# Screaming Frog Proxy Settings: Setup and Fixes

> Screaming Frog proxy settings step by step: Use Proxy Server, address, port 8080 and credentials, one proxy per crawl, the restart and a fix for each error.

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# Screaming Frog proxy settings: add a proxy, choose the country of the crawl, fix the errors

Proxies · Oct 23, 2026 · 10 min read · By [Aldo Morese](https://quanticdata.io/about/), founder of QuanticData

![Setting up a proxy in Screaming Frog SEO Spider in four steps: generate a Taiwan line in the QuanticData endpoint generator, open Settings > Proxy and tick Use Proxy Server with the address and port 8080, tick Use Proxy Credentials with the whole username and the password, then OK and Restart before the crawl; the card lists the three things to verify when the crawl fails.](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/hero.webp?v=20261023h)

On this page

- [What you need before you start](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/#what-you-need-before-you-start)
- [Where the proxy settings are](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/#where-the-proxy-settings-are)
- [Step by step: Residential Premium in Screaming Frog](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/#step-by-step-residential-premium-in-screaming-frog)
- [Check where the crawl comes from](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/#check-where-the-crawl-comes-from)
- [One proxy per crawl: sticky or rotating](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/#one-proxy-per-crawl-sticky-or-rotating)
- [ISP proxies in Screaming Frog](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/#isp-proxies-in-screaming-frog)
- [Mobile proxies in Screaming Frog](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/#mobile-proxies-in-screaming-frog)
- [Which proxy for which crawl](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/#which-proxy-for-which-crawl)
- [Screaming Frog proxy not working: errors and fixes](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/#screaming-frog-proxy-not-working-errors-and-fixes)
- [Before you crawl](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/#before-you-crawl)

To use a proxy in Screaming Frog, open File > Settings > Proxy (Screaming Frog SEO Spider > Settings > Proxy on a Mac), tick Use Proxy Server, enter the address and port 8080, tick Use Proxy Credentials with the whole username and the password, then click OK and Restart. Every request of the next crawl leaves from that proxy, in the country you chose.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider crawls from your own connection unless you give it a proxy. With one, the sites you crawl see the proxy's IP address and its country, which decides the redirects, the language versions and the local content the crawler collects. The settings take a few seconds, but three details catch most people: there is room for one proxy only, there is no SOCKS option, and nothing changes until the app restarts. The field names below are the ones in Screaming Frog's own user guide; the values come from the QuanticData endpoint generator.

## What you need before you start

- **Screaming Frog SEO Spider** on Windows, macOS or Linux. The free version crawls up to 500 URLs per crawl; a licence removes that limit and unlocks the full configuration.
- **A proxy plan:** Residential Premium, ISP or mobile. All of them go in the same box; the table further down says which one fits which crawl.
- **Four values:** host, port, username and password. In the QuanticData dashboard they are under My proxies, on the plan's page, in the Endpoint generator: Connection details shows them one by one, which is exactly how Screaming Frog asks for them.

**Try it on your own targets.** Every QuanticData account gets $2 of free API usage per month.

[Start free — $2/month included](https://quanticdata.io/signup/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=blog-inline&utm_content=screaming-frog-proxy-setup) · [Explore Residential Proxies from $0.80/GB](https://quanticdata.io/residential-proxies/)

## Where the proxy settings are

Since version 19.0 Screaming Frog keeps its system settings in their own window:

- **Windows and Linux:** File > Settings > Proxy.
- **macOS:** Screaming Frog SEO Spider > Settings > Proxy.
- **Versions before 19.0:** Configuration > System > Proxy. Some of Screaming Frog's older tutorials still give this path.

The Proxy page holds six fields: Use Proxy Server, Address, Port, Use Proxy Credentials, Username and Password. Screaming Frog's user guide adds three rules that shape everything else in this guide:

- **Only one proxy server.** There is no list and no rotation on Screaming Frog's side. Any change of IP has to come from the proxy itself, which with QuanticData is set in the username.
- **A restart is required.** After you save, a Success banner says "Please restart for these changes to take effect." OK and Restart does both.
- **No exceptions.** Either all HTTP and HTTPS traffic of the crawler goes through the proxy, or none of it does.

The page has no protocol choice and no SOCKS option: it takes an address and a port and speaks to them as an HTTP proxy. Use the HTTP port, 8080 on Residential Premium and mobile. Port 1080 is the SOCKS5 port; in our test on 23 October 2026 an HTTP proxy request sent to it was reset at once.

## Step by step: Residential Premium in Screaming Frog

![The QuanticData Endpoint generator for a Residential Premium plan: Taiwan selected as the country, Session set to Sticky with a 30-minute TTL, HTTP protocol, output format host:port:user:pass and the preview line, with the username and password blurred](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/quanticdata-generator-taiwan-sticky.webp)

*Step 1 in the QuanticData dashboard: the country of the crawl, a sticky session and the HTTP protocol.*

1. **Generate the line.** In the QuanticData dashboard open My proxies, then your plan. In the Endpoint generator choose the Country the crawl should come from (Taiwan in this example, with a Region or City if you need one), set Session to Sticky with a Session TTL (minutes) longer than the crawl, and keep Protocol on HTTP.
2. **Open Connection details.** It lists Host, Port, Username and Password with a copy button each. Screaming Frog wants them in separate fields, not as one line.
3. **Open the Proxy settings.** File > Settings > Proxy, or Screaming Frog SEO Spider > Settings > Proxy on a Mac.
4. **Tick Use Proxy Server.** Address and Port become active.
5. **Address and Port.** Address: `residentialpremium.quantumproxies.io`. Port: `8080`. A green tick appears next to each field.
6. **Tick Use Proxy Credentials.** Paste the username whole, for example `USER-country-tw-sid-sf01-ttl-60m`, then the password.
7. **Click OK and Restart.** Screaming Frog closes and opens again; the next crawl goes through the proxy.

![Connection details in the QuanticData Endpoint generator: Host residentialpremium.quantumproxies.io, Port 8080, the username with the Taiwan targeting and the session, and the password, each with a copy button, credentials blurred](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/quanticdata-generator-connection-details.webp)

*Step 2: the same proxy as four values, the way Screaming Frog asks for them.*

![Screaming Frog Settings window on the Proxy page with five numbered markers: 1 Proxy in the left list, 2 Use Proxy Server ticked, 3 Address residentialpremium.quantumproxies.io and Port 8080, 4 Use Proxy Credentials with the username USER-country-tw-sid-sf01-ttl-60m and the password, 5 OK and Restart; below, a real check of a Taiwan line: Hsinchu, Taiwan, Asia/Taipei](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/screaming-frog-proxy-settings-taiwan.webp)

*Steps 3 to 7 in Screaming Frog, redrawn with our values. The check under the box is real: a QuanticData Taiwan line on 23 October 2026.*

The username carries the targeting: `-country-tw` picks the exit country, `-sid-sf01` names the session and `-ttl-60m` keeps it for 60 minutes. Copy it whole. A username cut at the first dash still logs in, but the crawl then leaves from a random country.

## Check where the crawl comes from

Screaming Frog has no proxy checker of its own, so test the same four values from a terminal before a long crawl. If this answers with an address in the right country, the proxy works and anything that goes wrong afterwards is in Screaming Frog's fields:

```bash
curl -x http://residentialpremium.quantumproxies.io:8080 \
  -U "USER-country-tw-sid-sf01-ttl-60m:PASS" https://ipinfo.io/json
```

Our own run of this test with a Taiwan sticky line on 23 October 2026 answered from Hsinchu, region Taiwan, time zone Asia/Taipei, on a Taiwanese home network (AS3462). That is the location every site in the crawl sees.

## One proxy per crawl: sticky or rotating

Because Screaming Frog holds a single proxy, the username decides how the IP behaves for the whole crawl:

| Username | What the crawled site sees | Use it for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `USER-country-tw-sid-sf01-ttl-60m` | One IP in Taiwan for up to 60 minutes; up to 1440 minutes with `-ttl-1440m` | Most crawls: consistent results, cookies and sessions that stay tied to one address |
| `USER-country-tw` | A new IP in Taiwan for each request | Spot checks of single URLs in list mode, where no session has to survive |
| `USER-country-de-sid-sf02-ttl-60m` | One IP in Germany | The same site as German visitors see it: change the line, restart, crawl again |

- **The country of the exit is what the crawler sees.** Geo-redirects, language versions picked by IP, local prices and consent banners all follow the proxy, not your office. To compare two markets, run two crawls with two lines.
- **A lifetime longer than the crawl.** When a sticky session ends, the next request leaves from a new IP. For a crawl of several hours set the TTL accordingly, up to 1440 minutes.
- **A new IP** on Residential Premium or mobile is a new session ID: `-sid-sf02` instead of `-sid-sf01`, then OK and Restart.

For a full crawl of your own site from another country, the result is worth comparing with [how to perform an SEO audit](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-to-perform-an-seo-audit/): the same checks, from the visitor's location. For audits without a desktop crawler, the [SEO Audit API](https://quanticdata.io/seo-audit/) fetches pages from the country you pass.

## ISP proxies in Screaming Frog

An ISP proxy is one fixed IP address that stays the same for months. In Screaming Frog it is the cleanest answer to "Screaming Frog IP whitelist": when a client's staging site or firewall only lets known addresses in, give them the ISP IP to allow and crawl through it.

![The Assigned IPs panel of a QuanticData ISP plan: Protocol HTTP / HTTPS, output format IP:Port:Username:Password, five IPs masked with port 50100 and username USER, and the formatted output ready to copy](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/quanticdata-isp-assigned-ips.webp)

*Proxy endpoints, Assigned IPs: every line is one fixed IP with its port and login.*

1. **Copy one line** from Assigned IPs, with Protocol on HTTP / HTTPS and the format IP:Port:Username:Password.
2. **Address** is the IP, **Port** is the port of that line, 50100 in the example.
3. **Use Proxy Credentials** with the Username and Password of the same line, then OK and Restart.

![Screaming Frog Proxy settings with a QuanticData ISP proxy: Use Proxy Server ticked, Address 138.•••.•••.78 (masked) and Port 50100, Use Proxy Credentials with Username USER and the password, OK and Restart, with numbered markers for each step](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/screaming-frog-proxy-settings-isp.webp)

*An ISP line in the same box: every request of the crawl leaves from this one IP. Redrawn screen with our values.*

## Mobile proxies in Screaming Frog

Mobile lines go in the same fields. The address is `mobile.quantumproxies.io` on the Global gateway (USA, EU and Asia gateways are in the generator too), the port is 8080, and the username carries `-type-mobile`, for example `USER-country-tw-type-mobile-sid-sf02-ttl-60m`. Use them when you need the site as a phone on a carrier network gets it.

Mobile plans also offer IP whitelist authentication: add your own IP in the generator, take the host and port it gives you, and leave Use Proxy Credentials unticked. Residential Premium and ISP lines always log in with username and password.

![Screaming Frog Proxy settings with a QuanticData mobile line: Address mobile.quantumproxies.io, Port 8080, Use Proxy Credentials with the username USER-country-tw-type-mobile-sid-sf02-ttl-60m and the password, then OK and Restart, with numbered markers](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/screaming-frog-proxy-settings-mobile.webp)

*A mobile line: same box, -type-mobile in the username. Redrawn screen with our values.*

## Which proxy for which crawl

| Proxy type | In Screaming Frog | Good for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Residential Premium | residentialpremium.quantumproxies.io, port 8080, the whole username with country, region, city or ISP | Crawling a site as visitors in a given country see it; sticky for full crawls |
| ISP | The IP and port of one Assigned IPs line, its username and password | One fixed address a site owner can allowlist; repeat crawls from the same IP |
| Mobile | mobile.quantumproxies.io, port 8080, -type-mobile in the username, or IP whitelist without credentials | Mobile versions served by carrier network or country |

The plans are on the pages for [QuanticData residential proxies](https://quanticdata.io/residential-proxies/), [ISP proxies](https://quanticdata.io/isp-proxies/), [mobile proxies](https://quanticdata.io/mobile-proxies/) and [Taiwan residential proxies](https://quanticdata.io/proxies/taiwan/).

## Screaming Frog proxy not working: errors and fixes

The most common sign of a wrong proxy is a window called Authentication Required at the start of the crawl: "The proxy residentialpremium.quantumproxies.io is requesting login details." The gateway refused the login, which on QuanticData means a 407 Proxy Authentication Required answer: Use Proxy Credentials is not ticked, or the username or password is not the one in the dashboard. The same window saying "The website ... is requesting login details" is something else: a password-protected site asking for its own login, not the proxy.

![Screaming Frog Authentication Required window: The proxy residentialpremium.quantumproxies.io is requesting login details, with empty Username and Password fields and OK and Cancel, next to numbered notes: the gateway refused the login, Cancel and open the Proxy settings, tick Use Proxy Credentials with the whole username and the password, OK and Restart](https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/screaming-frog-proxy-authentication-required.webp)

*The proxy asks for login details: fix the credentials in the Proxy settings. Redrawn screen.*

The other errors show up in the Status Code and Status columns of the crawl. Screaming Frog's own FAQ points to the proxy settings for the first three.

| What you see | Usual cause | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Authentication Required: the proxy is requesting login details | No credentials sent, or wrong ones: the gateway answers 407 | Tick Use Proxy Credentials, paste the whole username and the password, OK and Restart |
| 0, Connection Refused or Connection Error on every URL | Wrong port (1080 is the SOCKS5 port), a typo in Address, or a security program blocking the app | Port 8080 for Residential Premium and mobile, the port of the line for ISP; copy the address again |
| 0, Connection Timeout | The proxy port is blocked on your network, or the site answers slowly (the default timeout is 20 seconds) | Run the curl test: if it fails too, open the port with your IT team; if it works, raise Response Timeout under Configuration > Spider > Advanced |
| The crawl still comes from your own IP | The settings were saved without a restart | OK and Restart, or close and reopen Screaming Frog |
| Pages in the wrong language or country | No `-country-` in the username, or Worldwide in the generator | Generate the line with a country and paste the username again |
| Worked yesterday, fails today | The plan expired or its traffic is used up | Check status, remaining traffic and expiry in My proxies |
| Many 429 or 403 answers from one site | The site limits how fast or from where it is crawled | Lower Configuration > Speed and agree the crawl with the site owner; see [429 Too Many Requests](https://quanticdata.io/blog/429-too-many-requests-web-scraping/) |

To stop using the proxy, untick Use Proxy Server and restart. A proxy left on by mistake is the first thing Screaming Frog's FAQ asks you to check when a crawl that should work returns Connection Refused.

## Before you crawl

A proxy changes where the crawler comes from, not what it is allowed to do. Crawl sites you own or are allowed to audit, keep to robots.txt and a reasonable speed, and see [is web crawling legal](https://quanticdata.io/blog/is-web-crawling-legal/) for the rules that apply where you work.

### Sources & further reading

- [Screaming Frog SEO Spider user guide: Configuration, Proxy](https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/user-guide/configuration/#proxy)
- [Screaming Frog SEO Spider FAQ: Connection Refused, Connection Error, Connection Timeout](https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/faq/)
- [Screaming Frog: HTTP Status Codes, Why Won't My Website Crawl?](https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/tutorials/http-status-codes-when-crawling/)
- [Screaming Frog SEO Spider version 19.0: settings under File > Settings](https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/blog/seo-spider-19/)
- [RFC 9110 HTTP Semantics: 407 Proxy Authentication Required](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9110#name-407-proxy-authentication-re)

## FAQ

Quick answers on screaming frog proxy settings.

[Something else? Ask us](mailto:hello@quanticdata.io)

### Where are the proxy settings in Screaming Frog?

On Windows and Linux under File > Settings > Proxy; on a Mac under Screaming Frog SEO Spider > Settings > Proxy. Versions before 19.0 had them under Configuration > System > Proxy. Tick Use Proxy Server, fill in Address and Port, tick Use Proxy Credentials for the username and password, then click OK and Restart.

### Does Screaming Frog support SOCKS5 proxies?

The Proxy page has only an address and a port, with no protocol choice and no SOCKS option, and Screaming Frog's user guide speaks of HTTP and HTTPS traffic going through it. Give it the HTTP port of your proxy: 8080 on QuanticData Residential Premium and mobile, the port of the line for ISP.

### Can Screaming Frog rotate proxies?

Screaming Frog takes one proxy server only, so rotation happens at the proxy. With QuanticData a username without a session, such as USER-country-tw, gives a new IP for each request; a sticky username with -sid- and -ttl- keeps one IP for up to 1440 minutes. To change country, change the username and restart.

### Why does Screaming Frog ask for proxy login details?

The window Authentication Required, "The proxy ... is requesting login details", means the proxy refused the login: Use Proxy Credentials is not ticked, or the username or password is wrong. Cancel, open the Proxy settings, paste the whole username and the password, then OK and Restart.

### Why do I get Connection Refused or Connection Timeout after adding a proxy?

Connection Refused or Connection Error on every URL usually means a wrong port or address; on QuanticData use 8080, not the SOCKS5 port 1080. Connection Timeout means the proxy cannot be reached from your network or the site is slow. Test the same values with curl: if curl works, the problem is in Screaming Frog's fields.

### How do I crawl a site that only allows whitelisted IPs?

Use an ISP proxy: it is one fixed IP that stays the same for months. Ask the site owner to allow that IP, put it with its port, username and password in Screaming Frog's Proxy settings and restart. Every request of the crawl then comes from the allowed address.

### Is Screaming Frog free?

The SEO Spider is free to download and use for crawls of up to 500 URLs; without a licence crawls cannot be saved and parts of the configuration are restricted. The current licence terms are on Screaming Frog's site. The proxy is separate and comes from your proxy provider.

## The country of every Screaming Frog crawl, set in one username

Residential Premium, ISP and mobile proxies with country targeting and sticky sessions up to 1440 minutes, copied from the endpoint generator into Screaming Frog's Proxy settings.

[Start free — $2/month included](https://quanticdata.io/signup/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=blog-end&utm_content=screaming-frog-proxy-setup) · [Explore Residential Proxies from $0.80/GB](https://quanticdata.io/residential-proxies/)

## Related reading

- [Nstbrowser Proxy Setup: Add, Check and Fix](https://quanticdata.io/blog/nstbrowser-proxy-setup/): Proxies · In the profile's Proxy tab choose Custom Proxy, paste host:port:user:pass into Proxy URL, set http for port 8080 or socks5 for 1080, click Check Proxy and create the profile. Below: Residential Premium, ISP and mobile lines, Saved Proxies versus Saved Proxy Group, proxy groups for many profiles and a fix for a failed check.
- [MuLogin Proxy Setup: Add, Check and Fix](https://quanticdata.io/blog/mulogin-proxy-setup/): Proxies · Open Add browser, go to Proxy settings, pick HTTP or SOCKS5 to match the port, paste host:port:user:pass, click Check the network and save. Below: every field by its MuLogin name, one sticky session per profile, Residential Premium, ISP and mobile lines, many profiles at once, hosts that skip the proxy and what to check when no IP information appears.
- [ClonBrowser Proxy Setup: Add, Bind and Fix](https://quanticdata.io/blog/clonbrowser-proxy-setup/): Proxies · In New Browser open the Proxy tab, choose Custom, paste the line into Parse, keep the protocol on http for port 8080, click Check network and create the browser. Below: every field by its name in ClonBrowser, Residential Premium, ISP and mobile lines, batch add, binding a saved proxy to one browser and the checks to run when the connection fails.

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Source: https://quanticdata.io/blog/screaming-frog-proxy-setup/ · Site index for AI: https://quanticdata.io/llms.txt