Tor Browser 14.5 (2025-04-16)

New Release: Tor Browser 14.5
by duncan | April 16, 2025
Tor Browser 14.5 is now available from the Tor Browser download page 
https://www.torproject.org/download/
and distribution directory.
https://www.torproject.org/dist/torbrowser/14.5/
This release marks the introduction of Connection Assist to Android, empowering
mobile users who are subjected to strict censorship to unblock Tor at the press 
of a button. In addition, the Belarusian, Bulgarian and Portuguese (Portugal) 
languages are now available across all platforms.
What's new? 
Connection Assist for Android
Tor aspires to connect as many people to the free and open internet as possible.
But what happens if the Tor network itself is blocked in your country, by your
ISP, or on your local network? The answer lies in bridges: a type of relay that's
hidden from censors using various techniques we collectively call Pluggable 
Transports. However, censors may have found and blocked certain bridges already,
and what works for one country or network may not work for another. This means
that the process to find a working bridge to unblock Tor required some trial and 
error, and placed an undue burden on users who are subjected to strict censorship.
To simplify this process and help more users connect to Tor, we released 
Connection Assist for Linux, macOS and Windows in Tor Browser 11.5. Subsequently,
should Tor Browser fail to establish a direct connection to the Tor network,
Connection Assist will offer to find and try bridges for you. But before this
feature could be made available on Android, we had to embark on a multi-year 
effort to refactor our tor integration across each platform first. This project
has now reached an important milestone, and we're proud to announce the release
of Connection Assist for Android today.
Multiple screenshots of Tor Browser for Android showcasing Connection Assist,
which successfully connecting to the Tor network after trying bridges 
On a technical level, this means both desktop and Android now benefit from a
shared backend (to a degree) and a leaner codebase, thanks to the elimination of
a significant amount of legacy and redundant code. On a human level, not only is
Connection Assist now available for Android, but Tor Browser users can expect
more stable and less error-prone connections in general. In addition, this
refactor provides a more robust foundation for future improvements too, such as
making the circuit display available on Android, or potentially transitioning to
arti in the further future.
Privet. Zdraveite. Ola.
In order for Tor Browser to be accessible to as many people as possible, it
needs to speak their languages. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our
volunteers, and the continued support of Localization Lab, three additional
languages are now available on both desktop and Android: Belarusian, Bulgarian
and Portuguese (Portugal). To check these out, follow these steps to change Tor
Browser's language: 
 On Linux, macOS or Windows, go to ? > Settings > General > Language and
 Appearance > Language.
 On Android, go to ? > Settings > General > Language.
If you spot an error in these or any other language, you can learn more about
how to contribute to the translation of Tor Browser, its documentation and our
websites on our Community portal. Becoming a Tor translator is one of the most 
impactful ways you can help at-risk and censored internet users safely access Tor.
Multiple screenshots showcasing Tor Browser for Desktop and Android in the
Belarusian, Bulgarian and Portuguese languages
Small but mighty improvements
It's easy to focus on the big features at the expense of smaller things in
release posts like these. However, smaller improvements can be just as impactful
as the big ticket items, and help contribute towards the long-term usability and
stability of Tor Browser. For instance, over the last few months our developers
have invested considerable time into fixes like these:
 Following similar improvements to Android in Tor Browser 13.5, the layout of
Tor logs on desktop has been enhanced to aid readability. Logs now "stream" live
on desktop too, so that you no longer need to close and reopen the dialog to
refresh your logs.
 Various edge-cases in Connection Assist's logic have been ironed out, and Tor
Browser now makes fewer calls using moat (a type of brief, non-Tor connection
that uses domain fronting) when diagnosing connection issues. Tor Browser for
Desktop will also deliver warnings when changes to Tor Browser's Connection
Settings (like configuring bridges) fail to apply, instead of failing silently,
which wasn't good.
 Quitting Tor Browser via the "Quit" menu item on Android now does a more
thorough job of ending background processes and clearing recent tasks. Similarly,
we've restored an older feature whereby Tor Browser will quit itself and close
all tabs in the process if you back out of the app in a hurry - which is handy in
a pinch.
These are just a few examples of some of the smaller improvements we've been
working on. For a full accounting of all changes, please see the changelog below. 
Known issues
Tor Browser 14.5 comes with a number of known issues that can be found in Tor
Browser's issue tracker.
Get involved
If you find a bug or have a suggestion for how we could improve this release,
we'd love to hear your feedback. If you would like to contribute to a future
release, please see our guide for new contributors to get started.
Contributors <3
Thanks to all of the teams across Tor, and the wider community, who contributed
to this release. In particular we'd like to extend our gratitude to the following 
volunteers who have contributed their expertise, labor and time:
 cschutijser
 cypherpunks1 
 NoisyCoil 
 thorin
Full changelog
The full changelog since Tor Browser 14.0.9 is:
*All Platforms
  Bug tor-browser#41710: Refactor about:torconnects relation to TorConnectParent
  Bug tor-browser#41921: Clean up initialisation and bridges conflict between
  TorSettings and TorConnect
  Bug tor-browser#42300: Do not store logs inside TorProvider 
  Bug tor-browser#43308: Only allow "about:" pages to have access to
  contentaccessible branding assets 
  Bug tor-browser#43323: Expose a stable asset from chrome:// to identify Tor,
  Base, and Mullvad Browser
  Bug tor-browser#43334: Developer Tools lacks data for Responsive Design Mode
  and Compatibility
  Bug tor-browser#43336: Move branding files out of torbutton
  Bug tor-browser#43337: Add branding files to translation CI
  Bug tor-browser#43345: Translation CI: Exclude android strings from the
  legacy branch
  Bug tor-browser#43446: Change the Tor Browser name between releases
  Bug tor-browser#43463: Include moat circumvention countries in the build (tor-
  browser part) 
  Bug tor-browser#43488: Handle Moat connection errors and other non-
  bootstrapping errors in TorConnect
  Bug tor-browser#43490: Use lower case "n" for "Tor network" in the UI
  Bug tor-browser#43524: Enable new locales: be, bg and pt-PT
  Bug tor-browser#43529: AutoBootstrapAttempt cancel does not await
  BootstrapAttempt.cancel 
  Bug tor-browser#43551: Backport Mozilla Bug 1924070 - modify H.264 extradata 
  to match sample conversion code.
  Bug tor-browser#43575: Cleanup channel preferences 
  Bug tor-browser#43628: Handle unavailability of NetworkLinkService API in Tor
  Connect
*Windows + macOS + Linux
  Bug tor-browser#40473: Tor logs UI not updated as new logs come in  
  Bug tor-browser#41051: Replace Noto Sans Myanmar with Pyidaungsu
  Bug tor-browser#41755: Show the link to about:support in the help menu
  Bug tor-browser#41831: Some .tor.onion sites are not displaying the
  underlying V3 onion address
  Bug tor-browser#41919: Add temporarily visible web content-size overlay after
  resizing window when letterboxing is enabled
  Bug tor-browser#42186: Drop about:tbupdate
  Bug tor-browser#42550: Do not re-try auto-bootstrapping after the user
  selects a specific region in about:torconnect
  Bug tor-browser#42597: Lox.generateInvite does not convert JSON object to
  string
  Bug tor-browser#42656: about:torconnect new url location override 
  (maybeUpdateOpenLocationForTorConnect) mostly does nothing
  Bug tor-browser#42670: Letterboxing sometimes visible even if disabled
  Bug tor-browser#42720: Link to release notes missing from "About Tor Browser"
  window
  Bug tor-browser#42739: Fix localization in the profile error dialog
  Bug tor-browser#42802: Make use of :has CSS selector
  Bug tor-browser#43130: Adjust preferences for contrast theme or forced colors
  Bug tor-browser#43189: Remove
  privacy.resistFingerprinting.spoofOsInUserAgentHeader machinery entirely   
  Bug tor-browser#43205: newwin / letterboxing rounding with subpixels is off
  Bug tor-browser#43237: Tweak Tor circuit display panel for screen readers
  Bug tor-browser#43254: Cancel Moat requests when no longer needed  
  Bug tor-browser#43263: Onion site keys: add some alerts for screen readers
  Bug tor-browser#43294: Replace Actor willDestroy with didDestroy
  Bug tor-browser#43314: Tidy up connection preferences for screen readers and
  keyboard users
  Bug tor-browser#43320: Improve how bridge settings appear in search results
  Bug tor-browser#43321: Do not focus the connect button if the user has never
  connected before
  Bug tor-browser#43328: Improve tor log dialog
  Bug tor-browser#43398: tor-urlbar-button-plain hover styling is overwritten
  by tor-button rule
  Bug tor-browser#43405: Handle failing to apply tor settings
  Bug tor-browser#43406: Hide the "Onion Available" button whilst the "Connect"
  button is shown
  Bug tor-browser#43461: Drop our wordmark padding
  Bug tor-browser#43462: Use NetworkLinkService instead of Moat for the
  internet test
  Bug tor-browser#43465: Show the urlbar Connect button during a bootstrap or
  final error
  Bug tor-browser#43466: Drop unnecessary CSS rules in branding aboutDialog.css
  Bug tor-browser#43647: Race condition in about:tor prevents displaying
  localised survey banner
  Bug tor-browser#43469: Rename "Quickstart" toggle as "Connect automatically"
  (Desktop)
  Bug tor-browser#43502: Move openTorConnect and getRedirectUrl to
  TorConnectParent
  Bug tor-browser#43531: Use "label" attribute rather than textContent for the 
  bridge dialog XUL buttons
  Bug tor-browser#43547: Cannot remove the final bridge 
  Bug tor-browser#43563: TorConnect country/region names should change based on
  the app language
  Bug tor-browser#43632: Letterboxing size indicator may display data from a
  background tab
  Bug tor-browser#43642: New tab shows letterboxing size indicator
  Bug tor-browser#43653: privacy.resistFingerprinting.spoofOsInUserAgentHeader
  is still in our pref file even though we ripped out the code
*Windows
  Bug tor-browser#43402: set browser.startup.blankWindow false
*Linux
  Bug tor-browser#30970: Different window borders in XFCE can lead to
  different, not rounded window sizes 
  Bug tor-browser#41786: Remove old fontconfig stuff at the next watershed update
  Bug tor-browser#41799: Make lack of fonts.conf less of a footgun
  Bug tor-browser#43330: System fonts leak when emptying the allow list on Linux
  Bug tor-browser-build#41297: Add video codecs dependencies (recommends) on 
  the Debian package
  Bug tor-browser-build#41298: Remove --detach parameter from .desktop files
  Bug tor-browser-build#41312: Remove comment in start-browser about --class
  and --name parameters
*Android
  Bug tor-browser#41188: Implement Android-native Connection Assist UI
  Bug tor-browser#42251: Expose TorConnect lifecycle events to fenix
  Bug tor-browser#42651: Finishing bootstrapping kicks the user out of
  settings, interupting whatever they were doing
  Bug tor-browser#43091: Delete unused android strings
  Bug tor-browser#43198: Remove "Learn more" link from Android's no-internet
  error
  Bug tor-browser#43199: Bootstrapping bar needs a little TLC on Android (Part 1)
  Bug tor-browser#43222: All tor logs timestamps reset to current time when 
  opening screen
  Bug tor-browser#43229: Buttons that open links can be accessed before
  torbrowser is bootstrapped, leaving the app in a bad state
  Bug tor-browser#43232: Make the Android Meek transport easier to debug
  Bug tor-browser#43241: Improve hiding non-private tab features on Android
  Bug tor-browser#43251: Enable tab suggestions and autocomplete for private
  tabs on Android 
  Bug tor-browser#43329: Remove remaining traces of the old Bootstrap on Android
  Bug tor-browser#43350: Remove all caps comment from android string
  Bug tor-browser#43351: Don't force ALL CAPS for the fenix snackbar action
  button text
  Bug tor-browser#43359: Improper handling of TorBootstrapChangeListener with
  respect to system onDestroy() calls for HomeActivity
  Bug tor-browser#43360: Replace custom variable isBeingRecreated with built-in
  isFinishing function
  Bug tor-browser#43361: Move code relating to onTerminate() in 
  FenixApplication.kt
  Bug tor-browser#43368: Add @Suppress for incorrect linting error "Overriding
  method should call super. onNewIntent"
  Bug tor-browser#43408: Access TorConnect.quickstart separately from
  TorSettings.getSettings on Android 
  Bug tor-browser#43464: TBA Alpha and Nightly cannot be debugged with
  about:debugging
  Bug tor-browser#43473: Rename "Quickstart" toggle as "Connect automatically"
  (Android)
  Bug tor-browser#43480: Split up TorConnectionAssistViewModel for better
  readibility and performance.
  Bug tor-browser#43498: Uplift tor-browser#43129: about:neterror cannot
  display SVG on Android with Security Level Safest 
  Bug tor-browser#43528: Improper handling of TorBootstrapChangeListener in
  HomeActivity
  Bug tor-browser#43565: The quit button on Android doesn't actually exit
  Bug tor-browser#43576: Connection Assist on Android Polish
  Bug tor-browser#43581: Bookmarks are failing to load on Tor Browser Android
  Alpha 14.5a5
  Bug tor-browser#43593: Use "region" instead of "country" in connect assist
  Bug tor-browser#43604: TorDomainIsolator routinely clears Android browser
  circuit data
  Bug tor-browser#43648: Survey banner isn't displaying for other locales on
  Android
  Bug tor-browser#43633: TorAndroidIntegration.regionNamesGet() always returns
  region names in english 
  Bug tor-browser-build#41422: Patch viaduct in Application Services to always
  return a backend error
*Build System
  All Platforms
    Bug tor-browser-build#41040: Add configuration to rbm.conf to select
    channel and platforms
    Bug tor-browser-build#41121: Use the official Go binaries for bootstrapping
    Bug tor-browser-build#41281: Better dev defaults for fetch variable
    Bug tor-browser-build#41288: Avoid unneeded git checkouts when possible
    Bug tor-browser-build#41304: Add a browser commit tag+signing script
    Bug tor-browser-build#41306: Container dependencies are sorted before
    resolving templates
    Bug tor-browser-build#41307: Container dependencies are not filtered for
    duplicates
    Bug tor-browser-build#41326: Remove var/torbrowser_legacy_version from
    rbm.conf in alpha/nightly
    Bug tor-browser-build#41358: Update sign-tag script to handle rapid-release
    nightly branches 
    Bug tor-browser-build#41365: Indent download*.json files
    Bug tor-browser-build#41372: Handle branding names in tor-browser-build
    Bug tor-browser-build#41379: Include moat circumvention countries in the
    build (tor-browser-build part)
    Bug tor-browser-build#41381: Usability improvements for the browser commit
    tagging script
    Bug tor-browser-build#41389: Remove need to update set-config.tbb-version
    Bug tor-browser-build#41394: Fix upload-update_responses-to-staticiforme
    for mullvadbrowser
    Bug tor-browser-build#41398: Build snowflake from main on nightlies
    Bug tor-browser-build#41406: Restore -desktop and -android Makefile targets.
    Bug tor-browser-build#41409: Create a script for quickly setting up
    protected branches
    Bug tor-browser-build#41411: Update licenses for PTs
    Bug tor-browser-build#41417: Bump the conjure version we ship
    Bug tor-browser-build#41419: Add comment in downloads.json to mention that 
    the file is deprecated, and that download-$platform.json should be used instead
    Bug tor-browser-build#41426: Set the Lyrebird version
    Bug rbm#40006: Add option to avoid doing a git checkout when using the exec
    template function
    Bug rbm#40079: Make fetch: if_needed fetch existing branches
    Bug rbm#40081: Support apt option for not installing recommended dependencies
    Bug rbm#40082: With fetch: if_needed, rbm is doing a git fetch when it
    shouldn't, when using a fixed commit
    Bug rbm#40083: rbm creates out/$project directories with mode 0700
  Windows + Linux + Android
    Updated Go to 1.23.8
    Bug tor-browser-build#41386: Upgrade Go to 1.23 for Windows, Linux, and
    Android
  Windows + macOS + Linux
    Bug tor-browser-build#40799: Remove legacy locale iteration in build and
    signing scripts
    Bug tor-browser-build#41356: Add redirects to make 14.0a4 a watershed
    Bug tor-browser-build#41363: Change update-response generation script to
    create one commit per OS+arch tuple
    Bug tor-browser-build#41374: Remove support for migrate_archs and
    migrate_langs in update_responses
    Bug tor-browser-build#41401: Replace Noto Sans Myanmar with Pyidaungsu
  Windows + macOS
    Bug tor-browser-build#41349: Wrong copyright year makes build non-
    reproducible
  macOS
    Bug tor-browser-build#41403: The rcodesign step has a wrong dmg name in alpha
  Linux
    Bug tor-browser-build#41142: Complete the toolchain for linux-aarch64 
    Bug tor-browser-build#41266: Build the Tor and Mullvad Browsers for aarch64
    Linux
    Bug tor-browser-build#41329: Do not install python2.7-minimal in the linux-
    aarch64 firefox container
    Bug tor-browser-build#41331: Make update_responses find linux-aarch64 mar
    files
  Android
    Bug tor-browser#42669: Convert majority of application-services
    functionality to no-op
    Bug tor-browser#43518: Verify existence of
    localProperties.dependencySubstitutions.geckoviewTopsrcdir before
    substituting
    Bug tor-browser-build#41387: Fix Golang toolchain breakage for lyrebird:
    linkname 
    Bug tor-browser-build#41400: Add branding localization to GeckoView