Set up Reroute and keep it running.

Install

1. DownloadDownload Reroute. It's a disk image, signed and notarised by Apple. The 7-day trial needs no account, card or email.
2. Drag it to ApplicationsOpen the disk image and drag Reroute into your Applications folder.
3. Open itOpen Reroute from Applications. The first time, macOS checks it with Apple and asks whether to open it; choose Open.

Reroute needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later and runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs.

Approve the extension

Reroute does its routing in a network system extension, which macOS asks you to approve once.

1. Open System SettingsWhen Reroute asks, go to System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Network Extensions.
2. Turn Reroute onSwitch Reroute on. macOS may ask for your password or Touch ID.
3. Allow the proxy configurationBack in Reroute, click Allow when macOS asks to add Reroute's proxy configuration.

On a Mac managed by your work or school, the organisation may block system extensions. If Reroute doesn't appear or its switch is greyed out, ask your IT team.

Add a proxy

Open Proxies in the sidebar and click +. Choose the type, SOCKS5, HTTP or HTTPS (an HTTP proxy you connect to over TLS), then enter the server and port. If the proxy needs a login, add the username and password; they're kept in your Keychain and in a root-only file that only Reroute's system extension reads.

Press Test. Reroute loads Cloudflare's public connection-check page through the proxy and shows the IP address and country the proxy presents, so you know where your apps will appear to be before you route anything.

Route an app

Open Apps, click + and choose the app. Then pick where its traffic goes:

• A proxy: the app's connections go through that proxy.
• Direct: your normal connection. Handy as an exception, such as one app from a developer whose other apps you route.
• Blocked: the app can't connect at all until you change the rule.

And choose what the rule matches:

• All apps by this developer matches the developer's code signature, so the helper processes an app launches, often with generic names, follow the same rule.
• Only this app matches just that app, for developers who make several and you only want one routed.

Then quit and reopen the app, so its existing connections start again on the new route.

Check it's working

Open Activity. Each connection Reroute handles appears with the app that made it, where it was going, the proxy that carried it and how much data moved. You can filter by app or destination.

If an app you've routed doesn't show up, quit and reopen it. The menu bar icon also shows whether routing is on and how many apps it's routing.

Use your VPN plan's SOCKS5

Many VPN providers publish SOCKS5 server details for their customers. They're usually in the account area of the provider's website rather than in the VPN app, and often come with a separate username and password, not your normal account login.

Add them in Reroute as a SOCKS5 proxy with that server, port and login, then press Test. Your VPN app can stay closed. Your provider's terms decide how you can use its servers, and we can't help with a particular provider's set-up.

If your provider only gives you WireGuard files, the free wireproxy tool can turn one into a SOCKS5 proxy on your Mac. The guide to using a VPN for one app shows how, and routing an app through an SSH tunnel covers ssh -D.

Troubleshooting

An app ignores its rule

Rules apply to new connections. Connections an app already had open stay where they were, so quit and reopen the app after adding or changing its rule.

An app has its own proxy setting

Some apps, such as browsers and developer tools, have their own proxy setting. If it's on, the app talks to that proxy itself. Turn the app's own setting off and let Reroute route it.

Calls, games or slow video

Reroute refuses a routed app's UDP traffic by default, so nothing goes round the proxy. Browsers fall back from QUIC to a TCP connection through the proxy on their own. If an app's calls stop working, allow its UDP traffic direct in that app's rule; that part then uses your normal connection.

Your proxy is down

Routed apps can't connect while their proxy is unreachable. That's deliberate: they're never sent direct instead. Press Test to check the proxy, pick another one for the app, or turn routing off to send everything direct.

VPN apps and Tailscale

Reroute isn't a VPN, so it runs beside them. Tailscale addresses, your local network and plain DNS are left alone. If a full VPN is on, the connection to your proxy travels inside it.

Little Snitch, LuLu and other firewalls

Network monitors may ask about Reroute's system extension or its connections to your proxy. Allow them, or routed apps can't reach the proxy.

"Licence needed"

The trial has ended or the licence has lapsed, so apps with a proxy or Blocked rule are blocked. Enter a licence key, or turn routing off to send every app direct.

"Activation limit"

A licence works on up to 3 Macs at a time. On a Mac you no longer use, open Licence and choose Deactivate This Mac, then activate on the new one. If the old Mac is gone, email support@flavrapps.com and we'll free a slot.

Your licence

• Activate: open Licence in the sidebar, or choose Enter Licence Key… from the menu bar icon, paste your key and click Activate. You can paste the whole line from the email.
• Move to another Mac: choose Deactivate This Mac on the Licence page of the old Mac first.
• Lost your key: look up your order at Lemon Squeezy's order lookup. Lemon Squeezy is our merchant of record and sends the receipt and key.

Uninstall

1. Uninstall from inside RerouteOpen General and choose Uninstall Reroute…, which removes the system extension and the proxy passwords Reroute saved. Deactivate the licence first if you want to use it on another Mac.
2. Move it to the BinQuit Reroute and drag it from Applications to the Bin.