Chrome: DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

Hi, it's BlueByte. NXDOMAIN sounds like the site is down, but it almost never is — the name just didn't resolve, and that's a problem on your side of the lookup. Let's confirm it's DNS, find out whether it's one device or all of them, and fix it in the right place.

What NXDOMAIN actually means

A page fails to load with:

This site can't be reached
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

NXDOMAIN means the DNS lookup returned "no such domain". The name could not be resolved to an address — a DNS problem, not a problem with the site's server. That distinction matters: nothing you do to the site helps; the fix is on the resolving side — your device, your resolver, or your router.

Why a name fails to resolve

• A typo in the domain — NXDOMAIN is exactly what a misspelled name returns.
• A stale or poisoned DNS cache on your device holding a failed lookup.
• A resolver that is not answering correctly — an ISP resolver having trouble, or a filtering DNS service blocking the name.
• A hosts-file entry overriding the name to somewhere invalid.
• A VPN or corporate split-DNS that only resolves internal names and returns NXDOMAIN for the rest.

First, find out where it fails

Narrow it down before touching anything. Try the same site on another device on the same network:

• If only one device fails, the cause is local to it — cache, resolver, or hosts file.
• If every device fails, fix it on the router or resolver.

Then confirm it really is DNS by resolving the name directly against a public server:

nslookup example.com 8.8.8.8

If a public resolver answers but your normal one does not, your resolver is the problem. If even 8.8.8.8 returns NXDOMAIN, the domain genuinely does not exist — recheck the spelling.

Fix it cheapest-first

1. Check the address for a typo — the cheapest fix.

2. Flush the DNS cache.

Windows:

ipconfig /flushdns

macOS:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

3. Switch to a public resolver — set your network's DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1 and reload.

4. Check the hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts on Windows, /etc/hosts on macOS/Linux) for a stale entry pointing the domain somewhere wrong, and remove it.

A real case: one laptop, stale resolver

One laptop cannot open a site that loads fine on your phone on the same Wi‑Fi. Because only the laptop fails, the problem is local to it. nslookup example.com 8.8.8.8 answers with an address, so DNS itself works — your laptop's cache or resolver is stale. You run ipconfig /flushdns, reload, and it still fails, so you set the adapter's DNS to 1.1.1.1. The page loads. The old ISP resolver had cached a failed lookup; pointing at a public resolver bypassed it.

Confirm it loads, and note what fixed it

Reload the page. If it loads, note which step fixed it. You can also clear Chrome's own cache at chrome://net-internals/#dns → Clear host cache and retry, to rule out a browser-level stale entry.

Keep it from recurring

Use a reliable resolver (a public one or a well-run internal server), keep the hosts file free of leftover test entries, and remember that a VPN or filtering DNS service can start returning NXDOMAIN for names it does not like — disable it briefly to test when a single name fails.

How this differs from a connection error

DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN is resolution failing. ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED and ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT happen after the name resolves — the server was found but did not accept the connection — so those are reachability problems, not DNS. When you see NXDOMAIN, check the resolver, not the site.