Problems running Tor (Tor process running in background)

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1

First of all, thanks you to all of you that take the time to help the less technical among us.
I’ve installed Tor browser but when I try and run it I I notice saying “tor browser is already running but is not responding. The old tor process must be closed to open a new window”
When I hit the link “close tor browser” it just keeps reappearing until I cancel the request to open the app.
I’m willing wondering if this is something you may have seen before and have a solution.
Thank you,
Rick

2

Hi @Rick, I am not sure what the cause of your problem is but I found some resources which might be helpful and give some suggestions.

1) Make sure no other Tor instances are running

Since you freshly installed Tor I guess this is not the cause of your problem, but make sure no other Tor instances are running by using your “Task manager (Windows)”, “Activity Monitor (MacOS)” or the ps | grep tor command when on Linux. Terminate any Tor process before trying again.

Another more easier solution is just restarting your device. :slight_smile:

2) Do you have any anti-virus software?

My first guess is that you are running some kind of anti-virus or anti-malware software (like e.g Windows Defender - The default on Windows, Malwarebytes, Bitdefender, Avast, Norton, Kaspersky, Sophos, McAfee, AVG AntiVirus,…) which conflicts with Tor.

Try temporarily disabling your anti-virus software and try again.

If this works – Don’t keep your anti-virus disabled permanently but ping me so I can assist you in whitelisting Tor while your anti-virus remains protecting your system.

3) Disable Windows threat protection

Someone with the same issue asked a question on tor.stackexchange.com: https://tor.stackexchange.com/questions/20879/tor-browser-already-running-when-trying-to-start-the-tor-browser-on-windows

The answer was:

Turns out that in the Windows Security panel under Virus & threat protection Ransomware protection was enabled. This protects files, folders and memory areas from unauthorized changes. The solution is to click on ‘Manage ransomware protection’ and click Allow an app through controlled folder access.

4) See if “Start Tor Browser” Shortcut and “Browser” is Hidden

On Reddit many people with the same issue were able to solve it by deselect “hidden” for the “Start Tor Browser” Shortcut and “Browser”: https://www.reddit.com/r/TOR/comments/o9a7jw/comment/ljgsja2/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1

I have experienced this before, and Have fixed it!
go to: C:\Users%username%\Desktop\Tor Browser

And See if “Start Tor Browser” Shortcut and “Browser” is Hidden
Select both and left-click > Properties > Unselect ‘Hidden’ > Apply it to sub-folders aswell

Let me know if you still encounter issues after trying these suggestions.

1 Like
3

Wow, thanks for the detailed response and all the research. Yesterday I decided to reinstall TOR in C: temp and it works, so for me, installing it in C: Program Files must have been an issue.
Thanks again NeilD. I will post my solution on TOR Project later this morning.
Rick.

···

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 4, 2025, at 6:36 AM, NielD via Tor Project Forum noreply@forum.torproject.org wrote:

| NielD
July 4 |

  • | - |

Hi @Rick, I am not sure what the cause of your problem is but I found some resources which might be helpful and give some suggestions.

1) Make sure no other Tor instances are running

Since you freshly installed Tor I guess this is not the cause of your problem, but make sure no other Tor instances are running by using your “Task manager (Windows)”, “Activity Monitor (MacOS)” or the ps | grep tor command when on Linux. Terminate any Tor process before trying again.

Another more easier solution is just restarting your device. :slight_smile:

2) Do you have any anti-virus software?

My first guess is that you are running some kind of anti-virus or anti-malware software (like e.g Windows Defender - The default on Windows, Malwarebytes, Bitdefender, Avast, Norton, Kaspersky, Sophos, McAfee, AVG AntiVirus,…) which conflicts with Tor.

Try temporarily disabling your anti-virus software and try again.

If this works – Don’t keep your anti-virus disabled permanently but ping me so I can assist you in whitelisting Tor while your anti-virus remains protecting your system.

3) Disable Windows threat protection

Someone with the same issue asked a question on tor.stackexchange.com: https://tor.stackexchange.com/questions/20879/tor-browser-already-running-when-trying-to-start-the-tor-browser-on-windows

The answer was:

Turns out that in the Windows Security panel under Virus & threat protection Ransomware protection was enabled. This protects files, folders and memory areas from unauthorized changes. The solution is to click on ‘Manage ransomware protection’ and click Allow an app through controlled folder access.

4) See if “Start Tor Browser” Shortcut and “Browser” is Hidden

On Reddit many people with the same issue were able to solve it by deselect “hidden” for the “Start Tor Browser” Shortcut and “Browser”: https://www.reddit.com/r/TOR/comments/o9a7jw/comment/ljgsja2/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1

I have experienced this before, and Have fixed it!
go to: C:\Users%username%\Desktop\Tor Browser

And See if “Start Tor Browser” Shortcut and “Browser” is Hidden
Select both and left-click > Properties > Unselect ‘Hidden’ > Apply it to sub-folders aswell

Let me know if you still encounter issues after trying these suggestions.

Visit Topic or reply to this email to respond.

To unsubscribe from these emails, click here.

4

@Rick Happy to hear you got it working.

But I’d like to nuance your solution. I’m not a Windows expert but I guess the reason it works in C:\Temp is because that directory is excluded from some protection mechanisms like Windows UAC or something. Glad you found a workaround, but you did not tackle the underlying issue yet.

5

The Start9 docs recommend that TOR not be installed in the users directory, which is the default location TOR wants to go. The recommended directory is C:Program Files/TOR.
Even though I wasn’t able to install to the recommended directory, I feel like I accomplished a good alternative from a privacy perspective using C:Temp…..correct me if I’m wrong on this.
Thanks.

···

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 4, 2025, at 6:16 PM, NielD via Tor Project Forum noreply@forum.torproject.org wrote:

| NielD
July 4 |

  • | - |

@Rick Happy to hear you got it working.

But I’d like to nuance your solution. I’m not a Windows expert but I guess the reason it works in C:\Temp is because that directory is excluded from some protection mechanisms like Windows UAC or something. Glad you found a workaround, but you did not tackle the underlying issue yet.

Visit Topic or reply to this email to respond.

To unsubscribe from these emails, click here.

6

Depending on your use-case and the sensitivity of your situation installing Tor in C:\Temp is an okay alternative. Some very mild and rather theoretical issues I can think of is that IG C:\Temp is a less “secure” folder then c:\Programs where the latter has more strict file permissions. etc.

And note that C:\Temp is - like the name suggests - intended for temporary files and it is possible software like disk space optimizers might wipe the content of that folder from time to time. If you are aware of this, it’s ok.

As an addition, I also found this post discussing a problem similar to yours giving some more suggestions: https://tor.stackexchange.com/questions/3228/windows-installation-location

TL;DR: The C:\Temp solution is okay and Tor will work fine. But I just want to point out that it’s not the most optimal IMHO.

Depending on your use-case you might also be interested in Tails. It might look more complicated from the start, but in the end actually abstracts a lot of risks and technical considerations in the usage of Tor for most users.

1 Like
7

Thanks for your thorough evaluation NeilD. I appreciate your effort and perspective on this issue.
Rick.

···

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 5, 2025, at 9:52 AM, NielD via Tor Project Forum noreply@forum.torproject.org wrote:

| NielD
July 5 |

  • | - |

Depending on your use-case and the sensitivity of your situation installing Tor in C:\Temp is an okay alternative. Some very mild and rather theoretical issues I can think of is that IG C:\Temp is a less “secure” folder then c:\Programs where the latter has more strict file permissions. etc.

And note that C:\Temp is - like the name suggests - intended for temporary files and it is possible software like disk space optimizers might wipe the content of that folder from time to time. If you are aware of this, it’s ok.

As an addition, I also found this post discussing a problem similar to yours giving some more suggestions: https://tor.stackexchange.com/questions/3228/windows-installation-location

TL;DR: The C:\Temp solution is okay and Tor will work fine. But I just want to point out that it’s not the most optimal IMHO.

Depending on your use-case you might also be interested in Tails. It might look more complicated from the start, but in the end actually abstracts a lot of risks and technical considerations in the usage of Tor for most users.

Visit Topic or reply to this email to respond.

To unsubscribe from these emails, click here.

1 Like