FIX: Hotspot Shield VPN stopped working (9 solutions)

It’s crucial to keep your VPN app updated to the latest version.

In addition to benefiting from the newest features, improvements and bug fixes, it’s also a good way to fix Hotspot Shield VPN if it stopped working on your device.

Users who downloaded the Hotspot Shield client from the official page can skip this step. That’s because the app gets updated automatically.

However, if you downloaded it from Microsoft Store, you might have to perform this checkup manually.

• Open Microsoft Store
• Click the three-dots button on the upper-right part
• Select Downloads and Updates
• Click the update button next to Hotspot Shield VPN

If you can’t update Store apps or encounter any other issues there, visit our Microsoft Store Troubleshooting Hub to fix any problem.

A VPN service will have trouble connecting to the Internet if your network connection isn’t stable enough.

So you should verify your Internet speed and run multiple tests to determine the quality of your connection.

You might also want to consider switching to Ethernet mode if the Wi-Fi signal is poor on your notebook.

Hotspot Shield VPN has an integrated Internet speed tester that you can access from the main window. It measures your ping time, jitter and packet loss.

1. Press the Start button, type firewall, and select Firewall & network protection
2. Click Allow an app through firewall
3. Click Change settings (you need admin rights)
4. Locate Hotspot Shield Free VPN in this list
5. Enable the Private and Public options for its entry
6. If the app isn’t listed here, click Allow another app to find it

Normally, Hotspot Shield VPN creates an exception for itself in the Windows Firewall when you install it.

However, if you’ve recently made significant changes to your security options, follow the easy instructions above to allow VPN traffic in your firewall for Hotpot Shield VPN.

Hotspot Shield VPN won’t connect to a server if you have another VPN or proxy service running in the background. You can easily tell from the red banner that appears in the main window of the app.

To fix this problem, check if any other VPN or proxy apps are running in the background.

Keep in mind that manual VPN or proxy configurations you added using the Windows built-in features don’t apply here, so there’s a need to delete those.

We’ve noticed that the VPN network adapter is being used by another VPN. Disconnect the other VPN and try again message also appears if your TAP drivers are being used by the other VPN, even if the other VPN isn’t currently running.

In this case, you must completely uninstall the other VPN service before trying to connect with Hotspot Shield VPN again.

1. Right-click the Windows Start button and select Network Connections
2. Click Change adapter options
3. Right-click your Internet connection and go to Properties
4. Double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
5. Select Use the following DNS server addresses
6. Set Preferred DNS server to 8.8.8.8
7. Set Alternate DNS server to 8.8.4.4
8. Click OK
9. Try to connect to a Hotspot Shield VPN server

Your DNS resolver might be not working properly, which could be why Hotspot Shield VPN isn’t connecting either. But you can easily fix this issue by changing your DNS servers on Windows.

In the example above, we listed the DNS servers of Google Public DNS. You can also try Cloudflare or OpenDNS.

There might be a problem with the VPN server you’re targeting: too many connected users, the server is down for maintenance, or something else.

In that case, you can try to get Hotspot Shield VPN to work by simply connecting to another server. Make sure to explore multiple server options.

• Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager
• Expand Network Adapters
• Right-click TAP-Windows Adapter V9
• Select Uninstall device
• Right-click any part of the screen and select Scan for hardware changes
• Reinstall Hotspot Shield VPN
• Launch the app and try to connect to a VPN server

If there’s a problem with the Windows TAP driver, it will prevent Hotspot Shield VPN from working properly. Using the steps above, you will force Microsoft to reinstall the TAP driver.

Then, you can reinstall Hotspot Shield VPN and try to connect to a server.

1. Run Command Prompt with elevated rights: press Ctrl + R, type cmd, hold Ctrl + Shift and press Enter
2. Copy and paste the next lines (press Enter between each line)

ipconfig /flushdns

ipconfig /registerdns

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

NETSH winsock reset catalog

NETSH int ipv4 reset reset.log

NETSH int ipv6 reset reset.log

exit

If you can’t get Hotspot Shield to work, no matter what you try, perhaps it’s not 100% compatible with your device.

In that case, consider switching to an alternate VPN service that works with Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, and even routers: Private Internet Access.

PIA has a next-generation network of more than 21,800 VPN and proxy servers spread across 97 locations (76 countries).

It runs its exclusive DNS servers to protect your DNS queries and speed up your Internet connection.