Tails 7.4 Adds Persistent Locale, Drops BitTorrent

Tails 7.4 landed on January 15, 2026, delivering the most significant usability improvement the amnesic operating system has seen in months. Your language, keyboard layout, and regional format preferences now persist across sessions when Persistent Storage is enabled. For anyone who has repeatedly configured their non-English Tails setup at every boot, this change removes a consistent source of friction.

The implementation works as intended. Configure your locale once during the Welcome Screen, enable the new Locale feature in Persistent Storage settings, and Tails remembers your choices across sessions. Every subsequent boot applies these preferences automatically. Simple enough that it seems obvious in retrospect, but the Tails team had to balance this convenience against their core philosophy of leaving no traces.

Tails 7.4 also introduces an unencrypted storage partition option, representing a deliberate security tradeoff. The encrypted Persistent Storage remains the recommended approach for anyone handling sensitive data, but the unencrypted option serves legitimate use cases where encryption overhead causes problems or where the threat model demands less protection. Users who need to transfer large media files quickly or operate in environments where encryption attracts unwanted attention now have this choice. The documentation makes the security implications crystal clear, leaving the decision to informed users rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all policy.

The browser stack receives standard maintenance with Tor Browser 15.0.4, pulling security fixes from Mozilla's Firefox ESR branch. The release contains no groundbreaking features, just the continuous patching cycle that keeps Tor Browser from accumulating exploitable vulnerabilities. Thunderbird jumps to version 140.6.0 as well, maintaining parity with upstream Debian packages.

Under the hood, Linux kernel 6.12.63 brings expanded hardware compatibility and security hardening. Newer laptops that previously required workarounds for WiFi or graphics should see improved driver support. The kernel update also patches several privilege escalation vulnerabilities discovered since the previous Tails release.

The release also fixes several bugs that have frustrated users. VeraCrypt no longer crashes when users enter incorrect passwords, a bug that appeared in earlier 7.x releases and forced restarts of the desktop environment. Kleopatra, the graphical GPG key manager, finally accesses keys stored in Persistent Storage directly, eliminating the need for manual command-line intervention. The 24-hour time format display bug has been squashed, so users who prefer military time see it consistently across all applications.

The most controversial change involves removing Transmission, the BitTorrent client that shipped with Tails for years. The BitTorrent protocol is transitioning from v1 to v2, and the Tails team cites security concerns with continuing to provide v1 files during this transition. The v1 protocol can expose users to IP leaks through tracker connections and DHT, issues magnified when running over Tor.

For users who absolutely need BitTorrent on Tails, the Additional Software feature still allows installing Transmission or other clients manually, though this approach requires more configuration and lacks the security auditing that bundled applications receive.

Installation options remain unchanged. New users create a Tails USB drive using balenaEtcher on Windows, macOS, or Linux. The process takes about ten minutes with a reliable USB 3.0 drive. Existing Tails installations from version 7.0 onward upgrade automatically through the built-in Tails Upgrader, which downloads and applies updates while preserving Persistent Storage. Users running Tails 6.x or earlier need a manual upgrade path due to significant system changes between major versions.

The automatic upgrade weighs approximately 150 MB and applies during the next reboot after download. Users with limited bandwidth or unstable connections download the full ISO image and perform a manual upgrade instead. Both paths result in identical final systems.

Tails 7.4 represents iterative improvement rather than revolutionary change. The persistent locale feature addresses longstanding user complaints, the unencrypted storage option acknowledges that threat models vary, and the bug fixes restore functionality that users relied on. Losing BitTorrent support stings for some workflows, but the feature was always awkward within Tails' privacy-focused design. This release demonstrates the Tails team making pragmatic decisions about where to invest limited development resources while continuing to deliver a functional amnesic operating system for anyone who needs one.