leaks?

A WebRTC leak happens because, by design, the technology needs to know your real IP address to set up those direct peer-to-peer connections. So, when your browser, with WebRTC active, connects to a website, your true IP might be shared during the process.

What's particularly concerning is that this IP exposure can occur even if you're routing your traffic through a proxy server or a VPN. It essentially creates a potential backdoor past your privacy measures.

Naturally, most privacy-conscious users aren't thrilled about this. Thankfully, you can easily test if your browser is susceptible. Several online tools can help, such as Hidester’s WebRTC leak test. You can also check the IP address websites see using our own tool at geo.evomi.com.

Imagine you're using one of Evomi's residential proxies. Our IP checker might show you appearing from, say, Berlin, Germany – confirming the proxy is working. However, running a WebRTC leak test could reveal a different IP address – your *actual* home IP. This discrepancy clearly shows WebRTC broadcasting your real IP despite the proxy connection.

Luckily, there are ways to prevent this by disabling WebRTC.

Turning Off WebRTC in Your Browser

As long as WebRTC remains active in your browser, your real IP address could be exposed. The most definitive way to mitigate this risk is to disable the WebRTC functionality entirely. Here’s how you can do it in some of the most common web browsers.

Disabling WebRTC in Google Chrome

Google Chrome integrates WebRTC quite deeply, and there isn't a straightforward option in the standard settings menu to turn it off. However, you can achieve this easily by installing a browser extension like WebRTC Control.

After adding the extension, you typically get an icon in your toolbar that lets you toggle WebRTC on or off with a simple click.

Keep in mind that this extension generally works for other browsers built on the Chromium engine, such as Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi. After installing it (we tested on Brave), running the leak test again confirms the fix.

Success! The leak should now be plugged.

Disabling WebRTC in Mozilla Firefox

Firefox provides a built-in way to disable WebRTC without needing extensions. You'll need to access the advanced configuration page. Type about:config into the address bar and press Enter. You'll likely see a warning page; click the button to accept the risk and proceed. In the search bar that appears, type media.peerconnection.enabled. You should see this preference listed with its value set to true. Double-click it or click the toggle button on the right to change the value to false. That's it!

Disabling WebRTC in Microsoft Edge

For Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based), the process used to involve internal flags, though browser settings can change over time. One previously available method was to type about:flags (or more recently, edge://flags) into the address bar to access experimental features. Then, search for WebRTC-related options. The setting often cited was Anonymize local IPs exposed by WebRTC. If available, changing this setting from Default to Enabled was the goal. However, finding this specific flag can be hit-or-miss in newer versions.

Note: If you can't find this specific flag in your version of Edge, using an extension like WebRTC Control (available from the Edge Add-ons store) is a reliable alternative, similar to Chrome.

Final Considerations

While WebRTC offers undeniable benefits for real-time communication, it represents a notable privacy loophole in many modern browsers, especially for those using proxies or VPNs. Fortunately, as we've seen, disabling it is usually a quick process requiring just a few clicks or a simple extension.

Alternatively, consider using browsers designed with privacy as a primary focus. Tor Browser, for instance, doesn't include WebRTC support. Others, like the Epic Privacy Browser, block WebRTC by default. For users seeking robust solutions, combining disabled WebRTC with specialized tools like Evomi's own antidetect browser, Evomium, can provide enhanced protection against browser fingerprinting and leaks.