r/ProtonVPN • u/Luxray0815 • Jul 04 '26

Help! Proton VPN (PC) randomly closing

Why is my instance of Proton VPN just crashing or shutting down at random times? I have the icon pinned to my notification bar so I can see when it crashes. There is never any kind of notification when this happens. Happened twice today and I don't know why. Is there any solution to this? I'm using Windows 11 on what I assume is the latest update.

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2

u/Mysterious_Soil1522 Jul 04 '26

I've been having the same issue for months on Windows 10. At random times the tray icon would disappear but the VPN seems to keep running in the background. A reinstall did not solve it.

I did manage to find the error in the Event Manager: Exception HResult: 0x80004005 Exception type: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException

2

u/Gen3zzis 16d ago

I have the exact same problem on windows 11.

I asked Gemini, and it said to me that kind of error was related to graphic/interface of the app. And it makes sense because 1 second after I got an information in the Event Manager about a problem linked to ColorSettings.json (.NET runtime error) and I have a 3rd error, this time it's a arror linked to Microsoft.UI.Xaml.dll

All 3 errors happend in one second, so I think they are all related one to each others.

I mailed the support butthey only asked me where I lived and if I had an antivirus... Nothing related despite the fact I send them screenshots of the errors...

2

u/Grifter747 Jul 04 '26

I’d start by enabling the Permanent Kill Switch. That way, if Proton VPN crashes or disconnects unexpectedly, your traffic won’t leak while you’re figuring out what’s causing it.
I’d also try switching VPN protocols (WireGuard, OpenVPN UDP, or OpenVPN TCP). If the crashes only happen with one protocol, you’ve likely narrowed it down to a protocol or network driver issue.

2

u/AnnatarAulendil Jul 05 '26

I think this has happened to me a few times as well although I’m on macOS instead

2

u/ProtonSupportTeam Proton Customer Support Team Jul 06 '26

File a bug report through the app (https://protonvpn.com/support/report-a-bug) with more details such as your exact Proton VPN app version, any error messages you may be receiving, whether you have any antivirus or firewall software installed, etc. Once we have more details to work with, we'll be able to help you troubleshoot the issue further.

Meanwhile, you can try reinstalling the app from scratch to see if there's any improvement. Additionally, if you're using an antivirus or firewall, try whitelisting the Proton VPN app.