Connect Proxy on macOS

Firefox is the only major browser with full native support for SOCKS5+Auth, requiring no additional extensions.

• Step 1: Open Firefox Settings → General → scroll down to Network Settings and click Settings...
• Step 2: Select Manual proxy configuration.
• Step 3: In the SOCKS Host field, enter the IP, and in the Port field — your port. Make sure to select SOCKS v5.
• Step 4: The first time you open any website, a standard authorization window will appear—enter your proxy username and password there, checking the "Remember password" box.

These browsers rely on the macOS system network stack, meaning they cannot work directly with password-protected SOCKS5 proxies without an extension.

• Step 1: In Chromium-based browsers, install the Proxy SwitchyOmega extension (or a similar alternative).
• Step 2: In the extension settings, create a New profile.
• Step 3: Select the SOCKS5 protocol and enter the Server and Port.
• Step 4: Click the "Lock" icon or "Authentication" label, enable the checkbox, and enter your username and password.
• Step 5: Click Apply changes, click on the extension icon in the browser toolbar, and select your created profile to activate it.

1. Proxifier for Mac Most Powerful (Paid)

Proxies any application traffic at the kernel level, perfectly supporting authentication.

• Download it from the official homepage.
• Go to Profile → Proxy Servers → Add.
• Enter the Address, Port, and select Protocol: SOCKS Version 5.
• Check the Authentication box, and input your username and password. Click 'Check' to test the connection.
• In Profile → Proxification Rules, specify a Default rule routing to your proxy for the entire Mac, or link just the specific `.app` packages you want to proxy.

2. ProxyCap

Similar functionality and works excellently with SOCKS5. Rules are created just as easily (Specify Server → Enter SOCKS5 Auth → Apply rule per `.app` file).

cURL: It's recommended to use the --socks5-hostname flag to prevent DNS requests from leaking outside the proxy tunnel.

Git: Proxies can be configured globally or per-repository.

Many system utilities (including Homebrew) and programming languages automatically read system variable presets. Configure them with the export command:

(For persistent usage, add these lines to your ~/.zshrc, but be aware of the security risks of storing unencrypted passwords in a text file).

Python (requests): You must install socks support using pip install requests[socks].

import requests
proxies = {"http": "socks5://user:pass@ip:port", "https": "socks5://user:pass@ip:port"}
requests.get("https://api.ipify.org", proxies=proxies)

Node.js (axios): Requires the socks-proxy-agent NPM package.

const { SocksProxyAgent } = require('socks-proxy-agent');
const agent = new SocksProxyAgent('socks5://user:pass@ip:port');
axios.get('https://example.com', { httpsAgent: agent })

Docker (on Mac): Add JSON configuration for the entire Docker Engine daemon.

# File ~/.docker/daemon.json
{ "proxies": { "default": { "httpsProxy": "socks5://login:pass@ip:port" } } }

• Navigate to Settings → Advanced → Connection type.
• Select Use custom proxy → Type: SOCKS5.
• Enter the Host, Port, Username, and Password.
• Save — the connection should light up with a green checkmark or blue shield icon.

• In qBittorrent open Settings → Connection.
• Set Proxy Type to SOCKS5 and provide all 4 parameters (including authentication).
• ⚠️ Crucial: Enable the checkboxes for "Use proxy for peer connections" and "Use proxy for hostname lookups", otherwise your real IP address will leak to the peer swarm.

A powerful tool that intercepts system calls and forces any given console program's TCP connections through a proxy.

At the very bottom of the config file, add: socks5 IP PORT username password

Execution: proxychains4 curl https://api.ipify.org

(Note: It may be incompatible with certain binaries due to SIP - System Integrity Protection in newer macOS releases).

Create a passwordless SOCKS5 tunnel directly on your Mac, routing your traffic through a remote SSH server execution.

You can then configure the built-in macOS pf firewall to transparently redirect all traffic to the local port 1080 (127.0.0.1:1080). This method is strictly for experienced system administrators!