How do I stop Brave from updating itself silently and reinstalling a VPN service I never wanted in the first place?

VPN
1

I keep removing the “Brave VPN Wireguard service” manually, and I deleted the auto-update services too, yet somehow the browser continues to update itself silently, reinstalling a VPN service that I didn’t want nor ask for.

Before I uninstall this browser for good, is there any way I can stop this from happening?

2

You can go to task manager, then the startup tab and then disable the VPN service, the restart Windows. It will not run. I find it annoying as well, but it doesn’t use any cpu and almost no RAM. Regardless, you can stop it from running this way. It won’t get added back to startup after an update.

3

Install Brave without admin privileges. Start the brave installer and press “no” when UAC pops up. Then install it. Or install it from MS Store.

4

I don’t think you can honestly, I am getting fed up too.

5

To prevent Brave from updating silently and reinstalling unwanted components, you can try the following steps:

  1. Disable Automatic Updates:

    • Open Brave and go to Settings.
    • Scroll down and click on “Additional settings.”
    • Under the “System” section, turn off the option for “Automatically update Brave.”

  2. Remove VPN Service:

    • Ensure you’ve completely removed the “Brave VPN Wireguard service” from your system.

  3. Check Scheduled Tasks:

    • Open Task Scheduler on your computer.
    • Look for any tasks related to Brave or the VPN service and disable or delete them.

  4. Review Services:

    • Open the Services application (services.msc) on your computer.
    • Check for any services related to Brave or the unwanted VPN service, and disable or set them to manual.

  5. Firewall Rules:

    • Review your firewall settings to block any connections related to the VPN service.

  6. Hosts File:

    • Check your hosts file (located at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts) for any entries related to Brave or the VPN service, and remove them.

After performing these steps, restart your computer and see if the issue persists. If the problem continues, you may want to consider reaching out to Brave support or community forums for more specific assistance.

6

Did you check also the task scheduler?

7

Problem is still not fixed. After auto updating brave, it adds vpn to startup again.

8

Does this apply to the mobile version as well?

9

Easy - uninstall Brave, install Firefox, Librewolf, Mullvad Browser, etc.

10

> You can disable the brave update services to stop it from auto updating

I want to update the Browser.

I DON’T want to install a VPN that I never asked for. This is poor behavior on the part of Brave.

11

Just use Firefox, man.

12

“But, but, it’s a bug, our dev will fix that, mehhh!” - Brave CEO

13

And people berated me for saying that brave behaves like PUP Malware…

14

You can disable the brave update services to stop it from auto updating

15

Don’t install Brave at all. It’s a bloatware.

16

Ah, so if it sees that I have admin privileges, it uses that as an excuse to install unwanted software without any prior notification, nor any option to say no. And why does anyone use this browser again?

17

How about not installing the malware to start with and not have UAC nag the user because that will mean the user is going to turn off UAC off complete and then the computer might get fscked up because of your suggestion.

18

I’ve switched to librewolf for less bloat. I’m fed up with unwanted ads and bloatware

19

Under step #1, where exactly is “Additional settings?”

I do see “System,” but when I go there I don’t see “Automatically update Brave.”

20

I don’t think so. Just the Windows version, AFAIK.