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Outbound Help
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Getting started

The first hour with Outbound, from the mode setup chose to the first alerts, the menu bar, the main window and Review.

Outbound 1.2.0 · Updated

Setup left you with a mode, three permissions and a shield in the menu bar. Use the menu bar to check status, then open the main window to review connections.

Outbound setup, You’re ready to go: filter running, filtering on and background allowed, a map of 29 connections in 9 countries, the first connections, and Show Me Around and Open Outbound
Example data.

The mode you start in

Section titled “The mode you start in”

Setup asked you to choose how Outbound works, and each mode behaves differently in the first hour:

  • Learn allows and records new connections. Matching rules still apply, including block rules. Connections allowed by Learn without a matching rule can appear in Review.
  • Ask asks when no rule decides the connection. A connection needing an answer waits: up to 60 seconds by default, 8 seconds for a UDP connection. Expect several alerts in the first hour while Outbound learns your apps. The enabled VPN apps trusted group allows recognised VPN providers.
  • Strict blocks anything you haven’t allowed without asking, so some apps may look offline. Outbound lists what it blocked in the menu bar. Setup suggests it best after a few days in Learn.

Unless your organisation manages the mode, you can change it from the menu bar or the Firewall menu. See Operation modes.

The first alerts

Section titled “The first alerts”

In Ask mode, a connection needing your decision opens an Outbound question with Block and Allow buttons. The alert names the app, where it is going, and what a yes would mean; your answer can cover just that server, its whole domain, or any connection, for once, an hour, until the app quits, until logout, until restart, or forever. See The connection alert, Choosing what to allow and the keyboard shortcuts.

If you do not answer, the filter decides after the wait: by default it allows the connection once and adds it to Review. See When you don’t answer. Several alerts at once queue into one panel. See Several alerts at once.

The menu bar

Section titled “The menu bar”

Outbound lives in the menu bar: the shield at the top of your screen. Click it for the panel with the current status and mode, and Control Center: widgets for live traffic, the last 24 hours, recent blocks and the apps using the network. See The menu bar item and The menu bar panel.

The main window

Section titled “The main window”

Open Outbound from the menu bar panel. The sidebar starts with Overview, Tracking Report, Network Monitor, Analytics, Highlights and Assistant. Below are Decisions, Rules, Rule Groups and Lists. Lists contains Blocklists, Trackers and Profiles. The map lives inside Network Monitor. The status pill at the top opens the status menu. See The main window, Overview and Network Monitor.

Review

Section titled “Review”

Review includes connections allowed by Learn without a matching rule, grouped by app. It is not a complete connection history. Keep what you recognise, then switch to Ask so new connections ask first. In Ask mode, Review collects the connections whose alerts nobody answered. See Review and unapproved rules and Review.

Where to go next

Section titled “Where to go next”