Your Microsoft 365 subscription now comes with a free VPN on PC and phone

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Microsoft includes a VPN service as part of Microsoft 365 on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.

Microsoft Defender VPN
(Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions now include a VPN service at no extra cost.
  • The VPN service is currently available in the US, UK, Germany, and Canada and works on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS with the Microsoft Defender app.
  • Advertised as a privacy protection feature, this VPN offers 50GB of bandwidth which resets monthly. 

Did you know your Microsoft 365 subscription includes access to a free VPN at no additional charge? I didn't either until I stumbled across it today in the Microsoft Defender app on Windows. Advertised as a "privacy protection" feature, Microsoft now bundles a VPN service as part of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions.

To access the VPN, you just need to install the Microsoft Defender app and enable privacy protection, which is available on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. This means you can use this VPN on any platform, including your smartphone. Unfortunately, the VPN is only available in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada right now. 

RELATED: Microsoft investigates a new 365 and Azure server outage

The VPN includes a 50GB data limit, which does reset every month., Microsoft says the VPN isn't designed for streaming content such as music or video, and will even disable itself when accessing services like YouTube, Netflix, Spotify, or TikTok. Here's how Microsoft describes the feature:

"Privacy protection is a feature that's included with Microsoft Defender for individuals. This feature encrypts your internet traffic and hides your internet address (IP address) from prying eyes. It gives you 50GB of monthly data limit (per user) to browse the web securely and anonymously. Microsoft Defender helps protect your privacy and security when you are on public Wi-Fi or untrusted network, where your data and identity could be exposed or stolen. Privacy protection is easy to use, fast, and reliable. You can turn it on and off with a single click, and it will automatically select the best server for you."

Unfortunately, unlike other VPN services, Microsoft's one is rather limited in functionality. You can't choose a server region for the VPN, and the 50GB data cap might be quite restrictive for some. Still, considering Microsoft began including this with Microsoft 365 for "free" earlier this year, there's not much to complain about.

The good news is this is the only VPN service I've tried so far that actually works on Windows on Arm! 

Microsoft 365 Personal | $69.99 for 12 months at Amazon

Microsoft 365 Personal | $69.99 for 12 months at Amazon

A Microsoft 365 Personal subscription gets one person access to a range of apps and services across five devices. With it, you can use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, and ad-free Outlook. You also get access to Microsoft Editor, some bonus Clipchamp features, and Microsoft Defender.

Zac Bowden
Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter and Threads

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • fjtorres5591
    Does it work for other streaming uses, like video conferencing?
    Teams and the like? Very useful if it does.

    No region-spoofing makes it more of an encrypted traffic service than a commercial VPN by consumer standards.
    Which is fine...at that price. 😎
    Reply
  • ad47uk
    That is not bad at all, as you get could storage and office in the U.K for a single user for £60 a year, adding VPN onto that makes it better, as long as you don't go over the 50GB. I use Nord VPN, which last time cost me £96 for the year. not going to renew it at that price.

    You would have thought that Ms would advertise the VPN function, but looking at MS 365 site, I can not see it.

    the one problem with MS VPN is not being to change the server, sometimes I like change to say the U.S as I am in the U.K or another country.

    If it was not so restrictive, I would have had a look when my subscription runs out of Nord. Also, not sure if I want MS stuff on my Mac,
    Reply
  • GraniteStateColin
    One feature I pay for VPN service is for a static IP#. I need this when I travel to access certain IP-restricted servers. I know that's a bit of niche use case, but it is available as an upcharge from most (all?) of the major VPN providers. It would be great (and good for MS profits) if users could pay to go beyond the included 50GB and gain access to more advanced VPN features. Keep the free part free, but add support for more VPN features.

    Or, maybe by offering what they do for free, they're mainly trying to put price pressure on the other big VPN providers to keep their own prices reasonable, which helps many mobile Windows users. If that's the case, they may be trying to avoid head-to-head competition with what they may view as synergistic solution providers for Windows users.
    Reply