"This site can't be reached": what it means and how to fix it

This site can't be reached is the heading Chrome puts on its error page when it could not open a connection to a website at all. It is not one error. The grey line under the heading and the code at the bottom, such as ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT, tell you which step failed: finding the site's address, reaching the server, or keeping the connection open.

Read those two lines first. They decide whether you should wait for the website to come back or fix something on your own device.

First, is the site down for everyone?

Put the address into our website checker. We try to load it from our own servers. If we can't reach it either, the site or its domain is broken and nothing on your device will change that. If we can, the fault is somewhere between your browser and the site, and the code tells you where to look.

What each message under the heading means

• example.com's server IP address could not be found. Code DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN or ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED. The DNS lookup failed, so Chrome never learned where the site lives. Chrome adds Check if there is a typo. Usually your side, unless the domain has expired. See NXDOMAIN and ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED.
• example.com took too long to respond. Code ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT. Chrome found the address but nothing answered. Could be either side. See the timed out guide.
• example.com refused to connect. Code ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED. A machine answered and said no. Most often the site's web server has stopped, or a proxy setting on your device is wrong. See connection refused.
• The connection was reset. Code ERR_CONNECTION_RESET. The connection started and was then cut. Often something in the middle: a VPN, security software, a router or a network filter. See connection reset.
• example.com unexpectedly closed the connection. Code ERR_CONNECTION_CLOSED. The other end hung up without sending a page. Treat it like a reset: reload, then test another network.
• The full address followed by is unreachable. Code ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE. Your device has no route to that address. Common when you type a router or device address such as 192.168.1.1 while connected to a different network.

Fixes that apply to all of them

1. Reload once, then open two other well-known sites. If nothing loads, the problem is your connection, not the site. See Wi-Fi connected but no internet.
2. Check the address for typos, a stray port number, or http where https is needed.
3. Try another network. Switch your phone to mobile data and open the same site. If it loads, your home network, router or provider is the cause.
4. Open an Incognito window (Ctrl+Shift+N, or Cmd+Shift+N on a Mac). Extensions are off there by default. If the site loads, switch your extensions off one at a time.
5. Turn off your VPN and any proxy. Chrome's own suggestion on this page is Checking the proxy and the firewall. In Windows 11 the proxy switch is in Settings, Network & internet, Proxy.
6. Restart your router, then flush DNS on Windows with ipconfig /flushdns.
7. Run the diagnostics Chrome links to. On Windows the error page offers Running Windows Network Diagnostics. If it reports that the DNS server isn't responding, follow our DNS server guide.

The same error in Edge, Firefox and Safari

Edge is built on the same engine as Chrome and shows the same ERR_ codes, under its own heading: Hmmm… can't reach this page. Firefox does not use those codes. Its pages are titled Server Not Found, Unable to connect, The connection has timed out or The connection was reset, which map onto the DNS, refused, timed out and reset cases above. Safari shows Safari Can't Open the Page with a sentence giving the reason.

If the site fails in one browser and works in another on the same device, the site is up. Look at that browser's extensions, proxy settings and cache.

Why Chrome uses one heading for different faults

Loading a page takes three steps before any content arrives. Chrome looks up the site's IP address through DNS, opens a connection to that address, then sets up encryption. "This site can't be reached" covers failures in the first two steps. The heading changes when the failure is somewhere else, which is a useful clue in itself.

Chrome error pages that are not this one

• No internet with ERR_INTERNET_DISCONNECTED and the dinosaur: your device has no network connection at all. See ERR_INTERNET_DISCONNECTED.
• Your connection was interrupted with ERR_NETWORK_CHANGED: your device switched networks mid-load. See ERR_NETWORK_CHANGED.
• This site can't provide a secure connection with ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR: the connection opened but encryption failed. See ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR.
• Your connection is not private: the site's certificate was rejected. See that guide, or NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID if the code mentions the date.
• This page isn't working with an HTTP number such as 500 or 503: you reached the server, and the server itself failed. With a 500, 502 or 503 that is the website's fault.

Site down or your side: a rough guide

A timeout or refusal on one site, while everything else loads, points at the website. A DNS failure on one site is more often a typo or a stale cache on your device, but a DNS failure across many big sites at once usually means a DNS provider is having an outage. Resets and unexpected closes that follow you from site to site point at your own network or security software. An error on every site means your connection is down.

While Chrome is still working it out

On a DNS failure Chrome may briefly show a line saying the site's DNS address could not be found. Diagnosing the problem. It is running a quick test of your DNS settings. The page then settles on a final code. Wait for that code before you start changing settings.

Related fix guides

• How to fix ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT
• How to fix ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED
• How to fix ERR_CONNECTION_RESET
• How to fix ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED