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How to Fix ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED in Chrome

Find out whether the name, your DNS server or your proxy setup failed, then fix that part.

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TL;DR

ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED is Chrome's own error: the DNS lookup for the site's name returned no IP address, so Chrome never contacted the site. Check the address for typos first, then repair the DNS settings Chrome uses and reload.

How Chrome and its tools show the failed lookup

Chrome may swap the code for a DNS_PROBE result; tools built on Chrome keep the net:: code.

WhereWhat you see
ChromeThis site can't be reached. www.example.invalid's server IP address could not be found. ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED
Chrome after its DNS check, your DNS workingThis site can't be reached. Check if there is a typo in www.example.invalid. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN
Chrome after its DNS check, your DNS server failingThis site can't be reached. www.example.invalid's server IP address could not be found. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG
Chrome with a failing Secure DNS provider (Try list)Checking the proxy, firewall, and Secure DNS configuration
Chrome DevTools console, failed fetch or imageFailed to load resource: net::ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED
Puppeteer page.goto()net::ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED at https://www.example.invalid/
Playwright page.goto()page.goto: net::ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED at https://www.example.invalid/

Why this happens

Chrome asked for the site's IP address and got none back.

Without a proxy, Chrome resolves every site name before connecting. A mistyped or unregistered name has no record to return, and a broken resolver, or one that filters the name on purpose, may return no address.

Diagnose your ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED first

Start with what Chrome and a phone show you; the last two checks are for developers.

  • Read the code under Chrome's message; DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN means your DNS server works but has no address for this name.

  • Read the Try list; Secure DNS configuration there means Chrome's encrypted lookup failed, not your network's usual DNS server.

  • Open the address on a phone using mobile data; if it fails there too, the problem is the name itself, not your network.

  • Open DevTools, Network tab, and reload; rows failing with net::ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED while the page loads mean another host, such as its API, does not resolve.

  • Run nslookup with the host name; NXDOMAIN (Windows: Nonexistent domain) means DNS has no such name, while an address points back to Chrome.

Solutions ranked by effectiveness

Fix the DNS path first, then stale cached answers, then proxy settings that send Chrome around the proxy.

  1. Most common fix

    Repair the DNS settings Chrome relies on

    Applies when the code is DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG or the site opens on mobile data. The name exists; the server answering your lookups is down, misconfigured or filtering it.

    1. In Chrome's Security settings, switch Use secure DNS off, then reload the page.

    2. Remove DNS servers typed in by hand under your network settings, then reconnect.

    3. Restart your modem and router if pages fail on every site.

    4. If a work, school or ISP filter blocks the site on purpose, ask its admin.

  2. Check next

    Clear lookups Chrome and your system cached

    Applies when other devices already open the site, for example right after its DNS was fixed. Chrome or the operating system may still hold the earlier failed answer.

    1. Open chrome://net-internals/#dns and click Clear host cache.

    2. On Windows, run ipconfig /flushdns, which also drops cached not-found answers.

    3. Quit Chrome completely, reopen it, and load the address again.

  3. For developers

    Fix a bypass list, PAC or SOCKS4 setup

    Applies when Chrome, Puppeteer or Playwright should reach this host through your proxy yet shows this error. A setting below made Chrome look the host up with your own DNS.

    1. Remove the host from --proxy-bypass-list or your extension's bypass list.

    2. Make your PAC file return PROXY for that host, with no DIRECT fallback.

    3. Write socks5:// instead of socks4://, and SOCKS5 instead of SOCKS in PAC files.

Stop the ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED from coming back

Habits for people who browse on several networks, run their own domains or name local test servers.

  1. On laptops, set Use secure DNS to OS default (when available); a custom provider never falls back to plain DNS.

  2. Keep auto-renew on for your domains; after expiry, ICANN rules make the registrar interrupt the domain's DNS.

  3. Create every record at a new DNS host before switching nameservers, or resolvers may cache a not-found answer.

  4. Give custom dev names such as shop.test a hosts-file line; caching DNS servers should answer .test lookups with not found.

Proxy errors your script might showGeonode's Puppeteer and Playwright guides list the proxy errors their tests returned, with fixes.
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Related errors

Learn more

FAQ

Chrome found no IP address for the host name it needed, so it never opened a connection or sent a request to that website.

After the lookup fails, Chrome asks your DNS server and Google Public DNS to resolve google.com, then shows the result code on the page. Puppeteer and Playwright still report the original net::ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED.

A proxy changes which error you see. Through an HTTP or SOCKS5 proxy, an unresolvable proxy host shows ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED, and a site the proxy cannot find shows ERR_TUNNEL_CONNECTION_FAILED, ERR_SOCKS_CONNECTION_FAILED or the proxy's own error page.

The browser runs on your host, outside the Compose network, so service names such as api resolve only inside containers. Point browser-side calls at localhost and the port you published.

DNS answers only for the exact name asked. If example.com has an address record but www.example.com has none, and no wildcard record covers it, the www address cannot resolve.

Chrome folds nearly every lookup failure, from a missing name to a resolver timeout, into ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED, while Node.js keeps them apart as ENOTFOUND and EAI_AGAIN.

Chrome proxy setup for each system

Geonode's Chrome guide links system proxy steps for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.

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