[[!meta title="How Tails works"]]

Leave no trace on the computer

<i class="metaphor">Like a tent, you can carry Tails with you and use it anywhere.</i>

Your secure computer anywhere

To use Tails, shut down the computer and start on your Tails USB stick instead of starting on Windows, macOS, or Linux.

You can temporarily <strong>turn your own computer into a secure machine</strong>. You can also <strong>stay safe while using the computer of somebody else</strong>.

You don't have to worry about the computer having viruses because Tails runs independently from the other operating system and never uses the hard disk. But, Tails cannot always protect you if you install it from a computer with viruses or if you use it on a computer with malicious hardware, like keyloggers.

See also:

[[Download and install Tails|install]]

Amnesia

Tails always starts from the same clean state and <strong>everything you do disappears</strong> automatically when you shut down Tails.

Without Tails, almost everything you do can leave traces on the computer:

Websites that you visited, even in private mode

Files that you opened, even if you deleted them

Passwords, even if you use a password manager

You can <strong>save some of your files and configuration</strong> in an encrypted Persistent Storage on the USB stick: your documents, your browser bookmarks, your emails, and even some additional software.

Digital security toolbox

Tails includes:

<i>Tor Browser</i> with <i>uBlock</i>, a secure browser and an ad-blocker

<i>Thunderbird</i>, for encrypted emails