How to force 2020 version of Tor to exit specific country

Question

I need to configure my Tor to exit US. I've read lots of tips from various web sites. In general, they all say to edit the torrc file and add ExitNodes {us} .

It does not work. If I go to something like gmail.com after setting that parameter, it seems to always indicate United States. Without that parameter, gmail will show up in various random languages. But if I go to another site that blocks any non-USA users, it will let me go through all the motions of creating an account, then when it's time to verify the account, it fails because it says I am not in USA. The site then permanently flags that username as outside USA, and I can never use it again. It also tracks the email address I used to create the account, so now that email address is orphaned and can never be used again at that site.

I finally learned to use the little green lock at the eft end of the URL window. That shows me what my connection paths are. It always starts at USA, but almost never ends there. Even when it ends at USA briefly, it then changes to some other country.

Some other parameters I have tried, based on various suggestions to fix this problem, are

StrictNodes 1  
EntryNodes {us} HSLayer2Nodes {us} HSLayer3Nodes {us}  
ExitNodes {US}   (all caps, as recommended by one site)

None of them work. My Tor almost always exits at some country other than USA.

I realize the TOR site support FAQs say that it isn't recommended to force a particular county exit, and that it reduces security & effectiveness to do so. However, in this case, I'm more concerned about making sure the IP address is USA than I am in maximum security.

This is my current complete torrc file contents:

# This file was generated by Tor; if you edit it, comments will not be preserved
# The old torrc file was renamed to torrc.orig.1 or similar, and Tor will ignore it

ClientOnionAuthDir C:\utils\Tor Browser\Browser\TorBrowser\Data\Tor\onion-auth
DataDirectory C:\utils\Tor Browser\Browser\TorBrowser\Data\Tor
GeoIPFile C:\utils\Tor Browser\Browser\TorBrowser\Data\Tor\geoip
GeoIPv6File C:\utils\Tor Browser\Browser\TorBrowser\Data\Tor\geoip6
ExitNodes {US} StrictNodes 1

Any suggestions on how to make this work?

Answer 1

I need to configure my Tor to exit US

For Tor Browser version 9 or 10, your configuration is correct. It can be on either two lines or on one line. This does not matter. Assuming the spacing is appropriate. Assuming this configuration on two lines:

ExitNodes {us}
StrictNodes 1

Thanks for uploading your video. In your case to resolve your challenge I suggest those steps below.

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Steps:

1. Exit Tor Browser. Including all its window(s).
2. Exit text editor. Including all its window(s).
3. Double check that both the Tor Browser and the text editor are fully closed. Otherwise, if they are open, it's risky that your edit below will be lost, overwritten, or ignored. Because in some case some software change this file without notifying you.
4. Also before editing the "torrc" configuration text file, double check that your text editor is in UTF-8 mode only. No other mode. Otherwise it's risky that the text editor will add invisible text symbols or brake lines without notifying you. In turn, those risk to interfere with your Tor Browser configuration.
5. Open the text editor with appropriate permissions to edit the file "torrc"
6. Using the text editor, edit the "torrc" file. Like you successfully did above.
7. Close the text editor. Including all its window(s).
8. Open TorBrowser
9. Test
10. Exit TorBrowser
11. Using the text editor, open the "torrc" file. Are you edits still there? If yes, your configuration was successful. Done. Enjoy :)
12. If the above somehow does not work. Try again a second time all the exact same steps above. It's unlikely you will need to repeat those more than twice.