How to Fix ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED in Chrome

ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED means your browser reached the point of opening a connection to the site’s server and the server actively turned it away, rather than simply failing to answer. Nine times out of ten the block sits on your end — a stale DNS entry, a proxy or VPN, a firewall, or a corrupted host cache — so the fix is a short, ordered checklist. Start by confirming the site is not down for everyone, then work through the browser and network resets below, simplest first.

First, Find Out Whether It Is You or the Site#

Before you change a single setting, rule out the server. Open the same page on a different network — switch your phone from Wi-Fi to mobile data — or on another device entirely. If it loads there, the problem is your computer or your home network. If it fails everywhere, the site itself is down and no local fix will help. For a neutral second opinion, run the address through an outside status checker such as Down for Everyone or Just Me, which loads the page from its own servers and reports whether it responds.

Now open the address in an Incognito window (Ctrl+Shift+N). Incognito runs with no extensions and a clean cache, so if the page works there, you have already narrowed the cause to an add-on or stored data. It also helps to know which error you actually have, because the names are close but the causes are not:

Error	What it means	Where to look first
ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED	The server received your request and refused the connection outright	Your DNS, proxy, firewall, or the server’s port
ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT	The server never replied at all	Router, firewall silently dropping traffic
ERR_CONNECTION_RESET	The connection was dropped mid-request	Unstable network, VPN, or antivirus filtering
ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED	The domain name could not be turned into an address	DNS resolver, hosts file, typo in the URL

Symptom, Cause, and Fix at a Glance#

Use the pattern you are seeing to jump to the most likely fix instead of trying everything blindly.

Symptom	Likely cause	First thing to try
One site fails, everything else loads	That site’s service is down, or your DNS points to a dead address	Flush DNS, then switch DNS resolvers
Every site shows the error	A proxy, VPN, or firewall is blocking all traffic	Turn off the proxy and VPN, check the firewall
Works in Incognito, not normally	An extension or corrupted cache and cookies	Disable extensions, delete browsing data
Works on phone data, not home Wi-Fi	Router glitch or bad router-level DNS	Restart the router, set DNS manually
Only a localhost or 127.0.0.1 address fails	No local service is running on that port	Start the local server, confirm the port number

Reset the Browser: Cache, Host Cache, and Extensions#

For this specific error, wiping cache and cookies is lower-yield than a DNS reset, but it is quick and rules out a corrupted browser state. Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete to open Delete browsing data (older Chrome builds label the same button Clear browsing data), pick a time range, check Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files, then confirm. Our step-by-step on clearing cookies in Chrome walks through the single-site option if you would rather not sign out of everything.

Chrome also keeps its own DNS and connection caches, separate from Windows. Type chrome://net-internals/#dns in the address bar and click Clear host cache, then open chrome://net-internals/#sockets and click Flush socket pools. Together these force Chrome to look the site up fresh and open new connections. If Incognito worked earlier, open chrome://extensions and toggle off every extension, then re-enable them one at a time to find the offender — ad blockers, security tools, and old proxy add-ons are common causes. A misbehaving extension is also a frequent reason Chrome feels slow, so this cleanup pays off twice.

Flush the DNS Cache and Switch to a Faster Resolver#

Windows stores its own record of recent lookups, and one bad entry can keep sending Chrome to an address that refuses the connection. Open the Start menu, type Command Prompt, choose Run as administrator, and run:

ipconfig /flushdns

Per Microsoft’s ipconfig reference, that clears the DNS resolver cache. If the trouble is network-wide, follow it with ipconfig /release and then ipconfig /renew to get a fresh address from your router.

If flushing does not help, point your PC at a public resolver instead of your provider’s. In Windows 11, go to Settings > Network & internet, select Wi-Fi or Ethernet, open your connection’s properties, find DNS server assignment, and choose Edit > Manual. Turn on IPv4 and enter Google Public DNS — 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 — or Cloudflare’s resolver — 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 — then save. While you are at it, power-cycle the router: unplug it, wait about 30 seconds, and plug it back in, which clears a stuck router-level DNS cache that no PC command can reach.

Clear the Network Blockers: Proxy, VPN, Firewall, and Hosts File#

A leftover proxy is one of the most common reasons every site refuses to load. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Proxy, turn Use a proxy server off, and make sure Automatically detect settings is on. If you run a VPN, disconnect it and reload — a dropped or expired VPN session routinely produces this error, and it is worth knowing when a VPN actually helps versus when it just gets in the way.

Next check your security software. A firewall or antivirus web shield can block a specific site or a whole app’s traffic. In the Windows Security app, open Firewall & network protection > Allow an app through firewall, and confirm Chrome is permitted on your network type; Microsoft’s note on the risks of allowing apps through the firewall is worth a read before you add anything. If your antivirus is doing the blocking, pause its web protection briefly to test, then turn it back on.

Finally, inspect the hosts file, which can silently redirect a domain to a dead address — sometimes left behind by old software or malware. Open Notepad as administrator, then open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. Delete any line pointing a real website to 127.0.0.1 or another wrong address (leave the default comment lines alone), and save. Microsoft publishes the default hosts file contents if you want to compare against a clean copy.

When It Is the Server’s End, Not Yours#

If you have flushed DNS, cleared proxy and firewall blocks, and the outside status check still shows the site down, the problem is not something you can fix. A refused connection can also mean the host is up but the specific service or port is offline, or that the server has blocked your IP address — in which case waiting, or contacting the site, is the only path. Developers seeing this on a localhost address almost always have no server running on that port yet; start the local service and confirm the port number in the URL.

To keep the error from coming back, leave your DNS on a reliable public resolver, remove browser extensions you no longer use, and re-check the hosts file after installing unfamiliar software. If a single machine keeps refusing connections that other devices handle fine, boot into a clean environment to isolate it — our guide to Safe Mode on Windows 11 loads Windows with drivers and startup apps stripped back, which quickly tells you whether a background program is the one slamming the door.