How to install Tor browser - Anonymity online

Tor prevents somebody watching your internet connections from learning what sites you visit and provides anonymity online by hiding your physical location. It is an open source free software that helps you defend against traffic analysis and  protects your freedom and privacy online. Tor browser supports multiple platform and can be installed on Linux, Mac OS X, Windows and even Android.

Tor protects you by bouncing your connections through over 5000 distributed network of relays all around the world. Tor encrypts the original data and the destination IP address several times and sends it through these relays. Each relay then decrypts a layer of encryption to reveal only the next relay in the circuit to pass the remaining encrypted data. The last relay finally decrypts the innermost encryption layer and sends the original data to the destination without knowing the source IP address.

In this article, you will know how to install Tor browser in Linux and Windows.

Install Tor browser in Linux

Step 1: The first step towards installing Tor in Linux is to download it.

Download links: 

32-bit Tor browser bundle
64-bit Tor browser bundle

Step 2: Now run the following command to extract it. 

tar -xvJf tor-browser-linux32-3.6.1_en-US.tar.xz

Replace 32 with 64 if you have downloaded Tor browser bundle for 64-bit Linux.

Step 3: Switch to the Tor browser directory by typing

cd tor-browser_en-US

Step 4: To run the Tor browser run the following script

./start-tor-browser

Note: Do not unpack or run Tor browser as root.

If you have downloaded Tor browser for any other language, replace en-US with that language code given in the file you have downloaded.

Install Tor browser in Windows

Step 1: Download the Tor browser for your system.

Download Links:

Tor browser for Windows

Step 2: Install it by running the exe file and following the instructions.

Click on the Start Tor Browser.exe to run Tor browser and click on connect in the dialogue box. A browser will open.

Installing Tor Browser in Mac

Download the Tor browser for Mac and clicking on it will unarchive it. Click on Tor browser application to run it.

Other benefits of installing Tor browser

1. Tor browser can be used to visit onion sites that are on deep web (also called hidden web). Learn more about hidden web on wikipedia.

2. It can be used to browse websites that has been blocked by your Internet service provider.

Points to keep in mind while using Tor-browser

You do not have complete anonymity since cookies, plugins, javascrips and other third parry factors may still makes your identity vulnerable. Read the Tor FAQs to understand everything about it and how you can customize your apps to remain anonymous.