Are you getting “This site can’t be reached” error?

It is a common error that appears while you’re surfing the Internet.

When you get this error in Chrome or any other browser, it means the browser fails to load the page. Hence, you see the message “This site can’t be reached”.

Thankfully, resolving this error is easier than you think — and by the end of the article, you’ll discover how it’s done.

In this post, we have given 11 solutions to fix the “This site can’t be reached” error in Chrome.

Of course, you need not try all of them. Start with the first solution, and if it doesn’t help, then move on to the next one and so on.

So let’s dig in.

Solution One – Use Public DNS servers

DNS servers play an important role in helping you access the site you want.

Generally, the DNS servers for your Internet connection are provided by the ISP provider.

There is a possibility the DNS server of your ISP is having some problems, which in turn is causing the error like “This site can’t be reached”.

In such a situation, you can change the DNS settings that will force the browser to use recommended DNS servers.

Here are the steps to follow.

• Press the key combination Windows logo key and R together to bring up Run Command Console
• In the Run command console, type control panel and click OK
• In the Control Panel window, set the view by to small icons
• Click Network and Sharing center
• In the Network and Sharing Center window, click Change adapter settings
• In the Network Connections window, right-click on the network you use
• Select Properties from the menu
• In the Ethernet properties window, click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
• Click Properties
• In the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties window, click the option Use the following DNS server addresses
• In the Preferred DNS Server, type the following value – 8.8.8.8
• In the Alternate DNS server, type the following value – 8.8.4.4
• Click OK
• Close all windows
• Open a browser and try accessing any website

If you are still getting “This site can’t be reached” error, move to the next solution

Solution Two- Use Command prompt to execute networking commands

Every website has an IP address, and the DNS servers find the IP address of the website from its database.

Whenever you visit any website, the IP address of the website is stored in the DNS cache of your computer.

You cannot rule out the possibility of a change in the IP address of the website you want to access while your computer is still using IP address stored in DNS cache.

To resolve this issue, you need to flush the DNS cache by executing commands from a command prompt.

Here are the steps you need to follow.

• Click Start
• Type command prompt in the Search box
• Right-click command prompt from the list and click Run as administrator
• In the command prompt window, type the following commands in a sequence as mention. After typing every command, press Enter.
• Before typing next command in the list, let the operation of the earlier command. Do not type any text within brackets
• ipconfig /release                
• ipconfig /flushdns              
• ipconfig /renew               
• netsh int ip set dns           
• netsh winsock reset          
• After you have executed all commands, close command prompt window

Open a browser and check whether the issue is resolved. If the issue persists, move to the next solution.

Solution Three – Enable Automatically detect settings Option

When you enable Automatically detect settings, windows will configure right settings on its own that could resolve the “This site can’t be reached” issue in Chrome.

Here are the steps to follow.

• Press key combination- Windows logo key + R to open the Run command
• In Run command, type inetcpl.cpl and click OK
• In the Internet properties windows, go to the Connections tab
• Click LAN settings
• Make sure that Automatically Detect Settings Option is Checked. If the option is not checked, click in the empty box to place a check in the box.
• Click OK
• Close all windows

Launch Chrome and try loading a webpage. If the “This site can’t be reached” issue persists, move to the next solution.

Solution Four- Allow DNS Prefetching

DNS prefetching is useful to resolve domain names before users follow any link.

Many users were able to resolve the facing “This site can’t be reached” issue in Chrome by allowing DNS prefetching.

Here are the steps to follow.

• Launch Google Chrome
• Click three vertical dots that appear at the far right end of the address bar to open Chrome menu
• Click Settings
• In the Settings page, click Advanced that appears at the bottom of the Settings page
• In the Advanced Chrome menu, check the box – Use a prediction service to load pages more quickly. Activating this option allows DNS prefetching in Chrome
• Restart Chrome browser

Check whether the solution has worked for you. If you still get “This site can’t be reached” error, move to the next solution

Solution Five- Run Windows Network Diagnostic

Windows has a Network diagnostic tool that can resolve many network issues.

You can run the Windows Network diagnostic and see if it resolves the “This site can’t be reached” issue.

Here are the steps to follow.

• Press Windows logo key and R together to launch the Run command
• In Run command, type ncpa.cpl and click OK
• In the next window, double-click on the Network connection
• In the Internet Connection Status window, click Diagnose
• Wait for the diagnosis to complete.
• Connect and reconnect your Internet connection

Open Chrome and try loading a webpage. If the “This site can’t be reached” error remains unresolved, move to next solution

Solution Six- Disable Experimental QUIC Protocol

Disabling Experimental QUIC Protocol has also worked for some users who were facing “This site can’t be reached” issue in Chrome.

Here are the steps to follow

• Launch Google Chrome
• Open new tab
• In the address bar, type chrome://flags and press Enter on the keyboard
• Press Ctrl+F to evoke Find tool in Chrome
• Type Experimental QUIC Protocol to find the Chrome flag
• The Experimental QUIC Protocol is set to default. Change the value of the Experimental QUIC Protocol flag from Default to Disabled
• Restart Chrome

Try opening a website in Chrome. If the solution did not work for you, move to the next solution.

Solution Seven – Change Value of Maximum TLS Version Enabled

Tweaking Chrome flag – Maximum TLS Version can also help resolve the error.

Here are the steps to follow.

• Launch Google Chrome
• Open new tab
• In the address bar, type chrome://flags and press Enter on the keyboard
• Press Ctrl and F keys together to activate Find tool in Chrome
• Type TLS in the search box to find Maximum TLS Version
• Go to Maximum TLS Version and select TLS 1.3 instead of the Default value
• Restart Chrome browser

Try loading a webpage in the Chrome browser. If you are still getting the error, move to the next solution

Solution Eight- Update Network Driver

Microsoft offers regular updates for Windows 10 which also contains driver updates. There is a possibility the problem with Chrome browser is due to outdated network drivers.

 In that event, a simple solution is updating Network drivers.

There are two ways to update the Network driver- Manually and Automatically.

Here we have given steps to both methods

Method One – Update Driver Manually

• Press key combination- Windows logo key and R together on your keyboard to invoke the Run command
• In Run command window, type devmgmt.msc and click OK
• In the Device Manager window, navigate to the Network Adapters category and expand it
• Right-click on Network Card in the list and note down its name

Note- Since your browser is not loading any website; you need to perform the step below on computer where you can download network drivers. After downloading the network driver, copy the driver setup file to your computer and then perform steps given below.

• Launch an Internet browser and go to the Network card manufacturer website and find driver updates for network card installed in your PC

While downloading a driver update, make sure you download the right network driver file. Find out which version of Windows 10 your computer is running – 32 bit OS or 64-bit OS. Here are the steps to find out system architecture.

• Click Start->Settings
• Click System->About
• Note down the System type info

If your computer is running Windows 32-bit OS, you need to download a network driver file intended for 32-bit Windows only. Same rule applies for 62-bit Windows. Just like the system architecture, make sure the driver file you are downloading is compatible with your Windows version (Windows 7/8.1/10).

• Download the right network driver to your computer
• Copy the network driver file to the computer for which you want to update the network driver

(Note- The steps given below should be performed on the computer for which you want to update network driver)

• Open Device Manager window again
• Go to the Network Adapters category and expand the category
• Right-click the network card and click Uninstall
• Wait for the un-installation process to complete
• Close Device Manager
• Now navigate to the drive/folder where you have copied the network driver file
• If the file is in zip format, you need to unzip the contents. After unzipping the contents, double-click on the Driver setup file to start the installation
• If the file is in exe format, double-click on the setup file to start the installation
• Follow on-screen instructions to install the latest network drivers.
• Wait for the process to complete and then restart your computer

If you find the manual driver update option difficult, you can use driver update software to update drivers automatically.

Method Two- Use a Driver Update Tool to update Network Driver automatically

Updating drivers manually can be quite a hassle.

Automatic driver update tools offer many benefits, the most important ones being:

• You can update device drivers automatically
• The software scans and updates all outdated or missing drivers at one go
• The tool picks the right drivers for your device and operating system, so you won’t have to worry about installing an incorrect driver by mistake
• Automatic driver updates are 100% safe

Driver Updater is one of the best driver update tools out there. Outbyte Driver Updater will give you access to a database of over 1 million drivers. It will regularly scan your PC, suggesting new driver versions to install. Driver Updater contains drivers for a variety of Windows devices. With just one click, you can update drivers in your system.

Step 1
Click here to Install and launch the app

Step 2
Scan all devices

Step 3
Install or update drivers automatically

 

Start Download

 

Solution Nine – Reset Chrome Settings

Some users were able to resolve the “This site can’t be reached” error by resetting the Chrome settings. Here are the steps to reset Chrome settings

• Launch Google Chrome
• Open new tab
• In the address bar, type chrome://flags/ and press Enter on keyboard
• Click Reset all to default
• Reboot your PC
• Launch Google Chrome and try to load a webpage

If you still get “This site can’t be reached” error, move to next solution.

Solution Ten- Restart DNS Client service

In most cases, the cause behind the“this site can’t be reached” error is related to DNS.

Many users were able to resolve the error by restarting the DNS client service.

Here are the steps to follow.

• Click Start
• Press key combination- Windows logo key +R to invoke the Run command
• In the Run command window, type services.msc and click OK
• In the Services window, locate DNS client service and select it
• Click Restart
• Close all windows

Open Chrome and try opening a website. If the error persists, move to next solution

Solution Eleven- Reinstall Chrome

If the above solutions have not worked for you, reinstall Chrome and see if it helps.

• Click Start
• Type feature in the Cortana Search box
• Click Apps and Features from the list of results
• Find Google Chrome in the list of programs and click on it
• Click Uninstall
• After Chrome is uninstalled
• Launch any other browser and download the latest Google Chrome and install it

In most cases, the “This site can’t be reached” error would be resolved by one of the solutions given in this post.