Mullvad has announced that it will shut down its public encrypted DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) servers on November 2, 2026, and will instead financially support privacy-focused DNS provider Quad9.
Users who manually configured Mullvad's public DNS service will need to migrate before the cutoff date.
The Swedish VPN provider has operated public encrypted DNS servers since 2022, offering them to Mullvad Browser users outside the VPN and to anyone who wants to prevent internet service providers from seeing DNS queries in plaintext.
Mullvad says the service is unnecessary while connected to Mullvad VPN because VPN traffic is already encrypted and DNS requests are handled by the company's internal resolvers.
According to the announcement, Mullvad decided that operating a privacy-oriented public DNS infrastructure duplicated work already being done by the Quad9 Foundation, while requiring resources and specialist expertise of its own.
Quad9 is a nonprofit-operated public DNS service focused on privacy and security. In addition to supporting encrypted DNS protocols, its resolvers can block domains associated with malware, phishing, and other threats using intelligence supplied by multiple security organizations.
Rather than continue maintaining a separate public service, Mullvad says it will redirect those resources toward sponsoring Quad9.
The migration will be largely automatic for Mullvad Browser users. Those who have retained the browser's default DoH configuration, including its bundled ad-blocking option, will be switched to Quad9 automatically.
However, Mullvad will leave customized DoH configurations untouched. Users who manually selected one of Mullvad's DNS variants, such as its base, extended, or family filtering endpoints, should switch back to the browser default or configure another provider themselves.
People who manually configured Mullvad's DoH servers at the operating-system, browser, router, or application level must replace them before November 2.
Existing Mullvad encrypted DNS configuration profiles installed on iOS and macOS will also stop working after the shutdown. Mullvad recommends replacing those profiles with the equivalent Quad9 configurations.
The change does not affect DNS resolution for customers connected through Mullvad VPN, which will continue using Mullvad's internal DNS infrastructure.
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