Update: The SwitchProxy is no longer available. However, you may still hide your IP address in Firefox with other free add-ons.

SwitchProxy Firefox add-on lets you supervise and switch between several proxy configurations promptly and without any difficulty. You can also use it as hiding IP tool to protect your computer from snooping eyes.

When we work with more than one proxy on a normal basis, we all perhaps know how irritating it is to keep track of each of them, not to talk about the number of clicks it takes us to switch between them. SwitchProxy is a Mozilla add-on which we use to systematize and organize all proxies which we want to work with. With SwitchProxy you can insert, edit and delete proxies which you work with from a distinct master list. When you want to use one proxy, you just pick it from the master list and click apply.

SwitchProxy has an anonymous feature or one may say a secret feature, an anonymizer uses a file of proxies that it at random switches between at definite intervals. Many people use anonymizers to guard their IP addresses and protect themselves from hackers, online tracking, and other website prying techniques.

How to use SwitchProxy Firefox Add-on

Here is exactly how to use this add-on to hide your IP:

Step 1. Download and install SwitchProxy.

Step 2. Press Add button
Step 3. Choose Anonymous from proxy configuration type dialog and press Next

Step 4. In the next window, you can add proxies, either manually (one by one) or by loading from a proxy list (check our recommended proxy lists). Also choose a name for your proxy configuration, for example, MyProxy, and then press Save.

Step 5. From the toolbar, choose MyProxy from the dropdown list and then press Apply.

Step 6. Check your IP to XMyIP.com and you are done.

Step 7. In order to add more proxies to your configuration press Edit. In order to create a new proxy collection/configuration press Add.

Step 8. To restore your original configuration select None from the Proxy drop-down and press Apply.

SwitchProxy for Firefox 3.0

As you probably know already, the SwitchProxy add-on does not work with Firefox 3.0. Jeremy Gillick has not updated this great add-on from November 2006, so, obviously, there is no update for Firefox 3.0.

So, what to do if you upgraded to Firefox 3.0 and still want to use the SwitchProxy add-on? 

Here is what you can do:

1. Use Multiproxy Switch, which is based on SwitchProxy, and it can work on Firefox 3.0 (I will come back with more details about this add-on in a later post).
2. Use the upgrade for Firefox 3.0 proposed by random($foo). Here is the direct download link for SwitchProxy for Firefox 3.0.

I hope that Jeremy Gillick will find time to upgrade SwitchProxy in the near future, as it would be sad to have this great add-on dead and buried.

SwitchProxy proxy list

In order to hide your IP, you need first to find some good anonymous proxies. There are a lot of sites, like samair.ru or proxy4free.com, that list tens of fresh proxies every day. Unfortunately, SwitchProxy is not able to import proxies directly from these sites, so you have to add them manually. Not very comfortable!

Recently, I found a proxy list that can be used with SwitchProxy. A guy from a forum wrote a script which parses the Xroxy anonymous proxy list and returns them in a format that can be imported by the SwitchProxy add-on.

The URL to this list is: http://www.shroomery.org/ythan/proxylist.php

Here is how to get this list imported by SwitchProxy:

1. Open Firefox. Go to Tools -> SwitchProxy -> Preferences
2. Press Manage Proxies
3. Press Add (add a new proxy configuration)
4. Choose Anonymous and click Next
5. Import the proxies from the provided URL. Here is how:

6. Save the configuration
7. When you want to browse anonymously you just have to go to Tools -> SwitchProxy and select the desired configuration (Xroxy in my case)

I hope this helps :).

Happy surfing!