Try a Proxy in a Separate Chrome Profile

Changing the system proxy can affect more than the browser window you are testing. For a short Chrome test, you can start a separate profile with an explicit proxy endpoint instead.

Start a dedicated test profile

On Linux, an HTTP proxy example is:

google-chrome --user-data-dir=/tmp/proxy-ip-check --proxy-server=http://203.0.113.10:8080

Use a new directory reserved for this test, and replace the documentation endpoint with your actual proxy from your service or the free proxy list. The Chrome executable's name and location depend on the operating system and installation.

The separate user-data directory matters. Chrome can reuse an existing process associated with a profile, so launching a command beside an already running normal browser does not prove that the new proxy flag took effect. Close a previous test process before relaunching the same test profile with another endpoint.

For a SOCKS5 entry

google-chrome --user-data-dir=/tmp/proxy-socks-check --proxy-server=socks5://203.0.113.10:1080

Chrome uses the socks5 scheme here, not curl's socks5h spelling. Chromium's SOCKS5 implementation resolves destination names through the proxy for its supported URL requests. It supports TCP, not a general UDP relay, and it does not support SOCKS5 username/password authentication. A credential-protected SOCKS endpoint can therefore fail because of a client capability mismatch rather than an invalid IP.

Test a public destination in that window

Open an IP-check page in the dedicated profile. A localhost page is a poor proxy-route test because Chromium has implicit bypass rules for loopback and certain local addresses.

Also test the type of destination you need. A successful HTTP page does not establish HTTPS CONNECT support. If the profile cannot load anything, compare the same endpoint in a small command-line request (see the curl HTTP test for an HTTP listener) before changing browser options.

Finish the test

Close the dedicated Chrome process when finished. Your ordinary profile has not been selected by the command above. Keep the temporary profile separate from a profile containing personal sessions; you do not need to sign in to test an endpoint.

On Windows, the ordinary system-proxy dialog is often the simpler option for normal browser use. The separate-profile approach is useful when you deliberately want a contained test session rather than a persistent system change.