What Is a Tor Browser, How Does it Work & Is it Safe in 2026?

What Is a Tor Browser?

The Tor browser is a free program that lets you visit websites without people tracking you. It stands for “The Onion Router”, which is a name that describes how it hides your data in layers.

The Tor Project began as a way to help people communicate online without being monitored. Originally, the technology was developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to protect government communications. Today, The Tor Project maintains the software so anyone can download it for free.

The Tor browser looks a lot like other browsers you use every day, but it works differently under the hood. It connects to the Tor network, which is a group of thousands of computers run by volunteers. These volunteers help move your web traffic around so nobody knows where it started.

How Does the Tor Browser Work?

The main feature is called Onion Routing, which layers your connection. When you use the Tor browser, your computer picks three random computers in the Tor network to send your data through.

Onion Routing

With Onion Routing, your data travels through three specific points: a guard (entry) node, a middle relay, and finally an exit node. Each computer only knows the address of the computer that sent the data and the one it's sending it to next.

It means no single computer in the Onion Network knows the whole path of your web traffic. By the time your request reaches the final website, your real IP address is completely hidden.

Adding more relays, counterintuitively, does not increase security by much, as the entry and exit nodes are the most important. What happens in the middle is of little importance – if an attacker can observe traffic at the end of the journey, they know the source IP and the destination IP.

What Makes Tor Different From Standard Browsers

Standard browsers usually send your data directly to a website or through a simple proxy server. When you use a regular proxy server, that server knows your real IP address and where you're going.

The Tor browser differs by using multiple layers of protection rather than a single one. It also doesn't save your browsing history or cookies when you close the window.

A focus on anonymous browsing is what sets the Tor Browser apart. Interestingly, while it is built using the same foundation as Firefox, it’s modified to prioritize privacy over speed or convenience.

How Traffic Is Encrypted and Routed

Every time you send a request, the Tor browser encrypts your web traffic three times. As it moves through the Tor network, each node peels off one layer of encryption to see where to send the data next.

The final computer in the chain, the exit node, removes the last layer of Tor’s encryption. If the website you are visiting uses HTTPS, your data is still encrypted as it leaves the exit node, meaning the node operator cannot see your password or private messages.

As such, the website only sees the address of the exit nodes instead of yours. That’s how the Onion Routing system keeps your identity safe from the sites you visit.

Is the Tor Browser Safe to Use?

Using the Tor browser is generally the safest option out there with minimal risks. The main drawbacks and limitations are the inconvenience and lack of speed.

Many people use it for anonymous browsing to avoid ads, to bypass Wi-Fi restrictions, or to hide their location from trackers.

Pros

• Privacy. It provides a high level of privacy for everything you do online.
• Hidden services. You can visit the Dark Web or special Onion services that standard browsers can’t see.
• Censorship. It’s perfect for people living in countries where the government blocks access to specific websites.
• Anonymity. It helps keep your browsing history away from people or companies trying to watch you.

Cons

• Slower speed. The Tor browser is much slower than regular browsers or VPN services.
• Data bouncing. Your web traffic has to jump between three to six different computers, which takes extra time.
• Exit node risks. While they can't see who you are, exit node operators could potentially see which websites you visit or monitor your activity on HTTP sites.
• Malware danger. You have to be extra careful when downloading files since they might be infected.

Journalists often use the Tor browser to talk to people who have secrets to share without putting them at risk of exposure. Activists may also use the Onion network to organize and share news in countries where governments monitor the internet.

Even regular people use it to look up sensitive health information or to avoid being tracked by ads. It’s also a go-to tool for unethical goals, such as bypassing age verification on certain websites or committing other illegal acts.

As a result, some people think that only people of low moral standards or criminals use the Dark Web or the Tor browser, which isn’t true. Millions of people use it for perfectly legal reasons every day, like bypassing the Lightspeed filter agent, for example.

Another myth is that the Tor network is a magic shield that makes you invisible, no matter what you do. You still have to be careful not to type your real name or log into your personal accounts. All such data is still trackable.

Additionally, using school, company, or government internet networks with Tor might not guarantee security. They’ll still know that a computer is connected to their network and that Tor is in use – so the protection is not perfect.

The Tor Project provides the tools, but they work best when combined with common sense. For the highest level of safety, you should also utilize Tor Bridges (to hide the fact that you’re using Tor from their ISP) and ensure you only visit HTTPS-encrypted sites.

Is Tor Legal to Use?

In most countries, downloading and using the Tor browser is completely legal. Governments and law enforcement often use the Tor network themselves to keep their own communications private. However, always check the laws in your area to ensure you're following the rules.

Most democratic nations see the Tor browser as a tool for free speech and privacy. Although it can be used to access the Dark Web, the tool itself is not illegal.

Using the Tor browser to commit illegal activities, however, remains a crime. The Tor network provides privacy, but it doesn't give you a “get out of jail free” card for partaking in criminal activities.

Using a VPN or the Tor Browser won't protect you from the legal consequences of your actions. Law enforcement agencies have developed sophisticated ways to track illegal activity, even within anonymous networks.

Tor Browser vs VPN

What is a Tor browser compared to a VPN, and which one should you use? VPN services are usually much faster and easier to use for everyday tasks like streaming videos.

A VPN service provider acts as a single proxy server that hides your IP address from the whole internet. The Tor browser is a specialized tool that focuses on giving you the most anonymity possible. Both tools have their own strengths depending on what you're trying to do:

The Tor browser offers more anonymity because no single person knows who you are and where you're going. With a VPN, you have to trust the company not to look at your web traffic or keep logs.

At CometVPN, for example, we don’t keep any logs, and your activity log is yours alone.

If you want to watch movies or play games, you'll find the Tor browser very frustrating. It's built for privacy, not for speed, so it's not a good choice for heavy tasks. A VPN is much better for streaming and gaming.

How to Use the Tor Browser Safely

To stay safe, you should always download the software directly from the Tor project website. Never use a version of the Tor browser from an unknown site, as it might contain malware.

Once you've opened the browser, try to keep the window at its default size. Modern versions of Tor use Letterboxing to add gray borders that hide your actual screen dimensions, but manually resizing the window can still create a unique fingerprint that websites use to track you.

Keeping your browsing history clean is easy since the browser does it for you automatically. Following these simple steps will help you enjoy anonymous browsing without any worries:

• Don’t give out personal info. Never type your real name, phone number, or email into Onion sites.
• Use HTTPS. Ensure the “HTTPS-Only” setting is active, which protects your data from being read by exit nodes when you visit regular websites.
• Keep it updated. The Tor project releases updates often to fix security vulnerabilities, so always install them, but make sure they’re from the official site.
• Don’t use torrents. Torrenting over the Tor network is slow and can reveal your IP address.
• Use Bridges in restricted areas. If you’re on a network that blocks or monitors Tor, use Tor Bridges (like Snowflake) to disguise your traffic as regular web activity, making it much harder for your ISP to know you’re using the tool.

Make sure you don’t install any extra plugins or extensions in your Tor browser, since they can sometimes leak your info. Also, avoid logging in to your Facebook or Google accounts, as it links your browsing to your real identity, which defeats the purpose.

How to Access the Dark Web With Tor

Most people use the surface web, which includes sites like Google, YouTube, and news outlets. The dark web is a part of the internet that isn't indexed by search engines and requires special tools to see.

You can only reach Onion sites by using the Tor browser or similar software. These sites use special addresses that end in “.onion” instead of “.com” or “.org”.

Dark Web vs Deep Web

The Deep Web is just the part of the internet that isn't public, like your email inbox or bank account. The Dark Web is a specific subset of the Deep Web that requires the Tor Browser to access.

Risks of Accessing .onion Sites

Visiting onion sites can be risky because there's no one to maintain order. You might run into scams, fake stores, or sites that try to put malware on your computer.

Since the Dark Web is hard to monitor, some people use it to share things that aren't allowed on the general web. You should always use a trusted directory to find Onion services instead of clicking on random links.

Legal Uses of Tor on the Dark Web

There are many good reasons to visit the Dark Web using the Tor browser. For example, Facebook and the New York Times have their own Onion sites so people in restricted countries can read the news.

Some people use Onion services to host their own private blogs or to share files securely. The Tor project supports these uses because they help protect human rights and free speech.

As long as you aren't breaking the law, exploring the Onion network is a legal way to learn about privacy.

Alternatives to Tor

If the Tor browser feels too slow or complicated, there are other ways to protect your web traffic: VPNs and other private browsers.

1. VPNs. A VPN is a great alternative if you want to protect your internet activity while keeping your speed high. It hides your web traffic from your internet provider and from the websites you visit.
2. Brave browser with Tor integration. The Brave browser offers a “Private Window with Tor” for quick, anonymous searches. However, keep in mind that it does not include the full anti-fingerprinting technology found in the official Tor Browser, meaning it is better for casual privacy than for high-stakes anonymity.
3. I2P and other privacy tools. I2P is another network that's similar to the onion network, but it's built more for sharing files and messages. It's a bit harder to set up than the Tor browser, so it's mostly used by tech-savvy people.

While these other tools may be interesting, the Tor project remains the most popular and well-supported option for most users. Stick with the Onion Router or a trusted VPN if you're just starting out.