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Censorship Monitor · China Last test

Does Signal work in China?

No. Signal has been blocked in mainland China since March 2021, and Apple removed it from its China App Store in April 2024. Hong Kong isn’t affected.

Today’s test · signal.org

Blocked

signal.org fails to open on China Unicom and China Mobile, twice, while it opens from other countries.

Last confirmed
Seen in our tests since
29 Sep 2026 (may be older)
How it fails
The connection is cut
Tested on
China Unicom and China Mobile
Test Signal yourself › Everything we test in China

The official status

Signal in China

Signal stopped working in mainland China on 16 March 2021, except over a VPN. China’s foreign ministry said it was “not aware” of the situation.

In April 2024 Apple removed Signal from its China App Store on the same day as WhatsApp and Threads; Freedom House says the Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removals.

Signal stayed in the Hong Kong and Macau App Stores, and the mainland block doesn’t apply there.

What people use instead

WeChat, by far the dominant messaging app in China.

Get past a block

How to use Signal in China

A VPN connects you through a server in another country, so a block on Signal in China no longer applies. Where VPNs themselves are blocked, you need one that can disguise its traffic, and you should set it up before you travel.

Only government-approved VPNs are legal in China, and most foreign VPNs are blocked.

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Around the world

Where else is Signal blocked?

Signal is also blocked in 1 other country we test.

It opens in 22 of the 23 other countries with a current result.

Signal in every country we test ›

China

What else is blocked in China?

52 of the other 66 sites and apps we test are blocked in China.

All 67 results for China ›

History

Changes for Signal in China

No confirmed changes since monitoring began on 29 Sep 2026. When a block appears or lifts, and a re-check on several machines agrees, it shows up here.

Method

How we test

  • Every day, test machines on China Unicom and China Mobile home connections open signal.org.
  • A failure counts only when it happens twice on the same network, while the site opens from other countries.
  • A change is published only after re-checks a few hours later and again the next day, on several machines per provider, confirm it. It’s dated from the first sighting.
  • Test machines caught getting around blocks, through a VPN or a filter-dodging tool, are set aside.
  • We test the website over home broadband. The app, calls and mobile networks can behave differently.

Full method ›

Questions

Signal in China: questions

Is Signal Banned in China?

Yes. Signal has been blocked in mainland China since March 2021, and Apple removed it from its China App Store in April 2024. Hong Kong isn’t affected.

Can I Download Signal in China?

Not from Apple’s China App Store, which removed it in April 2024 on the orders of the Cyberspace Administration of China.

Is Signal Available in Hong Kong?

Yes. Reuters reported in April 2024 that Signal and the other removed apps were still available in Hong Kong and Macau.

Free to use

Cite this result

Quote or republish today’s result with a link to this page: the monitor’s data is under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0).

Source: vpnAlert Censorship Monitor, https://vpnalert.com/tools/censorship-monitor/china/signal/

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