Connect Your Phone to Synology VPN With OpenVPN Connect Step by Step
The server is only half a VPN. This page finishes the other half — your phone, connected, with proof it works from outside your house.
✍️ Technical Anshu📱 Android and iPhone⏱️ 10 minute setup
🎥 Watch the full Synology VPN setup in the video, step by step
Guides love to stop at 'server enabled'. But a VPN exists for the moment you are standing somewhere else with only your phone. This page takes the exported configuration file from the NAS, puts it safely into the official app, and ends with the one honest test: Wi-Fi off, files open.
Phone · OpenVPN Connect
Profileyourname.synology.me
StatusConnected
Assigned IP10.8.0.6
Test · DSM in browserOpens
The phone is connected and can open the NAS — the moment the whole setup becomes real.
1
Export the Configuration File From the NAS
In DSM, open VPN Server → OpenVPN
Click Export configuration and save the .ovpn file to your computer
If you use DDNS, open the file in a text editor and set the remote line to your DDNS hostname before sending it anywhere
Treat this file like a key blank: it is not secret by itself (the password still protects you), but there is no reason to post it in public places or group chats.
2
Get the File Onto the Phone Safely
Send it to yourself the way you trust: a USB cable, your own cloud drive, or an email to your own account
On the phone, save the file where the Files or Downloads folder can find it
Install OpenVPN Connect — the official app by OpenVPN Inc. — from the Play Store or App Store. Name-alike copycat apps exist; check the publisher
3
Import, Log In, Connect
Open OpenVPN Connect → Upload File (or share the .ovpn file to the app) and confirm the import
Enter the username and password of the DSM account you gave VPN permission to — not your admin account
Tap Connect. On Android, accept the system's VPN permission prompt; the key icon in the status bar means the tunnel is up
iPhone steps are the same, with the Files app holding the .ovpn file and the same OpenVPN Connect app importing it.
4
Prove It Works, Then Use It
Turn off the phone's Wi-Fi so you are definitely outside your home network
With the VPN connected, open the NAS by its home address in the browser, for example http://192.168.1.10:5000, or open a shared folder in your file app
If DSM opens on mobile data, you are effectively sitting at home. Every app on the phone can now use home addresses
Disconnect when you finish — an always-on VPN also sends your ordinary browsing through your home connection, which is slower
🟡 Android note. If your phone runs Android 12 or newer, do not waste time hunting for a built-in L2TP setting — Google removed it. The OpenVPN route on this page is the intended path for current phones.
🎥 Watch the Complete Process in the Video
The video shows the NAS side of this setup live; this page is the phone side to follow along with.
Yes. OpenVPN Connect is the official client app and is free on both platforms. Your NAS runs the server; the app is only the client, so there is no subscription involved.
The app says authentication failed. What is wrong?
Almost always one of three things: the password is wrong, the account has not been given OpenVPN permission under VPN Server → Privilege, or the account is blocked after earlier failed tries. Check the privilege list first — it is the step people skip.
Can I connect a Windows laptop the same way?
Yes. Install OpenVPN Connect on Windows, import the same .ovpn file, and log in with the same VPN user. One profile file serves every device; each device just signs in separately.
This guide is based on the Technical Anshu Synology NAS VPN video • Stuck on any step? Ask in the video comments — you will get a reply there 🙏