DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN: How to Fix This Chrome Error

1Check the address and test other sites

NXDOMAIN literally means 'this domain name does not exist'. One wrong letter, a .com where the site only answers on a country ending, or a stray space at the end of the address all produce exactly this error. This 30-second test splits the problem into two completely different paths and stops you from changing network settings for nothing.

1. Clear the address bar and type the address again, slowly, without copying and pasting.
2. Check the ending: many sites answer only on their country domain and return NXDOMAIN on .com.
3. Open two other well-known sites. If they all fail, jump to Solution 2.
4. If only that one site fails and it works on your phone over mobile data, go to Solution 4 and then 6.

2Flush the computer's DNS cache

The system stores DNS answers for a while, negative answers included. If the site moved servers, or if your provider had a brief outage, the computer keeps repeating the stale answer until the cache expires. Flushing the cache and renewing the IP address forces a fresh lookup and clears a good share of cases. Open Command Prompt as administrator and run the lines in order.

ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
netsh winsock reset

3Swap your provider's DNS for a public one

If every site returns NXDOMAIN but the connection is up, your provider's DNS server is suspect number one. It may be overloaded, misconfigured or blocking domains. Pointing the computer at a public DNS fixes it immediately and usually makes everyday browsing steadier. 1.1.1.1 belongs to Cloudflare and 8.8.8.8 to Google.

1. On Windows, open Settings > Network and Internet, click the connection you use (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) and look for Hardware properties.
2. Under DNS server assignment, click Edit and change Automatic to Manual.
3. Turn on IPv4 and enter 1.1.1.1 as preferred and 8.8.8.8 as alternate.
4. Save, go back to Chrome and reload the page. To cover the whole house, make the same change in the router's DNS settings.
5. On Android, the same idea lives under Settings > Network and Internet > Private DNS.

4Clear Chrome's internal DNS cache

Chrome keeps its own list of resolved addresses, separate from the system list. That is why a site can open in Edge or Firefox and still return NXDOMAIN in Chrome alone. This internal page clears that cache without touching anything else and without deleting your passwords or history.

1. Type the address below in Chrome's address bar and press Enter.
2. Click the button that clears the resolver cache (Clear host cache).
3. On the same screen, in the sockets section, use the option to flush idle sockets.
4. Close Chrome completely and open it again before testing. In Edge, the equivalent address starts with edge instead of chrome.

chrome://net-internals/#dns

5Restart the router and the modem

The router also caches DNS answers and, in many homes, it is what every device asks. When that cache jams, everyone on the network sees NXDOMAIN at the same time. The power cycle has to be at the wall socket and with a real pause, because pressing the reboot button does not always empty the device's memory.

1. Unplug the router. If the modem is a separate box, unplug both.
2. Wait at least 30 seconds before plugging them back in.
3. Power the modem first, wait for its lights to settle, and only then power the router.
4. Wait for the connection to come fully back and test the site again.

6Turn off VPN, proxy and browser extensions

VPNs change which DNS server the computer uses and, when their connection half-drops, the result is exactly NXDOMAIN on everything. Ad-blocking and privacy extensions do something similar inside Chrome. This is the step that solves the cases where everything else seemed to make no difference at all.

1. Disconnect any VPN and close its program completely, not just the window.
2. On Windows, open Settings > Network and Internet > Proxy and confirm automatic detection is on and no manual proxy server is active.
3. In Chrome, open an incognito window and test the site: incognito disables most extensions.
4. If it works in incognito, go to the extensions menu, disable them all and re-enable them one at a time until you find the culprit.

7Check the system hosts file

The hosts file is a manual list that overrides any DNS. Blocking programs, developer tools and some adware write lines into it, and an old line pointing a site at a dead address produces permanent NXDOMAIN for that domain no matter how many DNS servers you try. Only change lines you recognise, and copy the file first.

1. Open Notepad as administrator, otherwise you will not be able to save.
2. Use File > Open and browse to the Windows folder, then System32, drivers and etc.
3. Switch the file type filter to all files and open the file named hosts.
4. Put a # character at the start of any line mentioning the problem site. Lines already starting with # are comments and have no effect.
5. Save, run the cache flush from Solution 2 again and test.

8Pause antivirus web protection and reset the network

Antivirus products with a web protection module intercept DNS queries to filter sites, and a failed update to that module takes down name resolution entirely. If pausing fixes it, the answer is to reinstall or reconfigure the antivirus, not to leave it off. The network reset is the last resort: it returns every network setting to factory defaults and erases saved Wi-Fi passwords, so have your network password at hand.

1. Pause the antivirus web or internet protection for five minutes and test the site.
2. Also check in the firewall that Chrome is not blocked in the list of allowed programs.
3. If nothing helps, open Settings > Network and Internet > Advanced network settings and look for Network reset.
4. Confirm and restart the computer. After the restart, reconnect to Wi-Fi by typing the password again.