# What is an HTTP proxy? | SoftGlaze Browser glossary

> An HTTP proxy forwards web requests and tunnels HTTPS with the CONNECT method. How it works, what transparent proxies give away, and how SoftGlaze uses HTTP proxies.

- Canonical URL: https://browser.softglaze.com/glossary/http-proxy
- Last updated 2026-11-09

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[Proxies and networking](https://browser.softglaze.com/glossary?category=proxies-and-networking)

## HTTP proxy

Also called HTTPS proxy, web proxy, CONNECT proxy, transparent proxy, anonymous proxy

Definition

An HTTP proxy is a proxy that speaks the web's own protocol: the browser sends it ordinary HTTP requests, and for HTTPS asks it to open a tunnel to the site with the CONNECT method.

Last updated 7 November 2026

### How it works

For a plain `http://` page, the browser sends the whole request to the proxy, which fetches it and returns the answer; the proxy can read and change it. For an `https://` page, which is nearly all of the web, the browser sends `CONNECT example.com:443`, the proxy opens a TCP connection to the site, and from then on it relays encrypted bytes it can’t read. Either way, the proxy resolves the site’s hostname, so DNS goes through it too. “HTTPS proxy” usually means an HTTP proxy that tunnels HTTPS like this.

Some HTTP proxies add headers such as `X-Forwarded-For` or `Via` that pass your real address on to the site. Those are called transparent proxies.

### Why it matters when you run several accounts

For a browser, an HTTP proxy and a SOCKS5 proxy end in the same place: the site sees the proxy’s address. What you need to watch with HTTP proxies is that they don’t forward your address in headers, and that their login works in every tab, not only the first one.

### How SoftGlaze Browser handles it

HTTP is one of the two proxy types every profile can use; an HTTPS proxy is saved as HTTP. Accepted formats include host:port, host:port:username:password, http://username:password@host:port, socks5://username:password@host:port. For proxies with a login, the app runs a local relay that adds the login itself, because a login answered page by page can leave a new tab stalled on its first request. When the app collects free proxies from public lists, it rejects any HTTP proxy that passes on your real IP or forwarding headers.

### Sources

1.  [RFC 9110: HTTP Semantics, section 9.3.6 CONNECT](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9110#section-9.3.6) IETF
2.  [Proxy servers and tunneling](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Guides/Proxy_servers_and_tunneling) MDN Web Docs
3.  [X-Forwarded-For header](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Reference/Headers/X-Forwarded-For) MDN Web Docs

Outside sources were checked in November 2026. Browsers, standards and vendors' pages change, so details that depend on them are as of that month.

### Related terms

-   [SOCKS5](https://browser.softglaze.com/glossary/socks5) SOCKS5 is a proxy protocol that relays network connections of any kind between your device and a destination, with optional username and password authentication, and can pass the destination's hostname for the proxy to resolve.
-   [Proxy authentication](https://browser.softglaze.com/glossary/proxy-authentication) Proxy authentication is the login step a proxy requires before it will relay your traffic, usually a username and password, sometimes an allow-list of your own IP addresses instead.
-   [Proxy server](https://browser.softglaze.com/glossary/proxy-server) A proxy server is a computer that forwards your requests to websites and passes the answers back, so the sites see the proxy's IP address instead of yours.
-   [DNS leak](https://browser.softglaze.com/glossary/dns-leak) A DNS leak is when the lookups that turn site names into IP addresses go out through your own network and resolver instead of through the proxy or VPN, revealing which sites you visit and roughly where you are.

### Read more on this site

-   [SOCKS5 vs HTTP proxy: what actually differs in a browser](https://browser.softglaze.com/blog/socks5-vs-http-proxy)
-   [Docs: adding proxies](https://browser.softglaze.com/docs/proxies#adding-them)
-   [Proxy pool](https://browser.softglaze.com/features/proxy-pool)

### See it in SoftGlaze Browser

Separate profiles, each with its own cookies, device values and proxy, on Windows. Try the app's screens in your browser first, or start the free trial; no card needed.

[Download for Windows](https://browser.softglaze.com/download) [Try the demo](https://browser.softglaze.com/demo) [All terms](https://browser.softglaze.com/glossary)