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We have seen that a small group of Windows users were unable to update automatically to the newest versions of Brave and wanted to provide instructions to fix this situation if you're stuck on an older version of Brave. This appears to be related to users who have downloaded the installer named  brave_installer_x64.exe  or  brave_installer_x86.exe  from Github. Unfortunately this installer was not intended for direct installation without specific configuration parameters included, and for this reason we no longer upload it to our GitHub releases. Users should be installing Brave with the files  BraveBrowserSetup.exe , BraveBrowserSetup32.exe , which will correctly configure Brave to contact our update servers and automatically update to the newest versions when they are released. This is the setup file that gets run when users go to brave.com/download. To fix your install if you are stuck on an older version of Brave, we recommend the following steps: Make a backup copy of all your

If you get an error message on Brave when you try to download themes or extensions, or other files, try these fixes. Fix most file download errors If you try to download a file and it doesn’t work, first try to fix the error with these troubleshooting steps: Make sure your internet connection is working normally. Brave will automatically resume the download. You can also resume the file download by clicking the Down arrow    —>    Resume  or  Menu    —>  Resume . Try to download the file later. Contact the website owner. Get help with a specific error message "Network failed" If you see " NETWORK_FAILED " when you try to install something from the Chrome Web Store, unwanted software could be blocking the installation. To fix the error: First, remove the unwanted software. Then, try to install the extension, or theme again. If you still can't install extension, or theme, reinstall Brave. "Download blocked" This error means that your computer's

You're getting the "Aw, Snap" error instead of a web page because Brave is having problems loading. Reload the page At the top left in the address bar, click the Reload icon   Further troubleshooting Check your internet connection Make sure your computer is connected to Wi-Fi or a wired network and t ry reloading the tab with the error. Clear your cache Brave might have information stored that's stopping the page from loading. Open the page in an Incognito window: On your computer, open Brave At the top right, click the  Menu icon     Select  New Private Window . In the  Private window,  try opening the page. If it opens, clear your cache and cookies. How to clear your cache and cookies: At the top right, click the  Menu icon    → More  tools →   Clear browsing data .  At the top, select  All time. Select  Cached images and files and Cookies and other site data.  Deselect the other types of data. Click  Clear data . Try reloading the tab with the error.

This article applies to Brave for Windows and Mac only. With your permission, extensions you install can make changes to your Brave settings. Most changes enhance your browsing experience and make using the extension easier. Changes can affect settings such as your homepage, new tab page, search engine, or start page. Tip:  Before you install an extension, check which Brave settings the extension changes. Change your settings back to normal If you don't want your settings changed, uninstall or disable the extension. You can't use the extension without letting it change your settings. When you remove the extension your settings will go back to how they were before you installed it. To Remove an Extension: On your computer, open Brave. At the top right, click Menu   -->  More   tools  -->  Extensions . On to the extension you want to remove, click  Remove . Confirm by clicking  Remove . Or: On your computer, open Brave. On your extensions toolbar, right-click the extension

When you browse the web on computers or Android devices, you can send a request to websites not to collect or track your browsing data. It's turned off by default. However, what happens to your data depends on how a website responds to the request. Many websites will still collect and use your browsing data to improve security, provide content, services, ads and recommendations on their websites, and generate reporting statistics. Most websites and web services don't change their behavior when they receive a Do Not Track request. To enable  Do Not Track request:   Launch Brave, click  Menu   —>   Settings. At the bottom, click  Advanced . Under  "Privacy and security ," turn  Send a "Do Not Track" request  with your browsing traffic on or off.

Unless using  Tor   The Tor network disguises your identity by moving your traffic across different Tor servers, and encrypting that traffic so it isn't traced back to you. Anyone who tries would see traffic coming from random nodes on the Tor network, rather than your computer. , sites can learn your IP address when you visit them — even inside a Private Window. From your IP address, sites can often guess roughly where you are — typically your city and sometimes can be much more specific. Sites will also know everything you specifically supply them, such as search terms or input fields. If you log in, the site will know you're the owner of that account. You will be logged out when you close the Private Window because Brave will throw away the cookie which keeps you logged in. Although it is Brave's mission to make you hard to track online, sites can remember you by your IP address (or some other ways to recognize your device) and connect your browsing information in a Priv

A private window in Brave prevents Internet browsing history, form data, cookies and site data from being saved once you close the window. Private browsing stops Brave from saving browsing activity beyond the current session; however, you activity  may  still be visible to: Certain websites you visit (this includes the ads and resources used on those sites) The owner/Administrator of your network  Your internet service provider Note that some cookies and site data may be saved  for the session , but will not be remembered when the browser is closed.  Downloads and bookmarks are still saved even after closing a private window.

Brave users can create a new “Private windows with Tor” for enhanced, private browsing. It’s important to note that the binaries for Tor are  not  bundled with Brave, but they are downloaded on first run.  For more information, please see  our documentation about what a Private Window with Tor  is and how it works. If you use Antivirus software (Trend Micro, Norton AntiVirus, Avast, Malwarebytes, etc.), there is a chance that the software may detect and flag Brave as malicious software. Namely, the Tor component -  tor-0.3.5.8-win32-brave-1 (exact version may vary) - is what the Antivirus software flags. When this happens, it's important to note that it is  not  a virus, but rather a component that Brave installs upon first launch (tor files are not included in installer). Why does this file get flagged?  The exact cause for the file being flagged as malware may vary between different Antivirus software. However, it generally boils down to either the antivirus software seeing "

Whoever connects you to the Internet (your ISP) can see all of your network activity even while in a Private Window. If you are on mobile, this is often your mobile carrier. If you're connected to a WiFi network, this is the owner of that network and if you're using a VPN, then it's whoever runs that VPN. Your ISP can see which sites you visit as you visit them. If those sites use HTTPS, they won't be able to do much more than make an educated guess about what you do on those sites. If a site only uses HTTP then your ISP can see everything you do:  your search terms, which pages you read, and which links you follow. If an employer manages your device, they might also keep track of what you do with it. Using Private Windows probably won't stop them from knowing which sites you've visited. Someone else with access to your device could also have installed software which monitors your activity, and Private Windows can't protect you from this either.

Topics Overview Why we need Tor The Solution Staying anonymous The future of Tor Overview A two-minute video explaining what Tor is and how it works. This video is available for download and streaming both on Tor Project website and via YouTube in many different languages. The Tor network is a group of   volunteer -operated servers that allows people to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. Tor's users employ this network by connecting through a series of virtual tunnels rather than making a direct connection, thus allowing both organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy. Along the same line, Tor is an effective censorship circumvention tool, allowing its users to reach otherwise blocked destinations or content. Tor can also be used as a building block for software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Individuals use Tor to keep websites from tracking them and their

When you are inside a Private Window with Tor, Brave doesn’t connect directly to a website like normal. Instead, you connect to a chain of three different computers in the volunteer-run  Tor network,  one after another, and only then to the website you’re visiting. Between those three Tor computers, only one knows where your connection is really coming from and only one knows where it’s really going. And those two don’t even talk to each other because there’s another computer in the middle! Will Tor affect my browser performance? From the perspective of the websites you visit, it looks like your connection is coming from that last Tor computer — sites don’t learn your real IP address. But they can tell that the connection is being shuffled around by Tor because the list of Tor computers isn’t a secret. That said, since your data goes through a lot of relays, it's slow, so you'll experience a more sluggish internet than usual.  Some sites will treat you very differently because

The Brave browser anonymously monitors user attention, then rewards publishers accordingly with BATs.  Measuring Attention Attention is measured as users view ads and content in the browser’s active tab in real time. The Attention Value for the ad will be calculated based on incremental duration and pixels in view in proportion to relevant content, prior to any direct engagement with the ad. We will define further anonymous cost-per-action models as the system develops.   Ads are then anonymously matched with customer interests using local machine learning algorithms. This means fewer irrelevant ads.  Brave will work with publishers and advertisers to establish best practices for judging user attention. One potential metric: the number of total views of advertising content for a certain number of seconds. Or, points assigned on the length of a view. Who Gets What? Users viewing ads will be rewarded with BATs. BATs can be used for premium content or services on the BAT platform. Publish

BAT stands for Basic Attention Token. It is a utility token based on the Ethereum technology that can also be used as a unit of account between advertisers, publishers, and users within Brave Rewards. The token is not a digital currency, security or a commodity. Basic Attention Token radically improves the efficiency of digital advertising by creating a new token that can be exchanged between publishers, advertisers, and users. It all happens on the Ethereum blockchain. The token can be used to obtain a variety of advertising and attention-based services on the BAT platform. The utility of the token is based on user attention, which simply means a person’s focused mental engagement. The Challenge Digital advertising is overrun by middlemen, trackers and fraud. Users are abused Up to 50%   of the average user’s mobile data is for ads and trackers, costing   as much as $23 a month . Ads use about 5 seconds of mobile load time on average. Ads decrease phone battery life by as much as 21%.