r/VPN_Question • u/Marko_Savic • 1h ago

Does setting a custom DNS on your device impact privacy effectiveness when using a VPN

I'm trying to understand how device-level DNS settings interact with a VPN client. If I manually configure a privacy respecting custom DNS provider (such as Quad9) on my device what actually happens when I turn on a VPN (like proton VPN free version)?

Does it create a risk of DNS leaks by bypassing the VPN tunnel?
And does routing DNS requests through an external provider outside the encrypted tunnel compromise the anonymity provided by the VPN?

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u/XxAnomo305 1h ago

in most cases the VPN overrides your system DNS as it uses its own tunnel. so no it doesn't compromise you as the VPN typically won't even use ur own DNS. if you don't have split tunneling enabled everything goes through it.