Tails helps you to:

  • Use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship
  • All connections to the Internet are forced to go through the Tor network
  • Leave no trace on the computer you are using unless you ask it explicitly
  • Use state-of-the-art cryptographic tools to encrypt your files, emails and instant messaging

Tails is a live system that aims to preserve your privacy and anonymity. It helps you to use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship almost anywhere you go and on any computer but leaving no trace unless you ask it to explicitly.

It is a complete operating system designed to be used from a DVD, USB stick, or SD card independently of the computer's original operating system.

Tails comes with several built-in applications pre-configured with security in mind: web browser, instant messaging client, email client, office suite, image and sound editor, etc.

If you are interested in giving Tails a try on your current computer without running any risk, please check out our Guide: Running Linux From a USB Drive As a Virtual Machine or Bootable Disk.

What is Tails?

Tails is a portable Linux distribution based on Debian that combines the Tor network, the GNOME desktop and several other tools to offer a secure and anonymous computer experience.

How safe is Tails?

Tails is very safe as long as you do not run it on an infected machine. Tails is designed to run from a USB stick on any computer as a completely independent OS. However, if the host computer is infected with malware such as a keylogger your privacy would be at risk.

How does Tails ensure privacy?

Tails is set up out of the box to run from your computer's memory and never stores information locally unless you configure it to. This means that every time you shut down Tails, the memory is wiped clean, deleting all traces of your work and every new session starts as a blank slate.

Can I use Tails to circumvent censorship?

Yes, you can use Tails to circumvent internet censorship and browse the web anonymously. All the applications that come with Tails (email, browser, messaging client, office suite) use the Tor network to connect to the internet, so all your activity can be hidden.

Online anonymity and censorship circumvention with Tor

Tails relies on the Tor anonymity network to protect your privacy online:

  • all software is configured to connect to the Internet through Tor
  • if an application tries to connect to the Internet directly, the connection is automatically blocked for security.

Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.

Tor protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location.

Using Tor you can:

  • be anonymous online by hiding your location
  • connect to services that would be censored otherwise
  • resist attacks that block the usage of Tor using circumvention tools such as bridges

What's New

Changes and updates

  • Update Tor Browser to 13.5.2.
  • Update Thunderbird to 115.14.0.
  • Update many firmware packages. This improves the support for newer hardware: graphics, Wi-Fi, and so on.
  • Detect new types of errors when resizing the system partition fails (the first time Tails is started) and report the following error message.
  • Something went wrong when starting your Tails USB stick for the first time: resizing the system partition failed
  • It will be impossible to create a Persistent Storage or apply automatic upgrades.
  • Affected users can try to install Tails again or use a different USB stick.

Fixed problems

Persistent Storage

  • Increase the maximum waiting time to 4 minutes when unlocking the Persistent Storage before returning an error. (#20475)
  • Made the creation of the Persistent Storage more robust after starting a Tails USB stick for the first time. (#20451)
  • Prevent the Persistent Storage settings from freezing after opening a link to the documentation. (#20438)
  • Prevent Additional Software from crashing when installing virtual packages. (#20477)

Networking

  • Fix connecting to the Tor network using default bridges. (#20467)
  • Allow enabling multiple network interfaces again. (#20128)

Tails Cloner

  • Remove 30 seconds of waiting time when installing by cloning. (#20131)

Complete Release Notes.