Tor Browser for Nexus Market
Everything the browser needs to do for you on the way to the market, plus the setup that keeps your other browsing out of the way.
Get it from the Tor project
One installer per platform, from the official Tor project site:
- Windows, macOS, Linux: standard desktop build, current stable version. Install like any program. No configuration is required for the market, but two settings are worth touching, below.
- Android: the official Tor Browser for Android works for the market. It is slower than desktop, which means longer circuit builds, which means more patience. The same addresses work.
- iOS: the App Store version is limited by Apple to routing through the developer's network, which adds a layer between you and Tor that the Tor project itself does not control. It opens the market, but for anything involving your password or your wallet, use an Android device or a desktop. That is the honest version of the answer.
The two settings that matter for the market
Security level: leave it at Standard. Higher levels strip scripts and can break the market's own check pages, which need JavaScript to run. Standard is the level the check and the captcha are built to pass.
Do not install extensions. Every extension is a small program with network rights, and the whole point of the route is that fewer programs see it. A password manager extension is a judgment call; a tracker blocker is a waste of risk, because Tor already does the blocking at the network level.
A new identity per visit
Before you paste the market's address, build a fresh identity. Desktop: Ctrl+Shift+I, or the onion icon in the address bar, New Identity. It takes a few seconds. The reasons stack up:
- a clean circuit, so a slow or failed connection to the onion is not inherited from your previous tab,
- no state from other onions bleeding into this session,
- if the market is ever temporarily congested, your retry starts from a different entry path, which changes your odds.
Do it again when you leave the market and go back to regular browsing. The habit costs five seconds in each direction.
When your network blocks Tor
In some countries and on some networks, the relays that Tor uses by default are throttled or blocked, and the browser either fails to connect or crawls at walking pace. The fix is bridges: relays that are not published in the public list, configured in Settings, then Advanced, then the bridge section. Tor can suggest pluggable transports, which wrap the traffic so it does not look like Tor to a filter. If you are reading this on a network where the Tor Browser cannot build a circuit, that is the item to do first, before touching anything about the market. The not loading page has the bridge steps inline.
What the browser will not do for you
- It does not make the market fast. Three relay hops plus the onion's own entry point is a physical fact. First loads of 15 to 45 seconds are a normal day. The feel of it is part of the product, in a bad way, and no setting removes it.
- It does not protect your password from your keyboard. If the machine is shared, use a fresh identity and log out after. If the machine is compromised, no browser is going to save the session.
- It does not verify the address. The browser will happily load any 56 character onion you paste, fake or real. Verification is the checklist on the verify page, and it is yours to run every session.
Minimum setup checklist
Official installer, latest stable version
From the Tor project, not a repack named after the market.
Security level Standard, no extensions
So the market's check pages run as written.
Bridge configured if your network blocks relays
Pluggable transport, set once, used forever.
New identity before the market, new identity after
Five seconds each way, cleaner circuit both ways.