How to Fix ‘DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN’ Issue on Chrome – Guide

It’s incredibly frustrating not being able to access a WordPress site whether it’s yours, a client’s or someone else’s. However, this is even more true when you are faced with a confusing error message like DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN. To understand what “DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN” means, it might be helpful to first detail the error message. DNS, short for Domain Name System, is responsible for handling the process of translating a domain name into an IP address. Every website has an IP address that looks like “123.123.12.1”. Instead of remembering and typing a bunch of numbers every time you want to visit a website, you can type in the friendly domain name or URL like “yourdomain.com”. DNS essentially acts as the phone Internet book. When you type a domain name in the browser, it sends a request to the web server to look for up the IP address and then returns the site in a process called DNS name resolution. Once the browser and the web server are connected, you can access the website. However, if something goes wrong during the process, for example it gets interrupted or doesn’t complete correctly, it will result in a DNS-related error message. Instead of seeing the website you are trying to visit, you may see an error page with DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN. It is often accompanied by a message stating “This website cannot be accessed” or “This website is not available”:

Fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN in Chrome

Check the URL again

If you entered an incorrect URL, DNS will not be able to obtain its associated IP address and will therefore display the above mentioned error. So double check that there is no typo.

Disable Chrome Flags

Chrome flags are experimental in nature and are used for beta testing features before your final release. These flags span a wide domain and some are uniquely targeted to the network. So if you enabled any network related flags, try reverting them to their original state on the chrome://flags page. Most likely Default status.

Release and renew your IP address

Problems with the IP address can also be the reason behind this DNS error. In that sense, you can release your current IP address, delete all the cache you left behind, and request a new IP address from DHCP to be assigned to your system. Here are the steps to release and renew IP address in Windows OS: The first command will flush the currently assigned IP, the second will flush the DNS cache for that address, and the third and final command will replace it with a new IP address. Once all three commands are executed, restart your PC and see if it gives any favorable results or not.

reset winsock

Windows Socket is a term given to the data stored on your PC that is responsible for establishing a successful connection between an application/software and the network. Sometimes you may have encountered issues when WiFi is working fine but a specific device still cannot access the internet. In these cases, the problem is usually with the Winsock and the best bet is to reset it. Here are the steps to reset Windows Socket or Winsock:

Change DNS servers

The DNS servers you are currently using are assigned by your ISPs. However, they are not fixed and you can also redirect them to other servers. In this regard, Google DNS and Cloudflare DNS are generally the two preferred options, of which we would be moving forward with the first one. Here are the steps to change DNS server address in Windows:

Final note

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