A VPN for Windows 10 and 11: how to install and connect

On Windows it is not one program that works but a pair: a client on the computer and whoever provides the servers. Below: which file to download for your version of Windows, five steps to a connection, what to do if Happ will not connect, and what we checked ourselves and what we did not. Everything here is as of 30 September 2026.

Windows 10 or 11: what we checked and what we did not

The Windows version decides whether the client installs at all. You can see it under Settings → System → About, in the “Windows specifications” section; the screen is described in Microsoft’s help.

• Windows 11. Checked: on 25 September 2026 Happ with a Mayak subscription link connected on Windows 11 with a live connection.
• Windows 10. Not checked. Happ’s developer does not say which Windows versions it supports, so we cannot say either “it installs” or “it does not”. Separately from Happ: Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 on 14 October 2025 — the system no longer gets free updates (the same help page says so).

If you are on Windows 10, one attempt tells you for sure: installing Happ costs nothing, and Mayak’s trial opens without a card. If it will not install or connect, write to support and name your Windows version — that is how we learn what we do not know now.

Which file to download: x64 or ARM

Happ’s release page has many files — for Windows, Mac and Linux. For Windows you need one of two:

• setup-Happ.x64.exe (about 119 MB) — for an ordinary desktop or laptop with an Intel or AMD processor. Most computers are like this.
• setup-Happ.arm64.exe (about 84 MB) — for Windows on an ARM processor.

Your processor is shown under Settings → System → About, in the “System type” line. If it names an ARM-based processor, take arm64; in every other case take x64.

The “latest” link leads to the newest regular release — as of 30 September 2026 that is 4.3.0 of 15 September. Next to it on the release page there are pre-release builds (marked Pre-release, currently 4.4.x): we have not checked them and do not recommend them. Take the file only from the developer’s page: a software collection or a link from a chat gives you a foreign file with the right name, and you have no way to verify it.

Five steps: Happ and the subscription link

1. Download the installer from Happ’s release page on GitHub — the file from the previous section.
2. Install and start Happ.
3. Take the subscription link. Mayak keeps it in your account: the “Connecting by link” card → “Show the link”. Copy it. You can also open the link in an ordinary browser: by the way our server is built, it shows a page with “Download for Windows” and “Open in Happ” buttons, and merely viewing it does not take a slot in your plan.
4. Add the link to Happ. How that is done inside the app is described in the article on the Happ subscription (the “+” button and import from the clipboard); labels in the Windows version may differ. The app loads the list of servers by itself — they arrive under the name “Mayak Networks”, each with a country and a flag.
5. Turn the connection on and pick a country.

The AmneziaWG settings file from your account will not do on Windows: as the account itself says, “on iPhone, Mac and Windows third-party apps do not accept this file yet: it carries our traffic protection.” On Windows the way to Mayak is the subscription link.

If Happ will not connect

The general order for finding the break in any link-based client is in “Happ not working”. Here are four causes tied to Windows or to our link:

• The Happ service did not start. In the notes for release 4.3.0 the developer says it improved connecting on Windows when the Happ service is slow to start, and that the program now shows a clear reinstall message if the service cannot start at all. The practical conclusion: if you see a message about the service, reinstall Happ from release 4.3.0 or newer. What happens in older releases we have not checked.
• The server list is empty. The link was pasted incompletely or was changed in your account: the old one stops working at once after a change. Copy the link again.
• No free slot in the plan. One link serves all your devices, but each device where it loaded servers takes a slot. Disconnect the extra device in your account, in the “Devices” section.
• The network. In the whitelist mode on mobile internet Mayak will not connect, neither with the app nor by link (why). That includes a laptop that gets its internet from a phone.

How to check that Windows goes through the server

Open an IP-address check before you turn it on and after: the country and the address should change to the server’s country. That shows the browser goes through the server; the check says nothing about other programs: Happ’s description does not say whether it sends the whole computer through the server or only programs that read the system proxy settings, and we did not find out. The other checks, including a DNS leak, are in “How to check that a VPN works”. How to turn the connection off on Windows is in a separate section.

A Windows laptop: slots in the plan and other people’s networks

• A laptop is a device like a phone. Plans differ by the number of devices: “Start” — up to 3, “Family” — up to 5, “Max” — up to 10. The trial is 3 days on two devices after you confirm your email: a laptop and a phone fit in the trial together.
• At home, at friends’, in a café. A laptop changes networks more often than a desktop, and how the connection behaves on your network only you can see. What the owner of a public access point sees is in a separate breakdown.
• One browser or the whole computer. A browser extension covers only its own browser (how it differs from a VPN). The general “extension or app” breakdown and the paths for Mac and Linux are in “A VPN for a computer or laptop”; Mac also has a separate article.

Mayak on Windows: what there is now

• We have no Windows app of our own yet, and we give no dates.
• You can connect right now — Happ with the subscription link from your account. Buttons for Happ and the other apps that take the same link are on the “Where to tap” page for Windows.
• What comes in the link. The protocol is X-ray (VLESS with REALITY), the servers are ours; Happ re-reads the list every three hours, so new servers arrive without you (what is in our link). One way to connect comes: there is no automatic trying of paths, as in our Android app, in a third-party client.
• What it costs — on the home page. Plans differ by the number of devices, not by speed.
• What we do not promise. That it “always works”: your network is your own, and the answer on it will be its own.

What we checked

• Happ on Windows 11 with a Mayak subscription link — with a live connection, 25 September 2026.
• Happ’s files and release — from the release page on GitHub, read on 30 September 2026: release 4.3.0 of 15 September, setup-Happ.x64.exe and setup-Happ.arm64.exe; the same page has the line about the Windows service and the 4.4.x pre-release builds.
• That third-party apps on Windows do not accept the AmneziaWG file — the text of our account area.
• The link page in a browser — from how our server is built, not from a Windows screenshot.
• How to find your Windows version, and that Windows 10 support ended on 14 October 2025 — from Microsoft’s help, read on 30 September 2026.

What we do not know

• How Happ behaves on Windows 10. We did not check it with a live connection, and the developer does not name versions.
• Whether Happ sends the whole computer through the server. Its description says nothing about modes or administrator rights, and we did not find out: an IP check in a browser shows only the browser.
• Which windows Windows itself shows when you install the file. We did not record them during the 25 September check.
• When our own Windows app comes out. We give no dates.
• How other people’s apps will change. Happ is released by its developer: file names and buttons may change in new releases — check against the release page.
• How the connection will behave on your network. Only you can see that — that is what the trial is for.

Short answers

Which VPN should I install on Windows 11? The Happ client plus a subscription link from a provider of servers. With Mayak: Happ with the link from your account — that is how we checked it on Windows 11.

How do I install a VPN on Windows 10? By the same path as on Windows 11 — but we did not check it on Windows 10 with a live connection, and Happ’s developer does not name versions. Try it: installing costs nothing.

Which Happ file should I download — x64 or arm64? setup-Happ.x64.exe for an ordinary computer, setup-Happ.arm64.exe for Windows on ARM. Look at “System type” under Settings → System → About.

Does Mayak have a Windows app? Not of its own yet, and we give no dates. You can connect right now — through Happ with the subscription link.

Can one account serve a phone and a laptop? Yes. One link serves all your devices, and our Android app signs in with the account number, no link needed. Each device takes a slot in the plan.

How is a VPN on a Windows laptop different from one on a desktop? It is not: what matters is the system, not the case.