Lightroom Classic not working with VPN connected

Hi there! You're not alone if you're having trouble with Lightroom Classic and Surfshark VPN. There have been several reports of similar issues. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a fix at the moment.

Thanks for the replies. I cannot select servers in countries. According to the Surfshark speed test, Switzerland servers are the fastest (I am in Switzerland). As I mentioned, VPN protocol choice does not help.

I am trying the Lightroom Classic Bypass in Surfshark. This is only marginally better. Lightroom loads, but then cycles "not responding" and is unuseable.

Surfshark has not option with respect to IPv6 that I could find.

This thread may help https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-ecosystem-cloud-based-discussions/cc-will-not-load-with-vpn-running/m-p/11240402/page/2

I have used Creative Cloud applications with VPNs with mostly no problem. I just connected to a VPN and started Lightroom Classic, and it worked fine, syncing down a number of photos taken on my phone. Edits are syncing both ways.

But, I have noticed the following when using VPNs in general: Specific websites and apps sometimes fail on specific VPN servers. For example, maybe a certain VPN server’s IP address ended up on one website’s blacklist because other people used that server for abusive purposes.

If a core network component of the operating system, such as DNS lookup, is not connecting properly through a VPN, then applications heavily dependent on cloud services may experience delays if their cloud components aren’t loading.

One solution is that if the VPN in use (in your case Surfshark) lets you select which VPN server it connects to, have it connect to a different server. That often clears it up. Many VPNs provide multiple servers per city/region.

I use NordVPN, it's on almost 100% of the time, and Lightroom Classic never has a problem.

Maybe there's an option in Surfshark to allow LrC and the Adobe Creative Cloud Application to communicate through the VPN to the internet.

But if it is slow to load with the VPN off, that sounds like something else is wrong that is un-related to the VPN.