Antivirus or firewall is blocking FortisVPN on Windows
Allow Fortis in your antivirus or firewall.
Last updated September 25, 2026
Some antivirus and firewall apps block VPNs. Fortis may connect and drop straight away, or say the connection timed out.
1. Check if this is the problem
Pause your antivirus for a few minutes and connect. If Fortis works, turn the antivirus back on and do step 2.
2. Allow Fortis in your antivirus
Open your antivirus and find Exclusions, Exceptions or Allowed apps. Add Fortis VPN.
3. Allow Fortis in the Windows firewall
Open Windows Security, then Firewall & network protection, then Allow an app through firewall. Click Change settings, find Fortis VPN and tick both boxes.
4. Try the other protocol
Choose OpenVPN and connect again. See Change the VPN protocol.
Still stuck?
Our support team is available 24/7. Open the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner of this page, or email [email protected] with your device, app version, and the server location you were trying to use.
