• For hardware compatibility issues, refer to our known issues.

• To learn what you can do with Tails, refer to our documentation.

• For questions related to Tor, see also to the Tor support pages.

Proyecto Tails

¿Qué relación hay entre Tor y Tails?

Tails is part of the Tor Project.

Tails fue fundado en 2009 y unió fuerzas con Tor en 2024.

See also our explanation about why Tails uses Tor.

¿Por qué Tails está basado en Debian y no en otra distribución?

Estamos muy relacionados e involucrados en Debian. Las amistades, relaciones y la experiencia que tenemos en Debian tiene muchos beneficios para Tails y no estamos preparados para construir la misma relación con Ubuntu, OpenBSD u otras distribuciones. Lee nuestra declaración sobre la relación con upstream para más detalles.

Lee también el artículo Por qué hay tantos derivativos de Debian de Stefano Zacchiroli (en inglés).

¿Por qué Tails no está basado en Ubuntu?

Primero lee la respuesta a la pregunta anterior.

• The rapid development cycle of Ubuntu would be too fast for Tails.

• Ubuntu adds features in ways that we find dangerous for privacy. For an example, see EFF: Privacy in Ubuntu 12.10, Amazon Ads and Data Leaks.

• Ubuntu is led by Canonical, a for-profit corporation that takes most of the important decisions.

• Normalmente distribuimos kernels y drivers de video de Debian backports. El resultado es comparable a Ubuntu en términos de soporte de hardware reciente.

• Pensamos que la calidad general del trabajo de mantenimiento hecho en los paquetes es importante para la seguridad. Los mantenedores de Debian son generalmente expertos en el área con la que lidian sus paquetes, lo que no es el caso fuera de los pocos paquetes que soporta oficialmente Ubuntu.

¿Por qué Tails viene con el Escritorio GNOME?

People have asked for Tails with LXDE, XFCE, MATE, KDE, and so on, but we are not going to use a different desktop.

The main drawback of GNOME is that it requires quite a lot of resources, but GNOME has many advantages, especially for users who are new to Linux.

The GNOME desktop is:

• Well integrated

• Very well translated

• Doing relatively well in terms of accessibility features

• Actively developed

• Well maintained in Debian, where it is the default desktop

Hemos invertido tiempo en adquirir conocimientos sobre GNOME y cambiar a otro entorno de escritorio requeriría ir a través de ese proceso otra vez.

That's also why we are not going to provide more than one desktop option.

Instalación

Do I need a USB stick dedicated to Tails?

Yes. Tails requires a USB stick dedicated to running Tails only.

If it were possible to use the same USB stick with another operating system, for example to store files to use on Windows, a virus in the other operating system could corrupt your Tails.

That's why your Tails USB stick is not recognized in Windows and why we discourage installing other live operating systems on the same USB stick.

To store files in your Tails USB stick, use the Persistent Storage. To exchange files between Tails and another operating system, use a separate USB stick.

¿Puedo instalar Tails permanentemente en mi computadora?

Esto no es posible utilizando los métodos actuales de instalación. Tails está diseñado para ser un sistema en vivo que corre desde un medio removible: memoria USB o DVD.

Esta es una decisión consciente ya que este modo de operación es mejor para lo que queremos dar a las personas que usan Tails: amnesia, el hecho de que Tails no deja rastros en el ordenador al terminar una sesión.

Can I install Tails with UNetbootin, YUMI, Ventoy, or another tool?

No. Esos métodos de instalación no están soportados. Puede que no funcionen para nada, o peor: puede que parezcan funcionar pero produzcan una memoria USB que no se comporta como Tails. Sigue siempre la documentación de descarga e instalación.

¿Debo actualizar Tails con apt upgrade o Synaptic?

No. Upgrading whenever you get a notification from Tails Upgrader is enough.

Tails provides upgrades every 4 weeks, which are thoroughly tested to make sure that no security feature or configuration gets broken.

If you upgrade the system yourself using apt or Synaptic, you might break things.

Our team sometimes publishes emergency releases, whenever important security upgrades are available in Debian or Tor Browser before the next scheduled release.

¿Puedo comprar una memoria USB o un DVD con Tails preinstalado?

No, no vendemos dispositivos con Tails preinstalado.

De hecho, vender dispositivos preinstalados sería una muy mala idea:

• Si se grabaran en DVDs, quedarían desactualizados a la siguiente versión. Esto sería como mucho en 4 semanas.

• Si se instala en una memoria USB sería imposible verificar que el Tails en el USB es genuino. Asegurar la autenticidad de una memoria USB de Tails debería hacerse con verificación criptográfica o confianza personal (si conoces a alguien en quien confías y que puede clonar una memoria USB de Tails para ti). Pero una vez que Tails está instalado en una memoria USB ya no es posible utilizar nuestras técnicas criptográficas de verificación. Que puedas confiar en tu memoria USB de Tails es algo que nos parece muy importante.

¿Puedo verificar la integridad de una memoria USB o un DVD de Tails?

It is impossible to verify the integrity of a Tails USB stick or DVD while running Tails from it. It would be like asking someone whether they are lying: a true liar would always pretend to tell the truth.

If you worry that your Tails might be corrupted, do a manual upgrade from a trusted operating system to upgrade it to a trusted version of Tails.

Navegador Tor

Why is JavaScript enabled by default in Tor Browser?

Hoy en día muchas webs requieren JavaScript para funcionar. Como consecuencia, el JavaScript está habilitado por defecto en Tails para evitar confundir a los usuarios. Pero el Navegador Tor se encarga de bloquear las funcionalidades peligrosas de JavaScript.

Tor Browser also includes a security level and the NoScript extension to optionally disable more JavaScript. This might improve security in some cases. However, if you disable JavaScript, then the fingerprint of your Tor Browser differs from most users. This reduces your anonymity.

Nos parece que tener el JavaScript habilitado por defecto es, en nuestro caso, el mejor compromiso entre la usabilidad y la seguridad.

Can I install other add-ons in Tor Browser?

Installing add-ons in Tor Browser might break the security built into Tails.

Las extensiones pueden hacer muchas cosas dentro del navegador, e incluso aunque todas las conexiones vayan a través de Tor, algunas extensiones pueden interactuar mal con el resto de la configuración o divulgar información privada.

1. Pueden buscar y revelar información acerca de tu comportamiento mientras navegas, el historial de tu navegador, información de tu sistema; ya sea a propósito o por error.

2. Pueden tener bugs y vulnerabilidades de seguridad que podrían ser utilizados por un atacante.

3. They can have bugs that break the security offered by other add-ons and break your anonymity.

4. They can break your anonymity by making your browsing behaviour distinguishable from other Tails users.

Unless proven otherwise, no add-on, apart from the ones already included in Tails, has been seriously audited and should be considered safe to use in this context.

Should I manually update add-ons included in Tor Browser?

No.

Tails provides upgrades every 4 weeks, which are thoroughly tested to make sure that no security feature or configuration gets broken.

Updating add-ons in Tor Browser might break the security built into Tails.

¿Cómo analizar los resultados de los tests de anonimato en línea?

Las páginas web que chequean tu huella digital, como https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/, intentan recabar la mayor cantidad posible de información de tu navegador para ver si se puede usar para identificarte.

As explained in our documentation about the fingerprint of Tor Browser in Tails, Tails provides anonymity by making it difficult to distinguish you from other users of Tor Browser (either in Tails or on other operating systems).

La información que reciben entonces estos sitios web no es tan dañina para nuestro anonimato mientras sea la misma para todos los usuarios del Navegador Tor.

Además verificamos el resultado de esos sitios web antes de cada edición de Tails, mira en nuestra test suite.

Redes

¿Puedo usar Tails con una VPN?

Currently, Tails does not work with VPNs.

Tor provee anonimato haciendo imposible que un solo punto de la red sepa al mismo tiempo el origen y el destino de una conexión.

Unlike Tor, VPNs don't provide strong anonymity because the VPN provider can see both where you are connecting from and where you are connecting to.

But VPNs have clear benefits over Tor in some situations where strong anonymity is not needed, for example:

• To access websites that block Tor or can only be accessed from a given country

• To use videoconferencing tools like Jitsi or Zoom

• To access private VPN services like intranets or share folders

• To browse the Internet at higher speeds than Tor

We are now considering adding VPN support to Tails, either:

• By adding another browser that would use a VPN instead of Tor. (#19465 or #19942)

• By giving the option to use a VPN instead of Tor for the whole system and still having Tor Browser to use Tor only (#19901)

Para mas información, lee nuestro blueprint sobre soporte VPN (en inglés).

¿Puedo elegir el país de mis nodos de salida, o editar de algún otro modo el archivo torrc?

Editing the Tor configuration file, also called torrc, to modify how Tor creates circuits can weaken your anonymity in ways that are hard to understand and explain. That is why we don't explain how to modify the Tor configuration file in Tails, for example, to choose the country of your exit nodes or exclude some entry guards.

Still, you can close a given circuit and trigger Tor to create a new one using the New Tor circuit for this site button of Tor Browser or the Onion Circuits utility.

Why does Tails automatically connect to websites when starting?

The clock of the computer needs to be set at the correct time for both:

1. Being able to connect to the Tor network.

   The computer clock is fixed a first time, approximately, before connecting to Tor, either automatically or manually.

2. Protecting your anonymity while using Tor.

   The computer clock is fixed a second time, precisely, to prevent a website from identifying you by analyzing minor differences between your computer clock and the correct time.

   This second synchronization is made by sending HTTPS queries through Tor to several websites and deducing a correct time from their answers. You can see the list of websites that Tails can connect to in /etc/default/htpdate.pools.

See also our design document on time synchronization.

¿Puedo colaborar con la red Tor corriendo un repetidor o un puente de Tor en Tails?

Por el momento es imposible tener repetidores o puentes de Tor en Tails.

Can I run a Tor onion service from Tails?

You can use OnionShare to share files, websites, and chat rooms from Tails using onion services.

It is technically possible to use Tails to create other onion services, but it is complicated and we have no plans to document this.

¿Puedo usar el comando ping en Tails?

Es imposible usar ping en Tails, porque ping usa el protocolo ICMP mientras que Tor sólo puede transportar conexiones TCP.

Included software

¿Puede incluirse mi software favorito en Tails?

First, make sure that this software is already available in Debian, as this is a requirement to be included in Tails.

Adding to Tails software that is not in Debian implies extra work that could compromise the sustainability of the project.

Being in Debian brings many advantages:

• It is included in the Debian process for security updates and new versions.

• It is authenticated using OpenPGP signatures.

• Se encuentra bajo el escrutinio de la comunidad de Debian y sus muchos usuarios y derivativos, incluyendo Ubuntu.

To check whether some software is in Debian, search for it on https://packages.debian.org/. If it is not yet available in Debian, ask its developers why it is not the case yet.

En segundo lugar, este software puede que no sea útil para lograr nuestros deseos de diseño. Mira nuestros documentos de diseño para entender cuáles son los casos previstos y las asunciones en las que se basa Tails.

También intentamos limitar la cantidad de software incluido en Tails y sólo añadimos nuevos programas cuando tenemos una muy buena razón:

• We try to limit the growth of the images and automatic upgrades.

• More software implies more security issues.

• We avoid proposing several options to accomplish the same task.

• Si un paquete necesita ser removido luego de su inclusión, por ejemplo por razones de seguridad, puede ser problemático ya que los usuarios pueden haberse acostumbrado a depender de él.

After considering all this, if you still think that this software is a good candidate to be included in Tails, please explain us your proposal on GitLab.

Aquí hay algunos de los programas que a menudo nos piden que incluyamos en Tails:

• monero: not in Debian (#17823)

• bitmessage: not in Debian

• retroshare: not in Debian

• rar/unrar: not Free Software

Can I use messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Signal in Tails?

Adding Signal is very high in our priorities but complicated because Signal is not available in Debian by default and updates very often.

Because no single app will ever meet the needs of all our users, we might also make it easier to install other messaging apps. (#14567)

In Tails, you can already chat over XMPP using Pidgin and create anonymous chat rooms using OnionShare.

Current alternatives:

• Signal

  You can follow this tutorial to install Signal Desktop on Tails and link to an existing Signal account.

  To create a Signal account for a new telephone number from Tails, follow this tutorial on registering an account using signal-cli.

• WhatsApp

  WhatsApp Web works in Tor Browser as of January 2025. WhatsApp Web has been unreliable in Tor Browser in the past and might stop working in the future.

• Telegram Web

  Telegram Web does not work in Tor Browser as of January 2025. Telegram Web has been working in Tor Browser in the past and might work again in the future.

Can I do voice or video calls from Tails?

Not yet.

• Videoconferencing tools that work in web browsers, like Jitsi or Zoom, don't work in Tor Browser yet.

  They rely on the WebRTC technology, which uses UDP connections. But, the Tor network only supports TCP connections, like the ones used for HTTP and email.

  To remove this limitation, the Tor Project is working on supporting UDP traffic over Tor.

• Proprietary applications like Skype or Zoom will never be available in Tails because they are not Free Software.

• Mumble is the only voice chat application that we know works from Tails. You can use the Additional Software feature to add Mumble to your Tails.

  Wahay is a decentralized voice chat application based on Mumble. If you are a Debian developer, please help us get Wahay in Debian.

¿Puedo hacer descargas con BitTorrent en Tails?

Tails no viene con ningún programa de BitTorrent y es probable que nunca lo haga.

There are 2 problems with using BitTorrent over Tor:

• Es difícil de hacer bien, mira: https://blog.torproject.org/bittorrent-over-tor-isnt-good-idea.

• Daña la red, mira: https://blog.torproject.org/why-tor-slow-and-what-were-going-do-about-it.

Can I use Monero in Tails?

Yes. You can install the Feather Monero wallet as an AppImage.

Tails currently does not include a Monero wallet. However, we are interested in making it easier to use Monero in Tails in the future. See #17823 for a list of unofficial guides on how to use Monero in Tails.

¿Tails necesita antivirus?

No, as other Linux systems, Tails doesn't require an antivirus to protect itself from most malware, such as viruses, trojans, and worms. There are various reasons why Linux operating systems generally don't need antivirus software, including the permission design of Linux systems.

Ver la página de Wikipedia sobre malware en Linux para más detalles.

Why does Tails include old versions of software?

The Tails 7 series is based on Debian 13 (Trixie).

The version of each application included in Tails corresponds to the version available in this version of Debian. Even though some versions might be old, the Debian Security Team provides security updates.

Newer versions of all applications will be available starting from Tails 7.0, which will be based on Debian 13 (Trixie). Until then, you cannot update any of the applications included in Tails to a newer version.

You can see which version of a software package is available in each version of Debian on https://packages.debian.org/.