- Mullvad removes OpenVPN support from its desktop apps
- Full shutdown of OpenVPN expected on January 15, 2026
- Mullvad says the change will improve performance and safety
Mullvad officially removed OpenVPN support from its desktop apps with the release of version 2025.14, a big step in its long-planned shift toward a WireGuard-only future.
With this change, users can no longer select OpenVPN within the Mullvad VPN app, and anyone still relying on the old protocol will need to stay on version 2025.13 for now.
OpenVPN servers aren’t going away just yet. However, Mullvad says they will be shut down completely in January 2026. This gives desktop users, routers, and external VPN clients little time before the protocol stops working completely.
The update finalizes a transition that Mullvad first announced last year, closing the door on OpenVPN after more than a decade.
What is changing in the Mullvad desktop app?
With the new update 2025.14, the The OpenVPN protocol option has been completely removed from the Mullvad desktop settings. Anyone who previously selected the OpenVPN option will now be automatically migrated to WireGuard, with no action required in most cases.
However, some users may have problems during the transition. If you were connected to an OpenVPN-only server, or if you created a custom location list that contained only OpenVPN endpoints, your connection may suddenly fail until you manually choose a new location. OpenVPN servers no longer appear in custom lists.
Our latest desktop version, 2025.14, completely removes support for OpenVPN. If you trust OpenVPN, you should stay on 2025.13 until the OpenVPN servers are shut down in January 2026. Read more here: https://t.co/qxXLay0IeXDecember 10, 2025
The change goes beyond the desktop application. External VPN clients, scripts, and routers configured with Mullvad OpenVPN profiles will stop working once the remaining OpenVPN servers are shut down on January 15. Mullvad also warned that the option to generate new OpenVPN configuration files may be removed even earlier.
For those who relied on OpenVPN-specific settings like Mssfix to control packet sizes, Mullvad recommends adjusting WireGuard’s MTU setting, which can be found at the bottom of the VPN settings menu.
What’s next for Mullvad VPN?
For most Mullvad users, switching from OpenVPN to WireGuard should be easy. The app will migrate everyone automatically and it’s unlikely anyone on a typical home network will notice except for improved speeds and fewer protocol options.
However, users in more restrictive environments may need to manually adjust Mullvad’s anti-censorship settings. Options like UDP-over-TCP or Shadowsocks are designed to mimic the behavior of OpenVPN and can help restore connectivity where the default WireGuard configuration fails. The greatest impact will be felt by advanced users who may need to make manual adjustments.
Mullvad frames the change as a necessary step towards a cleaner, faster and more censorship-resistant service, one that has been in process for a while.
With WireGuard now offering comparable obfuscation capabilities as well as significantly better security and performance, retiring OpenVPN now allows the company to simplify its infrastructure and focus on a single modern protocol.
In early 2026, Mullvad will be exclusively Wireguard, completing the transition the company has been preparing for since 2017.
