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Tor Browser removes support for V2 Onion URL: What does this mean?

Image Credits: Tor Project

Tor Browser removes support for V2 Onion URL: What does this mean?

Tor browser removes support for V2 Onion URL

Why has Tor Browser removed support for the V2 Onion URL? The reason is very simple: it is an outdated protocol, which is currently considered insecure. This browser is very focused on security and ensuring that all the services it uses are reliable and risk-free.

With regard to the users, the common functioning of the browser, we are not going to notice a great change. We will notice this when trying to access TOR URLs that use short 16 character host domains, as they are not supported as of now.

If we try to open an Onion V2 URL, the browser will show us a message indicating that this address is invalid and the error code 0xF6. This service has already been obsolete in the browser and we will not be able to use it with the new version that has just been released.

Keep in mind that this is not something that should take users by surprise. Tor Browser announced a year ago that the V2 Onion URL services would be obsolete by the end of 2021. In addition, since version 10.5 they have been announcing to users that this feature was about to disappear.

And that day has arrived. With the new update, websites using Onion V2 are no longer accessible. It is the responsibility of the administrators of the pages to update to the V2 Onion URL and in this way, the visitors will be able to access the content without problems.

Tor fixes bugs in the browser

Beyond having removed support for the V2 Onion URL, the Tor browser has also fixed some issues that were present in the previous version. This is something that usually happens every time an update arrives, to ensure that the navigation is optimal and no problems appear.

They have fixed small bugs that appeared when opening certain PDF files and when opening AV1 videos with Windows 8.1 and which were marked as corrupt files or problems with certain browser add-ons that did not work correctly.

Tor Browser 11 is based on Firefox ESR 91, so most of the functions and the overall appearance will be very similar for users who are used to using Mozilla's browser and want to start using this alternative.

In short, Tor Browser is updated to a new version, which we can download from its official website, and the main novelty is that it eliminates support for the V2 Onion URL. It has also fixed certain bugs to make browsing more optimal. As we always say, we recommend having the latest versions installed.