Proxy SwitchyOmega is a browser extension that keeps several proxies as named profiles and switches between them from the toolbar, or automatically by website. The original extension is gone from the Chrome Web Store, so in 2026 you install its maintained fork, ZeroOmega, create a Proxy Profile with the host, port, username and password from your ProxyHive order, click Apply changes, and pick the profile from the toolbar. Checking https://api.ipify.org then shows the IP you bought.

Steps checked against the ZeroOmega source and store listings on 2026-09-29.

SwitchyOmega in 2026: the original vs ZeroOmega

The original Proxy SwitchyOmega was a Manifest V2 extension and was never ported to Manifest V3, the extension format Chrome now requires. When we checked on 2026-09-29, its old Chrome Web Store address no longer showed an installable item.

The maintained successor is ZeroOmega, a fork of the same code. On 2026-09-29 the Chrome Web Store listed it as "Proxy SwitchyOmega 3 (ZeroOmega)", version 3.5.2, updated September 10, 2026, with about 900,000 users. It is also on Firefox Add-ons and Edge Add-ons. The screens and field names match the original, so older SwitchyOmega tutorials still apply.

Several other "SwitchyOmega V3" and "MV3" listings exist from different publishers. An extension that controls your proxy sees all your traffic, so install the one whose listing links to the zero-peak/ZeroOmega source.

Before you start

  1. Buy an IP (one is enough) and open the order in the dashboard at https://app.proxyhive.io.
  2. Copy the HOST, PORT, USERNAME and PASSWORD. Each ISP or datacenter IP is its own endpoint, and the dashboard lists separate HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5 ports for it.
  3. Decide how you will authenticate: username and password, or an IP allowlist on the order, which lets your own public IP connect with no credentials.

Use the HTTP port unless you have a reason not to. "HTTP" describes how the browser talks to the proxy; https:// sites stay encrypted inside the tunnel. HTTP vs SOCKS5 proxies covers the difference.

Set up a proxy profile in SwitchyOmega

1. Create the profile

  1. Click the ZeroOmega icon in the toolbar and choose Options.
  2. In the left sidebar, under Profiles, click New profile….
  3. Enter a Profile name you will recognise later, such as the IP's city and carrier.
  4. Select Proxy Profile and click Create.

2. Enter the server

In the Proxy servers table, fill the (default) row:

FieldValue
ProtocolHTTP
ServerHOST from your order
Portthe HTTP port from your order

Leave the Bypass List as it is unless you need other addresses to skip the proxy. Local addresses are there already.

3. Save

Click Apply changes in the left sidebar. Nothing takes effect until you do, and the options page reminds you if you try to leave without applying.

Authentication: username and password or IP allowlist

Click the lock icon at the end of the server row. In the dialog, enter the Username and Password from the order and click Save changes, then Apply changes again. ZeroOmega answers the proxy's challenge for you, so you do not see a browser prompt.

If you skip this step, Chrome shows its own sign-in box the first time the proxy asks for credentials. That works, but the prompt returns in every new browser session.

Two limits worth knowing:

  • Chrome cannot send a password to a SOCKS5 proxy. ZeroOmega shows a warning when you try. Use the HTTP port, or turn on the IP allowlist for the order and use SOCKS5 without credentials. Firefox does not have this limit.
  • An IP allowlist follows your network, not your browser. Work from a new network and the proxy refuses you until you add that IP on the order.

Verify the exit IP

  1. Click the ZeroOmega icon and select your new profile.
  2. Open https://api.ipify.org?format=json in a new tab.
  3. The ip value should be the address on your order. If it shows your own IP, the profile is not active or another extension controls the proxy.

For a check outside the browser, the curl proxy guide runs the same test from a terminal in one command.

Switch between several IPs with auto switch

For a handful of static IPs, make one Proxy Profile per IP, each with its own credentials. Then choose between them in the popup, which also offers [Direct] and [System Proxy].

To pick the IP by website, add a switch profile:

  1. Click New profile…, name it, select Switch Profile and click Create.
  2. Under Switch rules, click Add condition.
  3. Set Condition Type to Host wildcard, Condition Details to a pattern such as *.example.com, and the profile to the Proxy Profile that should carry it.
  4. Set the Default row to [Direct], or to a proxy if everything else should be proxied too.
  5. Click Apply changes, then select the switch profile in the popup.

In Chromium browsers an extension sees only the host of an https:// request, not the full path, so write rules against hosts rather than URL paths.

One static IP per account or project is the pattern this suits: buying a single static IP covers why you might hold two or three instead of a pool, and what an ISP proxy is explains why ISP proxies look like a home connection to the sites you visit.

Troubleshooting

  • The sign-in box keeps coming back, or you see 407. The username or password is wrong, or the order is on IP allowlist and your current IP is not on it.
  • ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED. Wrong host or port, or the protocol in the profile does not match the port (a SOCKS5 port entered as HTTP, for example).
  • ERR_TUNNEL_CONNECTION_FAILED. The proxy refused to open the tunnel. Check credentials first, then try another target site.
  • The popup says it cannot switch profiles. Another extension controls the browser's proxy. Only one can; disable the others under Manage extensions.
  • The IP check shows your own address. The active profile is [Direct], or a switch rule sent that host direct.

Status codes and browser errors are decoded in more depth in the proxy error codes guide. If you prefer an extension with per-URL patterns and Firefox tab and container support, see FoxyProxy.