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A computer you can trust for an hour

Tails is a Linux distribution that boots from a USB stick and forgets everything when you shut it down. It ships with Tor pre-configured, which means the entire “set up Tor on a machine you do not own” problem disappears.

  1. Get TailsDownload it from tails.net on a machine you trust, and write the image to a USB stick (balenaEtcher or the Tails installer do this). Check the download’s signature on tails.net if you are in the habit of checking signatures.
  2. Boot from the stickRestart, hit the boot-menu key (usually F12, F2, or Esc, depending on the machine), and pick the USB stick. Tails asks for a password if you set one up; otherwise it boots straight in.
  3. Open the pre-configured browserIt is already Tor, already anonymous, no setup. Paste the mirror address and press Enter. Everything else is exactly the flow on the access page: circuit, queue, market.

What Tails does for you

Every boot is a fresh identity with no memory of the last one. Your circuits are new, your history is gone, and nothing you did while the stick was running is left on the machine you borrowed. For the scenarios that make people reach for Tails, a cafe laptop, a library machine, a machine you are not sure what has been installed on, this is the whole point.

What it does not do

Tails does not remember your password. It also does not remember your PGP key, if you use PGP login. Plan for that before you need it: keep your login details somewhere you can reach while sitting in front of a borrowed machine, and if you use a key, keep the key file on a second stick. The awkward part of Tails is never the onion; it is reaching for the thing you forgot the stick does not hold.

When it is the right tool

Use Tails when the machine matters more than the session: someone else’s laptop, a machine with suspicious software, a one-off order you want zero trace of on the hardware. For everyday shopping on your own trusted computer, plain Tor Browser is faster to reach and no less anonymous for what you are doing. Tails is the heavier hammer, and it is the right one when the surface you are typing on is not yours.