Trust you can inspect.

Trusted by default

Choose which groups connect without asking.

Settings › Trusted and the main window’s Trusted by default groups control built-in allow rules. Each enabled rule allows connections without an alert in every mode.

• Updates. Apple groups match Apple’s signature and protected locations. The existing-app and VPN groups match team and signing identifier, rather than path or build hash.
• Precedence. Your rules, blocklists and other rule groups beat matching trusted rules. Priority rules are compared first, so a priority trusted rule can beat an ordinary rule of yours. The managed override puts Organization rules ahead of trusted rules.
• Switching groups. Turning a group off removes its rules. Turning it on again reinstalls them enabled and follows approval for an unblocking change. A rule you disable individually stays disabled while the group remains on.

Code identity

It knows which program is connecting.

Outbound decides from who connects and where: the app, who signed it, the server, the port, and how much went each way. The contents of a connection pass through unread.

What the filter reads from the running process:

• The executable path
• The team ID
• The signing identifier
• The code hash (cdhash)
• How the code is signed

• Verified identity. A signing identifier on its own proves nothing. An ad-hoc or self-signed program loses the team it claims and is matched by its path.
• App helpers. A helper nested inside an app is attributed to the outermost app. The identity is cached for that process instance.
• Developer names. A name appears only when its Developer ID certificate checks out for the same team. An app Apple re-signed for the Mac App Store is labelled “the Mac App Store”.
• Verified names. With Settings › Security › Only match host and domain rules on verified names, a host or domain allow rule applies only when a DNS answer Outbound saw for that name returned the connection’s address. Block and ask rules still match the name the app gave. It is on for a new install and stays off after an upgrade.
• Which user. On a shared Mac each connection shows which user made it. Turn on Hide my connections from other users and other users see totals, not your apps or destinations.
• Speed-limited apps. To slow an app you give a speed limit, Outbound passes its TCP traffic through a transparent proxy. Outbound forwards those bytes without reading, logging or keeping them.

Why some rows show nsurlsessiond or cloudd ›

When the code changes

Setup

Three permissions, each explained first.

Setup asks macOS for a network filter, permission to filter, and background access. Each page says why, and what happens if you skip it.

Setup has nine pages, from welcome to ready. Your choices are only staged until you click Finish Setup; the macOS permissions are recorded as you approve them. Help › Review Setup… opens the pages again later. The steps in System Settings differ by macOS version. The guide shown is the macOS 27 one.

Check or repair permissions later

Permissions stays usable while settings are locked. Repairing a macOS permission does not loosen a rule.

When Outbound can’t ask

Your rules hold when the app is closed.

The filter runs inside macOS and enforces your rules by itself, even after you quit Outbound.

• Pause controls. Resume Now ends a pause; Extend the pause offers the same durations. Starting or extending asks for approval, and the clock starts when you approve.
• Network changes. Until the Network Changes ends when you join a different network, or after four hours. Going offline does not end it. The option is unavailable until Outbound can identify the current network.
• Shortcuts. Pause Outbound accepts 1–1,440 minutes and defaults to 15 minutes. It asks for approval, and speed limits stay on. Resume Outbound ends the pause.
• Filter off. Rules, modes and pauses have no effect until Turn On Network Filter restores filtering. Turning it on needs no approval. The warning badge is controlled by Warn when protection is off in Settings › Menu Bar, on by default.

Approval

Broad changes ask for Touch ID.

Allowing or blocking one app’s connection never asks. Broad changes do: allowing any app or any destination, removing a blocklist, choosing a looser mode or pausing. Touch ID or your password, on by default.

• Outside edits. A script or direct outboundctl rule edit that would unblock something is held until you approve it in Outbound. A tightening is marked for you to look at. Each approval covers the named change; decline with Keep Blocked.
• Broad-change protection. Turning Ask for Touch ID or your password before broad changes off also needs approval.
• AI requests. Only you can approve a change requested by an AI app. How it works ›

The administrator lock

In Settings › Security, an administrator can lock rule editing, profile switching and settings. The three protection options start on. Unlock… needs an administrator’s name and password; the session unlock lasts until you quit or choose Lock Now. The saved lock stays on for next time.

Command-line access

• Turning outboundctl changes off keeps status, history and explanations readable. Commands that change something stop with exit status 77, even as root.
• The settings lock also refuses protected changes with status 77, even as root. outboundctl cannot remove the lock or re-enable its own access.
• prefs set and backup restore refuse a change that loosens protection, even as root. Direct rule and blocklist edits can be saved, but approval in the app still comes before the filter applies an unblocking change.
• Root can override an organisation’s restriction on rule editing. It still cannot bypass the separate settings lock or outboundctl access control.

Troubleshooting

When an app can’t connect.

Something Not Working? lists what Outbound blocked in the last hour and why, then what else on your Mac can stop a connection. Open it from the Help menu or the menu bar panel.

1. 1Allow what was blocked. Each app has Allow. Allow All Listed does them all, with Undo.
2. 2Pause for an hour. If the app works under Pause Outbound for 1 Hour, a rule or a blocklist was the cause.
3. 3Turn Off Network Filter… If the app still fails, look at the other software the window lists: another filter, a connected VPN, iCloud Private Relay.
4. 4Check System Settings. The filter switch is in Network › Filters on macOS 14 to 26, and in Network › VPN & Filters on macOS 27.

Outbound’s own connections

What Outbound itself connects to.

Settings › Outbound’s Connections lists the connections Outbound can open, and how to stop each one. On a fresh install, two of them reach the network by themselves.

“Off unless you turn it on. When on, Outbound sends crash reports and a few events (launch, version, mode changes) with a random ID. Never the sites or apps on this Mac, addresses, file names or rules.”

Live states

On means a connection happens under your current settings; Off means it does not. Only when you use it means nothing runs on its own. Each row explains its trigger and control.

Check the DNS status

The Encrypted DNS row reads On only while encrypted DNS is active. While macOS waits for your approval it reads Only when you use it, because the test can still connect; with no configuration it reads Off. Whether lookups are verified as encrypted is shown in Settings › DNS.

Outbound labels its own traffic in the Network Monitor too. What AI features send ›

Encrypted DNS

Encrypt your Mac’s DNS lookups.

Settings › DNS has Encrypt DNS lookups. It is off until you turn it on. Outbound hands the settings to macOS, which then encrypts lookups made through its own resolver, except for domains you add as exceptions. It isn’t a DNS proxy.

Status

The page shows one of four states: Off, Configured but unverified, Encrypted (verified) or Partly bypassed, with the number of apps. Encrypted (verified) means that during a test the filter saw macOS connect to your chosen server.

What it covers

“On for apps that use macOS name lookup. Apps with their own resolvers, VPNs and DNS exceptions may bypass this setting.”

Not covered

Apps that sent DNS around the setting in the last 24 hours are listed with how many attempts they made, to which server. Outbound counts connection attempts and stores no query names.

Plaintext DNS

Block plaintext DNS from apps is off by default. Turned on, it blocks apps that send unencrypted DNS themselves while encryption is on; macOS’s own resolver is exempt. Block Plaintext DNS for This App adds a rule for one app instead.

Providers and protocols

The provider catalogue groups Quad9 (the default), Cloudflare, Google Public DNS, NextDNS and Control D Unfiltered under Global, and DNS4EU Protective under Regional. Custom… lets you enter your own. DNS over HTTPS is the default protocol; DNS over TLS is also available.

Provider details

See the selected provider’s operator, legal jurisdiction, filtering, logging-policy summary and privacy-policy link. Jurisdiction means legal domicile, not server location. Applying the choice supplies its endpoint and, where listed, bootstrap server addresses for your selected protocol.

NextDNS and Custom…

NextDNS needs a six-character hexadecimal Profile ID. Custom… asks for HTTPS URL, TLS server name and Server addresses. Supply at least one valid IP address and an HTTPS URL without credentials or a fragment.

Exceptions

Add domains that should keep using your network’s DNS server, such as company names. An exception can apply to every profile or only some, and can end by itself after 15 minutes. Disable DNS Encryption in Profiles… turns encryption off while a chosen profile is active.

Captive portals

Pause for Captive Portal (15 Min) turns encryption off for 15 minutes so a hotel or café sign-in page can load, then turns it back on.

Test

Look up a name through the System resolver and directly through your encrypted server, for IPv4 (A) and IPv6 (AAAA). The system result says whether the filter saw the lookup go out encrypted. A successful answer alone does not prove encryption.

Recent Events

See the last eight actions and problems, newest first with timestamps.

macOS asks you once to turn on “Outbound DNS” in System Settings. DNS settings ›

outboundctl

Check any decision from Terminal.

outboundctl ships inside Outbound. Ask it what would happen to a connection, and it runs the same matching the filter runs.

~ % outboundctl explain --app /Applications/Example.app --host example.com --port 443
Decision: allow
Decided by: rule 3F2A…
Evaluated against: the saved rules
Matching rules (2):
  Decides 3F2A…  Allow connections to example.com on port 443 (TCP) for com.example.app (ABCD1234E5) [user]
          8C1D…  Allow connections to anywhere on any port for com.example.app (ABCD1234E5) [user]
~ % outboundctl status
filter: enabled
rules: 41
~ % 

Read the result in context

Saved rules, not live confirmation

The tool reads and writes the saved rule store. The background agent talks to the filter, so saving a rule does not confirm it is in force. Approval or synchronisation can leave the copies different.

Status is configuration

status reports enabled, disabled, not configured or unknown, plus the whole store’s rule count. Unknown means it could not read the value. Enabled is not a live health check of the filter process.

Explain the deciding rule

explain lists matching rules in precedence order, marks the deciding rule and explains a mode default or pause. An ask result describes the saved policy; it does not open an alert.

Use an app path

An app path lets explain read the executable’s real signature. A bare signing identifier is evaluated as Apple’s own code and the output warns about that assumption.

Describe the connection

Choose exactly one of --host and --address. You can set a port and TCP or UDP, use --incoming for an incoming connection, and request --json output.

Protected changes

When a command touches a locked area, it reports “Settings are locked. Unlock them with an administrator account to make this change.” A saved change that unblocks traffic still needs approval in the app.

Commands at a glance

debug categories groups logs by component. Add --level debug to its suggested log stream command to include the filter’s high-volume connection lines. Read the command reference ›

Audit log

Read the decision and its record.

The filter keeps a sealed audit log readable only by root. The background agent keeps a separate copy. Day files use JSON Lines, with one event per line and UTC dates in their names.

Export and check the log

sudo outboundctl audit export --to <dir>

Copies complete JSON lines and creates the destination if needed. A partial last line waits for the next export. Source day files older than 30 days are pruned unless your organisation sets another retention period; destination retention is yours to manage.

sudo outboundctl audit verify

Checks the sealed chain. A failed check exits 65 and names the first bad sequence when known.

outboundctl audit tail

Reads the sealed log as root, or the agent’s copy otherwise, and tells you which. Use --kind to filter events and --follow to keep reading.

sudo outboundctl audit sinks

Shows each SIEM sink’s last delivery, backlog and last error. audit test-sink sends a marked test event to a configured sink without adding it to the sealed log.

A gap marker uses an ask verdict to report discarded audit events; it is not a decision about a connection. If your organisation forces domain-only or hashed remote detail, manual sealed-log export is refused and points to the managed export destination.

Managed Macs

Configuration profiles can pre-approve the filter and force preferences. Your organisation can distribute an HTTPS rule feed with an optional SHA-256 pin and export the sealed log to a folder or SIEM over syslog or HTTPS. General shows configured feed and export status. Outbound for IT ›

Check it yourself

Don’t take our word for it.

Download ›

The SHA-256 of the current DMG, to compare with shasum -a 256.

Updates

Delivered from outboundfirewall.com/appcast.xml, each one EdDSA-signed and notarised.

Changelog ›

What changed in each release.

macOS compatibility ›

Supported macOS versions, and the features that need a newer release.

Security and Privacy ›

How the filter is built, and where data goes.

Credits ›

The third-party code and data in the app and on this website, with their licences.

Related in the manual

• Code identity › · Trusted apps ›
• Permissions › · Security settings ›
• Outbound’s own connections ›
• DNS encryption › · DNS settings ›
• Pausing and turning off the filter ›
• Explain › · Status › · Audit › · Debug ›
• outboundctl command reference ›