diff --git a/unshackle/commands/dl.py b/unshackle/commands/dl.py
index 4e8d0784..f8673684 100644
--- a/unshackle/commands/dl.py
+++ b/unshackle/commands/dl.py
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ from unshackle.core.utils.click_types import (
 )
 from unshackle.core.utils.collections import ci_get, merge_dict
 from unshackle.core.utils.post_scripts import build_context, dispatch, season_context
+from unshackle.core.utils.redact import mask_proxy
 from unshackle.core.utils.selector import select_multiple
 from unshackle.core.utils.subprocess import ffprobe
 from unshackle.core.vaults import Vaults
@@ -1342,6 +1343,12 @@ class dl:
                         self.log.info(f"Loaded {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__}: {proxy_provider}")
 
             if proxy:
+
+                def log_proxy_used(provider: object, uri: str) -> None:
+                    self.log.info(
+                        f"Using {provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: {mask_proxy(uri, isinstance(provider, Basic))}"
+                    )
+
                 requested_provider = None
                 if re.match(r"^[a-z]+:.+$", proxy, re.IGNORECASE):
                     # requesting proxy from a specific proxy provider
@@ -1386,7 +1393,7 @@ class dl:
                                     location = ", ".join(p for p in location_parts if p)
                                     self.log.info(f"VPN Connected: {conn_info['public_ip']} ({location})")
                                 else:
-                                    self.log.info(f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: {proxy}")
+                                    log_proxy_used(proxy_provider, proxy)
                             else:
                                 display = None
                                 if hasattr(proxy_provider, "last_connection_display"):
@@ -1394,7 +1401,7 @@ class dl:
                                 if display:
                                     self.log.info(f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy {display}")
                                 else:
-                                    self.log.info(f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: {proxy}")
+                                    log_proxy_used(proxy_provider, proxy)
                         else:
                             for proxy_provider in self.proxy_providers:
                                 proxy_uri = proxy_provider.get_proxy(proxy)
@@ -1408,7 +1415,7 @@ class dl:
                                             location = ", ".join(p for p in location_parts if p)
                                             self.log.info(f"VPN Connected: {conn_info['public_ip']} ({location})")
                                         else:
-                                            self.log.info(f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: {proxy}")
+                                            log_proxy_used(proxy_provider, proxy)
                                     else:
                                         display = None
                                         if hasattr(proxy_provider, "last_connection_display"):
@@ -1416,13 +1423,13 @@ class dl:
                                         if display:
                                             self.log.info(f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy {display}")
                                         else:
-                                            self.log.info(f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: {proxy}")
+                                            log_proxy_used(proxy_provider, proxy)
                                     break
                     # Store proxy query info for service-specific overrides
                     ctx.params["proxy_query"] = proxy_query
                     ctx.params["proxy_provider"] = requested_provider
                 else:
-                    self.log.info(f"Using explicit Proxy: {proxy}")
+                    self.log.info(f"Using explicit Proxy: {mask_proxy(ctx.params['proxy'])}")
                     # For explicit proxies, store None for query/provider
                     ctx.params["proxy_query"] = None
                     ctx.params["proxy_provider"] = None
diff --git a/unshackle/commands/search.py b/unshackle/commands/search.py
index 2158f57d..2087dc8f 100644
--- a/unshackle/commands/search.py
+++ b/unshackle/commands/search.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from unshackle.core.service import Service
 from unshackle.core.services import Services
 from unshackle.core.utils.click_types import ContextData
 from unshackle.core.utils.collections import merge_dict
+from unshackle.core.utils.redact import mask_proxy
 
 
 @click.command(
@@ -113,7 +114,10 @@ def search(ctx: click.Context, no_proxy: bool, profile: Optional[str] = None, pr
                         if display:
                             log.info(f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy {display}")
                         else:
-                            log.info(f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: {proxy}")
+                            log.info(
+                                f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: "
+                                f"{mask_proxy(proxy, isinstance(proxy_provider, Basic))}"
+                            )
                     else:
                         for proxy_provider in proxy_providers:
                             proxy_uri = proxy_provider.get_proxy(proxy)
@@ -125,10 +129,13 @@ def search(ctx: click.Context, no_proxy: bool, profile: Optional[str] = None, pr
                                 if display:
                                     log.info(f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy {display}")
                                 else:
-                                    log.info(f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: {proxy}")
+                                    log.info(
+                                        f"Using {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: "
+                                        f"{mask_proxy(proxy, isinstance(proxy_provider, Basic))}"
+                                    )
                                 break
             else:
-                log.info(f"Using explicit Proxy: {proxy}")
+                log.info(f"Using explicit Proxy: {mask_proxy(ctx.params['proxy'])}")
 
     ctx.obj = ContextData(config=service_config, cdm=None, proxy_providers=proxy_providers, profile=profile)
 
diff --git a/unshackle/core/api/errors.py b/unshackle/core/api/errors.py
index 01311b74..eb167603 100644
--- a/unshackle/core/api/errors.py
+++ b/unshackle/core/api/errors.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ from typing import Any
 
 from aiohttp import web
 
+from unshackle.core.utils.redact import redact_text
+
 
 class APIErrorCode(str, Enum):
     """Standard API error codes for programmatic error handling."""
@@ -185,7 +187,7 @@ def categorize_exception(
     if "proxy" in str(root).lower():
         return APIError(
             error_code=APIErrorCode.INVALID_PROXY,
-            message=f"The proxy for this session failed: {root}",
+            message=f"The proxy for this session failed: {redact_text(str(root))}",
             details={**context, "reason": "proxy_error"},
             retryable=False,
         )
diff --git a/unshackle/core/api/handlers.py b/unshackle/core/api/handlers.py
index 33abbdf9..f1462166 100644
--- a/unshackle/core/api/handlers.py
+++ b/unshackle/core/api/handlers.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ from unshackle.core.services import Services
 from unshackle.core.titles import Episode, Movie, Song, Title_T
 from unshackle.core.tracks import Audio, Subtitle, Tracks, Video
 from unshackle.core.utils.collections import ci_get
-from unshackle.core.utils.redact import REDACTED, URL_USERINFO_RE
+from unshackle.core.utils.redact import REDACTED, URL_USERINFO_RE, redact_text
 
 log = logging.getLogger("api")
 
@@ -2959,8 +2959,8 @@ def resolve_handler_proxy(
             if allowed:
                 raise APIError(
                     APIErrorCode.INVALID_PROXY,
-                    f"Proxy error: {e}",
-                    details={"proxy": data.get("proxy"), "service": normalized_service},
+                    f"Proxy error: {redact_text(str(e))}",
+                    details={"proxy": redact_text(data.get("proxy")), "service": normalized_service},
                 )
             raise APIError(
                 APIErrorCode.INVALID_PROXY,
diff --git a/unshackle/core/proxies/basic.py b/unshackle/core/proxies/basic.py
index 0392afdd..60e2ce38 100644
--- a/unshackle/core/proxies/basic.py
+++ b/unshackle/core/proxies/basic.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from requests.utils import prepend_scheme_if_needed
 from urllib3.util import parse_url
 
 from unshackle.core.proxies.proxy import Proxy
+from unshackle.core.utils.redact import mask_proxy
 
 
 class Basic(Proxy):
@@ -49,6 +50,9 @@ class Basic(Proxy):
         proxy = prepend_scheme_if_needed(proxy, "http")
         parsed_proxy = parse_url(proxy)
         if not parsed_proxy.host:
-            raise ValueError(f"The proxy '{proxy}' is not a valid proxy URI supported by Python-Requests.")
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"The proxy '{mask_proxy(proxy, mask_host=True, allow_debug=False)}' "
+                "is not a valid proxy URI supported by Python-Requests."
+            )
 
         return proxy
diff --git a/unshackle/core/proxies/resolve.py b/unshackle/core/proxies/resolve.py
index 83ea9982..dae6f721 100644
--- a/unshackle/core/proxies/resolve.py
+++ b/unshackle/core/proxies/resolve.py
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ import logging
 import re
 from typing import Any, List, Optional
 
+from unshackle.core.utils.redact import mask_proxy
+
 log = logging.getLogger("proxies")
 
 
@@ -85,13 +87,19 @@ def resolve_proxy(proxy: str, proxy_providers: List[Any]) -> Optional[str]:
         proxy_uri = provider.get_proxy(query)
         if not proxy_uri:
             raise ValueError(f"Proxy provider {requested_provider} had no proxy for {query}")
-        log.info(f"Using {provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: {proxy_uri}")
+        log.info(
+            f"Using {provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: "
+            f"{mask_proxy(proxy_uri, provider.__class__.__name__ == 'Basic', allow_debug=False)}"
+        )
         return proxy_uri
 
     for provider in proxy_providers:
         proxy_uri = provider.get_proxy(query)
         if proxy_uri:
-            log.info(f"Using {provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: {proxy_uri}")
+            log.info(
+                f"Using {provider.__class__.__name__} Proxy: "
+                f"{mask_proxy(proxy_uri, provider.__class__.__name__ == 'Basic', allow_debug=False)}"
+            )
             return proxy_uri
 
     raise ValueError(f"No proxy provider had a proxy for {proxy}")
diff --git a/unshackle/core/service.py b/unshackle/core/service.py
index 835d3833..c654026b 100644
--- a/unshackle/core/service.py
+++ b/unshackle/core/service.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from http.cookiejar import CookieJar
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Optional, Union
-from urllib.parse import urlparse, urlunparse
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from unshackle.core.api.input_bridge import InputBridge
@@ -23,6 +22,7 @@ from unshackle.core.console import console, prompt_user
 from unshackle.core.constants import AnyTrack
 from unshackle.core.credential import Credential
 from unshackle.core.drm import DRM_T
+from unshackle.core.proxies.basic import Basic
 from unshackle.core.search_result import SearchResult
 from unshackle.core.session import (
     BACKOFF_FACTOR,
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ from unshackle.core.titles import Title_T, Titles_T, remap_titles
 from unshackle.core.tracks import Chapters, Tracks
 from unshackle.core.tracks.video import Video
 from unshackle.core.utils.ip_info import get_ip_info
+from unshackle.core.utils.redact import mask_proxy
 
 # Default (connect, read) timeout for the requests path, mirroring RnetSession's
 # connect_timeout / read_timeout construction defaults. A per-request timeout= wins.
@@ -123,43 +124,19 @@ class TrackRequest:
     best_available: bool = False
 
 
-def sanitize_proxy_for_log(uri: Optional[str]) -> Optional[str]:
+def sanitize_proxy_for_log(uri: Optional[str], mask_host: bool = False) -> Optional[str]:
     """
-    Sanitise a proxy URI for logs by redacting any embedded userinfo (username/password).
+    Sanitise a proxy URI for logs by masking any embedded userinfo (username/password).
 
-    Examples:
-      - http://user:pass@host:8080 -> http://REDACTED@host:8080
-      - socks5h://user@host:1080   -> socks5h://REDACTED@host:1080
+    ``serve`` sends these log lines to the client of a remote session, so the mask is
+    unconditional and debug mode never lifts it. ``mask_host`` hides the hostname as
+    well, for a proxy that came from the user-supplied ``Basic`` proxy provider.
     """
     if uri is None:
         return None
     if not isinstance(uri, str):
         return str(uri)
-    if not uri:
-        return uri
-
-    try:
-        parsed = urlparse(uri)
-
-        # Handle schemeless proxies like "user:pass@host:port"
-        if not parsed.scheme and not parsed.netloc and "@" in uri and "://" not in uri:
-            # Parse as netloc using a dummy scheme, then strip scheme back out.
-            dummy = urlparse(f"http://{uri}")
-            netloc = dummy.netloc
-            if "@" in netloc:
-                netloc = f"REDACTED@{netloc.split('@', 1)[1]}"
-            # urlparse("http://...") sets path to "" for typical netloc-only strings; keep it just in case.
-            return f"{netloc}{dummy.path}"
-
-        netloc = parsed.netloc
-        if "@" in netloc:
-            netloc = f"REDACTED@{netloc.split('@', 1)[1]}"
-
-        return urlunparse(parsed._replace(netloc=netloc))
-    except ValueError:
-        if "@" in uri:
-            return f"REDACTED@{uri.split('@', 1)[1]}"
-        return uri
+    return mask_proxy(uri, mask_host=mask_host, allow_debug=False)
 
 
 class Service(metaclass=ABCMeta):
@@ -244,7 +221,8 @@ class Service(metaclass=ABCMeta):
                             if mapped_proxy_uri:
                                 proxy = mapped_proxy_uri
                                 self.log.info(
-                                    f"Using mapped proxy from {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__}: {sanitize_proxy_for_log(proxy)}"
+                                    f"Using mapped proxy from {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__}: "
+                                    f"{sanitize_proxy_for_log(proxy, mask_host=isinstance(proxy_provider, Basic))}"
                                 )
                             else:
                                 self.log.warning(
@@ -258,7 +236,8 @@ class Service(metaclass=ABCMeta):
                             if mapped_proxy_uri:
                                 proxy = mapped_proxy_uri
                                 self.log.info(
-                                    f"Using mapped proxy from {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__}: {sanitize_proxy_for_log(proxy)}"
+                                    f"Using mapped proxy from {proxy_provider.__class__.__name__}: "
+                                    f"{sanitize_proxy_for_log(proxy, mask_host=isinstance(proxy_provider, Basic))}"
                                 )
                                 break
                         else:
diff --git a/unshackle/core/utils/redact.py b/unshackle/core/utils/redact.py
index 1be79afe..e06f52a1 100644
--- a/unshackle/core/utils/redact.py
+++ b/unshackle/core/utils/redact.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import logging
 import re
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -32,6 +33,31 @@ def redact_text(text: Optional[str], secrets: Iterable[str] = ()) -> Optional[st
     return text
 
 
+PROXY_USERINFO_RE = re.compile(r"(^|://)[^:/@]+(?::[^/@]*)?@")
+PROXY_HOST_RE = re.compile(r"(://(?:[^/@]*@)?)(\[[^\]]+\]|[^:/?#]+)")
+
+
+def mask_proxy(uri: str, mask_host: bool = False, allow_debug: bool = True) -> str:
+    """Replace proxy userinfo with ``xxxxx:xxxxx@host`` for console display.
+
+    ``mask_host`` also replaces the hostname and keeps the scheme and the port, for
+    a user-supplied proxy whose hostname identifies the account on its own.
+    The full URI passes through while DEBUG logging is active (``-d``), so a debug
+    run keeps the complete proxy URI and a normal run never shows the credentials.
+    Pass ``allow_debug=False`` where the output can reach more than the operator's
+    own terminal, such as ``serve`` logs and the dashboard, so that debug mode does
+    not widen the exposure.
+    """
+    if not isinstance(uri, str) or not uri:
+        return uri
+    if allow_debug and logging.getLogger().getEffectiveLevel() <= logging.DEBUG:
+        return uri
+    uri = PROXY_USERINFO_RE.sub(r"\1xxxxx:xxxxx@", uri)
+    if mask_host:
+        uri = PROXY_HOST_RE.sub(r"\1xxxxx", uri)
+    return uri
+
+
 def safe_display_url(url: str) -> str:
     """Rebuild a URL from its scheme/host/port/path only, so unshackle can never log the userinfo."""
     parts = urlsplit(url)