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KB: Proxy Configuration for Altium Designer

Created: April 16, 2026 | Updated: April 16, 2026
Altium Designer Altium Designer
Altium Designer does not provide an application-level proxy configuration and cannot be configured independently of the operating system. All network communication from Altium Designer uses the Windows Internet (WinINET) proxy settings configured at the Windows OS level, which are shared with Internet Options and apply equally on Windows 10 and Windows 11. In corporate environments where outbound traffic must pass through a proxy—especially proxies requiring authentication—these settings must be visible and correctly configured in Windows. If proxy handling is enforced only through network infrastructure and not exposed to the operating system, Altium Designer cannot use it, which may result in connectivity issues when accessing online services such as Altium 365.

Solution Details

Requests for internal proxy configuration

Customers frequently enquire about configuring proxy settings directly in Altium Designer, typically due to corporate networks enforcing outbound proxy usage, proxy servers requiring authentication (for example, HTTP 407 errors), or issues accessing online services such as Altium 365 workspaces or content. Users may expect Altium Designer to provide an internal proxy configuration dialog, a configuration file similar to Altium Enterprise Server, or advanced or hidden proxy settings. However, Altium Designer does not support any application-specific proxy configuration.

Reliance on Windows Internet networking

Altium Designer uses the Windows Internet (WinINET) networking stack and does not implement its own proxy handling. As a result, Altium Designer inherits proxy settings directly from Windows and uses the same proxy configuration defined via Internet Options. Proxy authentication is handled entirely by Windows, and there is no internal setting, configuration file, or advanced option in Altium Designer to override this behavior. If a proxy is enforced only at the network or firewall level and not configured within Windows, Altium Designer cannot route its traffic correctly.

Required actions in proxy-restricted environments

  • Configure the required proxy settings at the Windows operating system level for the user account running Altium Designer.
  • If this is not possible, the proxy configuration must be addressed by the customer’s IT or network team.

Configuring proxy settings in Windows

Direct WinINET configuration (recommended):

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Select Internet Options.
  3. Go to Connections » LAN settings.
  4. Configure the required proxy server and authentication details.

Windows Settings (applies to WinINET):

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Navigate to Network & Internet » Proxy.
  3. Configure the proxy as required.
  4. Restart Altium Designer after making changes.
    (Windows applies these settings to WinINET-based applications such as Altium Designer) 

Additional Notes

Common Misconceptions

  • “Altium Designer has its own proxy settings.”
    Altium Designer does not provide any application-level proxy configuration. It always uses the Windows Internet (WinINET) settings.

  • “Proxy settings can be configured using a file, similar to Enterprise Server.”
    Configuration files such as LocalVault.ini apply only to Altium On-Prem Enterprise Server and are not used by the Altium Designer client.

  • “If the proxy is handled by the network or firewall, no Windows configuration is required.”
    Applications that rely on WinINET, including Altium Designer, require the proxy to be visible and configured at the Windows level.

References

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