Is Surfshark Leaking Your Real IP?
First, the quick question: does your traffic leave through Surfshark’s network at all? Then the full test checks IPv4, IPv6, DNS, WebRTC and geolocation - the five channels that can expose you while the app still reports a healthy connection.
Reads your IPv4 and IPv6 addresses from ipify, then looks up the network behind each one via ip-api.com. Your addresses are not stored.
What This Test Tells You About Surfshark
Surfshark defaults to WireGuard and runs private DNS on each server. It has several traffic-shaping features - Bypasser, Rotating IP, CleanWeb - and each of them changes what a leak test sees, which makes reading the results slightly more involved than usual.
The result you see above measures your own connection, right now - your device, your operating system, your version of the app and the server you happen to be on. It is not a verdict on Surfshark as a product, and it is not a lab benchmark. Leak behaviour varies enormously between platforms and client versions, which is precisely why measuring your own setup beats reading anyone’s provider ranking.
Supported protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2
Surfshark Settings That Affect Leak Results
Before concluding anything from a failed row, check these: a setting can be the explanation, and it is quicker to rule out than a defect.
| Setting | Where to find it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Kill Switch | Settings → VPN settings | Blocks internet access if the connection drops. Check that it is switched on rather than assuming it is. |
| Bypasser | Settings → VPN settings | Split tunneling. Apps or sites listed here intentionally skip the tunnel and will show your real address. |
| CleanWeb | Settings → VPN settings | Blocks ads and trackers at the DNS level, which changes which resolver answers your queries. |
| Rotating IP | Settings → VPN settings | Changes your exit IP every few minutes while keeping the session alive. Expect the IP to differ between two runs of this test. |
Settings as described in Surfshark’s own apps and help pages. Menus move between app versions - check yours. If a control is not where this table says, search the app’s settings for the nearest equivalent term rather than assuming the feature is absent.
Common Surfshark Leak Scenarios
The IP changed between two test runs
This is Rotating IP working as designed, not instability. Disable it while diagnosing anything else, otherwise you cannot tell a rotation from a reconnection.
Certain sites see the real IP
Check the Bypasser list. Entries added for banking or local services are exactly the sites that will show your real address.
Kill switch appears inactive
Check that the toggle is on. Enable it explicitly, reconnect, and confirm with our kill switch test.
How to Read Your Results
Expand any row to see the raw values. The single most reliable way to interpret an ambiguous result is to run the test twice - once with Surfshark disconnected, once connected. Any address or resolver identical across both runs is travelling outside the tunnel.
- IPv4: the ISP and organisation fields should name Surfshark or its hosting partners, not your home ISP.
- DNS: resolvers should sit in the same network as your Surfshark exit. Your ISP’s name, or a public resolver such as
1.1.1.1, means your lookups are leaving the tunnel - even if you chose that resolver deliberately, this test reports it as a leak. - WebRTC: a
192.168.x.xor10.x.x.xaddress is your local network and harmless. A public address differing from your exit IP is a real leak. - IPv6: either nothing at all, or an address on VPN or hosting infrastructure. One on your ISP’s network while IPv4 goes through Surfshark escaped the tunnel.
- Geolocation: your browser timezone should be on the same continent as the exit. A mismatch does not expose your IP, but it tells a site the address is not where you are.
Why a Connected VPN Can Still Leak
The word “connected” in any VPN client describes one thing: the IPv4 tunnel came up. It says nothing about DNS resolution, IPv6 routing or WebRTC, each of which uses a different part of the operating system and can bypass the tunnel independently. A client that fails to capture them will still display a green badge.
This is why single-number IP checkers are misleading. They query one endpoint over IPv4, see the VPN’s address, and report success - while DNS queries go to your ISP and your IPv6 prefix identifies your household to every site that supports it.
Re-test after anything that touches the network stack: a client update, an OS upgrade, a protocol change or a new server. Those are the moments when leak protection regresses, and a regression produces no visible symptom at all - which is the entire problem.
🧰 Test Surfshark Further
The tests run in your browser. Where one needs to know whose network an address is on, our server looks it up and keeps no address. Nothing is stored unless you choose to share the result.
📚 Read next
The longer version: what this test is looking for, and what to do with the answer.
Surfshark Leak Test - FAQ
Provider-specific questions about Surfshark, its settings, and what a failed check actually means.
Does Surfshark have a kill switch?
Yes, under Settings → VPN settings. It blocks internet access when the VPN connection drops. Its presence in the settings list is not evidence that it is active - check the toggle, then verify the behaviour with our kill switch test.
What is Surfshark Bypasser?
Bypasser is Surfshark’s split tunneling feature. It lets you exclude specific apps or websites from the VPN tunnel, so they connect through your real IP address. This is useful for banking sites that block VPNs, but anything on that list is deliberately unprotected - and it is the first thing to check when a leak test flags an inconsistency.
Why does my Surfshark IP keep changing?
That is the Rotating IP feature, which periodically changes your exit address while keeping you connected to the same server location. It makes tracking harder, but it also means two consecutive runs of this test will legitimately show different addresses. Turn it off while troubleshooting so you can distinguish a rotation from a reconnection.
Does Surfshark leak IPv6?
Surfshark blocks IPv6 traffic rather than tunnelling it, so a correct configuration shows no IPv6 address at all in the test above. If one appears, the block is not covering your interface. The reliable fix is disabling IPv6 in your operating system’s network settings, which removes the failure mode instead of depending on the client.
How do I test Surfshark for leaks?
Connect to Surfshark as you normally would, then run the test at the top of this page. It checks IPv4, IPv6, DNS, WebRTC and geolocation consistency in a single pass. For a definitive reading, run it once disconnected and once connected - any address or resolver that stays the same across both runs never entered the tunnel.
Do you store my Surfshark test results?
Not unless you ask us to. The checks run in your browser - only the lookup of which network an address belongs to goes through our server, which keeps no address - and by default the results exist only in the page in front of you; closing the tab discards them. After a test you can tick a box to share the result anonymously for our public VPN database; it is off by default. When you do share, we store the outcome, your VPN provider, the exit network, country and city, your browser and OS family, and where your visit came from - never your IP address. The privacy page lists every field.
Is this page affiliated with Surfshark?
No. VPNMeter is independent and this page is not endorsed by or connected to Surfshark. We describe settings you can verify in the app yourself, and the test measures your own connection rather than reporting results from a lab. Provider and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.