How to install Tor on macOS - Tutorial

These are the installation instructions for installing Tor on Apple's macOS without the Tor Browser Bundle (TBB).

For most users the installation of the Tor Browser Bundle is all they need to browse the web anonymously or to let another app connect to the internet over Tor. You can find further information about the Tor Browser and download links for iOS, macOS, Windows and Linux/Unix here.

Even though the Tor Browser comes with a Tor installation, it will only run as long as you keep the Tor Browser open. The following instructions will set up Tor without graphical interface or a browser. Which might be preferable for users who want to keep Tor running all the time, without having to have the Tor Browser running as well. This can be especially usefull if you want to host onion services on your Mac or relay traffic for other Tor users.

How to install Tor on macOS - Tutorial:

Step One:

Install Homebrew.

Open the Terminal app (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal)

Copy & paste this command into the Terminal app:

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Step Three:

You will find a sample Tor configuration file at /usr/local/etc/tor/torrc.sample. Remove the .sample extension to make it effective.

Step Four: Configure your application to use Tor SOCKS in its proxy settings directly (for instant messaging, Jabber, IRC, etc), you can point your application directly at Tor (localhost port 9050).