Split Tunneling
A VPN feature that routes some traffic through the encrypted VPN tunnel while other traffic goes directly to the internet, giving control over which apps use the VPN.
Full Definition
Split tunneling is a VPN configuration that lets you selectively route traffic through the VPN tunnel based on the destination IP, domain, or application. Traffic matching the split-tunnel rule goes through the VPN (encrypted and routed through the VPN server's IP); all other traffic goes directly to the internet using the device's real IP. This is useful for performance-sensitive tasks where VPN overhead adds latency, and for situations where you only need the VPN for specific sites. From a privacy perspective, split tunneling reduces the VPN's protection scope — applications outside the tunnel still expose the real IP.
