Tor Browser Version 11.0 Released, Introduces New UI, Completely Ditches V2 Onion Service

According to the official Tor news, Tor Browser version 11.0 is now available from the Tor Browser download page and and distribution directory. This is the first stable release based on Firefox ESR 91 and includes a major update to Tor 0.4.6.8.

Tor Browser Gets a New Look

Earlier this year, Firefox's user interface underwent a major redesign aimed at simplifying the browser's chrome, streamlining menus and adopting a new tab design. tor Browser brings the new design of Firefox ESR 91 to the table for the first time.

Tor Browser 11 redesigned icons

To ensure it fits the new experience, every custom UI in Tor Browser has been modernized to match the new look and feel of Firefox. This includes everything from updating basics like colors, typography, and buttons to redrawing each icon to match the new, flatter icon style.

In addition to the browser chrome itself, connection screens, circuit display, security levels and Onion site errors were also improved - each with some small but welcome quality of life improvements.

Final abandonment of the v2 Onion service

Last year, we announced that the v2 Onion service would be deprecated by the end of 2021, and since the release of version 10.5, Tor Browser has been warning "those who visit v2 Onion sites that they are about to expire". Finally, that day has come. Since updating to Tor 0.4.6.8, the v2 Onion service is no longer available in the Tor Browser, and users will receive an "Invalid Onion Site Address" error.

If you receive this error when trying to access a previously available v2 address, there is nothing wrong with your current browser; instead, the problem is with the site itself. If you wish, you can notify the Onion site administrator of the problem and encourage them to upgrade to the v3 Onion service as soon as possible.

It's easy to tell if you have any old v2 addresses in your bookmarks that need to be removed or updated: although both end in .onion, the more secure v3 addresses are 56 characters long compared to the 16-character length of v2.