mullvad disconnect

Disconnect from the VPN

Overview

The mullvad disconnect command terminates the active VPN connection and returns your system to its normal networking state.

Syntax

mullvad disconnect [OPTIONS]

Options

Option	Description
-w, --wait	Wait until disconnected before exiting
-h, --help	Print help information

Behavior

When you run mullvad disconnect:

1. The command sends a disconnect request to the Mullvad daemon
2. The VPN tunnel is torn down
3. Your system returns to using regular network connections
4. If lockdown mode is disabled, normal internet access resumes

Examples

Basic Disconnect

Disconnect from the VPN without waiting:

mullvad disconnect

The command returns immediately, and the disconnection process continues in the background.

Wait for Disconnection

Disconnect and wait until fully disconnected:

mullvad disconnect --wait

This blocks until the tunnel state changes to “Disconnected”. The command prints tunnel state updates during the disconnection process.

Disconnect with Short Option

mullvad disconnect -w

Related Commands

• connect - Connect to a VPN relay
• status - Check current connection status
• lockdown - Configure network blocking when disconnected
• auto-connect - Control automatic connection on startup

Exit Status

Code	Description
0	Disconnect initiated successfully (or completed if --wait used)
1	Failed to disconnect

Notes

• If lockdown mode is enabled, network traffic will remain blocked even after disconnecting
• The disconnect command records the reason as “mullvad disconnect” in daemon logs
• Auto-connect settings are not affected by manual disconnection
• To prevent automatic reconnection, see auto-connect

Source Reference

Implementation: mullvad-cli/src/cmds/tunnel_state.rs:33