INTRODUCTION: Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a promising technique for modulating vagal afferent fibers non-invasively and has shown therapeutic potential in neurological, cognitive, and affective disorders. While previous research highlights its efficacy, the safety profile of taVNS has been less extensively examined. METHODS: This study therefore aimed to systematically investigate side effects of taVNS in a large pooled dataset consisting of RESULTS: The findings support the safety of taVNS, with minimal and mild side effects reported across participants ( CONCLUSION: Overall, these findings demonstrate a favorable safety profile of taVNS, with mostly mild and transient effects, supporting its use as a suitable non-invasive tool in both research and clinical applications.