How to Fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN on Windows 11

You open a website in Google Chrome, but instead of seeing the page, you get an error message: DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN. Other websites might work normally, or the same website might fail to load in every browser you try.

This error usually means that the browser’s DNS lookup could not find the requested domain name. DNS is the system that helps your computer find the server associated with a website’s domain. When the lookup returns a result indicating that the domain does not exist, Chrome may display this error.

The cause is not always your computer. A mistyped web address, a temporary DNS problem, an incorrect local DNS cache, a VPN configuration, or missing DNS records for a website can all lead to similar symptoms.

The best approach is to identify whether the problem affects one website, one browser, or your entire internet connection. Then you can apply the fix that matches the problem instead of changing settings unnecessarily.

This guide explains how to fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN on Windows 11, from quick checks to more advanced DNS troubleshooting.

Table of Contents

1. Check the website address
2. Find out whether one website or every website is affected
3. Restart your browser and computer
4. Restart your router
5. Flush the DNS cache
6. Release and renew your IP address
7. Reset Winsock and TCP/IP
8. Change your DNS server
9. Disable VPN or proxy settings temporarily
10. Check Chrome’s Secure DNS settings
11. Check the Windows Hosts file
12. Test DNS using Command Prompt
13. Check the website’s domain and DNS records
14. Update Windows and your network driver
15. Frequently asked questions

1. Check the Website Address

Before changing your DNS settings, make sure the address you entered is correct.

A small typing mistake can cause this error. For example, you might enter an extra character, leave out part of a domain, or use the wrong domain extension.

Try these steps:

1. Click the browser’s address bar.
2. Carefully check the domain name.
3. Remove any unnecessary characters or spaces.
4. Type the address again and press Enter.
5. If you opened the link from a message or document, check whether the original link contains a typo.

Pay particular attention to the part of the address after the final dot, such as .com, .org, or .net.

If the website has both example.com and www.example.com versions, you can try the other version. However, these are technically different hostnames, and the website owner must configure the appropriate DNS records for both.

Why this matters: DNS cannot find a domain that has been entered incorrectly. Changing your computer’s DNS server will not fix a spelling mistake.

2. Find Out Whether One Website or Every Website Is Affected

This is one of the most useful troubleshooting steps because it helps narrow down the cause.

Open a few websites that you know normally work. Then test the affected website in another browser, such as Microsoft Edge or Firefox.

Use the results to guide your next step.

If possible, disconnect your phone from Wi-Fi and open the same website using mobile data. This helps determine whether the issue is limited to your home network.

Do not assume that the website itself is down just because Chrome displays NXDOMAIN. The message specifically relates to name resolution, although the underlying cause can be on the website’s DNS side.

3. Restart Your Browser and Computer

A browser may retain temporary information about a failed lookup. Windows also keeps a DNS resolver cache that can contain previously resolved names and negative results.

Restarting your browser and computer is a simple first attempt to clear temporary problems.

Restart Chrome properly

1. Save anything you are working on.
2. Close Chrome.
3. Open Chrome again.
4. Visit the affected website.

If the error remains, restart Windows:

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Select the Power icon.
3. Choose Restart.
4. After Windows starts, reconnect to the internet if necessary.
5. Open the website again.

A restart is particularly worth trying if the error appeared suddenly after the computer woke from sleep or switched between networks.

If the same error returns, continue with the DNS-specific fixes below.

4. Restart Your Router

If several devices on the same Wi-Fi network cannot open the website, your router or its configured DNS resolver may be involved.

Restarting the router can re-establish the connection to your internet provider and clear some temporary network issues.

How to restart your router

1. Save any work that depends on the internet.
2. Turn off the router using its power button, if available.
3. If needed, unplug its power cable.
4. Wait approximately 30 seconds.
5. Reconnect the power and allow the router to finish starting.
6. Reconnect your computer to Wi-Fi and test the website.

If you use a separate modem and router, follow the equipment manufacturer’s recommended restart procedure.

Do not press the small factory-reset button. A factory reset can erase your Wi-Fi name, password, and other configuration settings.

If the website still fails on every device, try testing it through another internet connection. If the problem occurs only on your home connection, investigate the router’s DNS settings or contact your internet provider.

5. Flush the DNS Cache

Flushing the DNS cache is one of the most useful fixes for DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN on Windows 11.

Windows stores DNS lookup results so that it does not have to request the same information every time you visit a website. If a failed or outdated result is cached, clearing the cache may allow Windows to request fresh information.

Follow these steps

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt.
3. Select Run as administrator.
4. Approve the permission prompt if it appears.
5. Enter the following command:

ipconfig /flushdns

6. Press Enter.

Windows should display a message indicating that the DNS Resolver Cache was successfully flushed.

Close Command Prompt, reopen Chrome, and try the website again.

What if the error remains?

Flushing the cache does not repair missing DNS records on the website’s server, and it cannot fix every DNS configuration problem. If the domain does not exist or its DNS records are incorrect, the error may return.

If the command succeeds but the website still fails, continue to the next method.

6. Release and Renew Your IP Address

Windows obtains network configuration from your router or another DHCP server. This configuration can include your IP address, default gateway, and DNS server information.

Releasing and renewing the IP address can help when the computer has an outdated or problematic network configuration.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt as administrator

Search for Command Prompt in the Start menu, select Run as administrator, and approve the prompt.

Step 2: Release the current IP address

Run:

ipconfig /release

Press Enter.

Your active network connection may temporarily lose connectivity. This is expected while the address is released.

Step 3: Request a new IP address

Run:

ipconfig /renew

Press Enter and wait for Windows to finish.

Step 4: Flush DNS again

Run:

ipconfig /flushdns

Close Command Prompt and test the website.

Important: If your computer uses a manually configured static IP address, do not blindly use these commands. Check your network configuration first, because releasing and renewing an address is primarily intended for connections that obtain their IP settings automatically.

7. Reset Winsock and TCP/IP

If flushing DNS and renewing the IP address did not help, Windows networking components may need further troubleshooting.

Winsock provides an interface between applications and network services. TCP/IP handles core network communication. Resetting these components can resolve some persistent Windows networking problems.

Run the reset commands

Open Command Prompt as administrator and execute these commands one at a time:

netsh winsock reset

Then:

netsh int ip reset

After both commands complete, restart your computer.

Once Windows has restarted, open Chrome and test the website.

These commands reset networking components; they do not repair an incorrect domain name or missing DNS records on a website. If the problem affects only one domain, investigate the domain itself before making further changes to Windows.

If your computer uses specialized network software, a VPN, or manually configured network settings, be aware that a reset may require some settings to be restored.

8. Change Your DNS Server

Your computer normally uses DNS servers supplied by your internet provider or configured on your network. If that resolver is returning incorrect results or having problems, switching to a reputable public DNS service can help.

Two commonly used public DNS services are Google Public DNS and Cloudflare DNS.

Choose one provider to test first. You generally do not need to mix addresses from different providers.

How to change DNS in Windows 11

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.
2. Select Network & internet.
3. Choose Wi-Fi if you use wireless, or Ethernet if you use a cable.
4. Open the properties of your connected network or the relevant DNS settings.
5. Find DNS server assignment and select Edit.
6. Change the setting to Manual.
7. Enable IPv4.
8. Enter the preferred and alternate DNS addresses for your chosen provider.
9. Save the settings.

Windows interface labels can vary slightly by version. If you use IPv6 or have a manually configured business network, make sure you do not unintentionally replace settings that your network requires.

Now open Command Prompt and run:

ipconfig /flushdns

Restart Chrome and visit the website again.

How to know whether changing DNS worked

Test the affected domain and a few other websites.

• If the website starts working, the previous DNS resolver or its configuration may have been responsible.
• If only one website continues to fail, the domain’s DNS records may be incorrect or missing.
• If many websites still fail, investigate the network connection, VPN, proxy, or Windows configuration.

Changing DNS is not guaranteed to fix NXDOMAIN. If a domain genuinely does not exist, public DNS providers should also return a result indicating that it cannot be found.

9. Disable VPN or Proxy Settings Temporarily

A VPN or proxy can change how your browser’s traffic is routed and which DNS resolver is used. If its configuration is incorrect, a website may fail to resolve even when your normal internet connection works.

This is worth checking if the error began after installing a VPN, enabling a proxy, or changing network settings.

Temporarily disconnect your VPN

1. Open your VPN application.
2. Disconnect from the current server.
3. Close and reopen Chrome.
4. Test the website again.

If the website works with the VPN disconnected, check the VPN application’s DNS settings, server selection, or support documentation. Do not leave the VPN disabled if you need it for work or security.

Check Windows proxy settings

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Network & internet.
3. Choose Proxy.
4. Review any manually configured proxy settings.
5. If you intentionally use a proxy, confirm that its settings are correct.
6. If you do not use one and an unexpected manual proxy is enabled, disable it and test again.

Do not disable an organization-managed proxy on a work computer without checking with your IT administrator.

Also remember that browser extensions and security applications can affect connectivity. If the error occurs only in Chrome, try an Incognito window and investigate extensions before changing system-wide settings.

10. Check Chrome’s Secure DNS Settings

Chrome has a feature called Secure DNS, which can send DNS queries through a supported encrypted DNS service instead of relying entirely on the system’s normal DNS configuration.

Depending on your settings, Secure DNS can use a provider that differs from the DNS service configured in Windows. This can make it useful to check when a DNS error occurs only in Chrome.

How to check Secure DNS

1. Open Chrome.
2. Enter this address in the address bar:chrome://settings/security
3. Find the Use secure DNS setting.
4. Check whether it is enabled and which provider is selected, if shown.
5. If you recently selected a custom provider, try returning to your normal provider selection or temporarily turning Secure DNS off for testing.
6. Restart Chrome and test the website.

The exact controls may vary depending on your Chrome version and whether the browser is managed by an organization.

If turning Secure DNS off makes the website work, investigate the selected DNS provider or its configuration. You can then choose a suitable supported provider rather than leaving a setting changed without understanding why it helped.

If the error remains, restore your preferred Secure DNS configuration and continue troubleshooting.

11. Check the Windows Hosts File

Windows has a local file called the Hosts file. It can map specific hostnames to IP addresses without asking a DNS server.

If the file contains an incorrect entry for a website, it can interfere with how Windows resolves that hostname. This is not the most common cause of NXDOMAIN, but it is worth checking if you have previously edited the file, used development tools, or installed software that changes hostname mappings.

Locate the Hosts file

The standard location is:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

To inspect it:

1. Open Start and search for Notepad.
2. Right-click Notepad and select Run as administrator.
3. In Notepad, select File > Open.
4. Navigate to the folder shown above.
5. Change the file filter from text documents to all files.
6. Open the file named hosts.

Review the entries for the domain that is failing.

Lines beginning with # are comments and are not treated as active mappings. If you find an unexpected entry for the affected domain, it may be interfering with resolution.

Do not delete entries simply because they look unfamiliar. Some development environments and security tools intentionally use Hosts entries. If you identify an incorrect entry, make a backup of the file and remove only the entry you understand to be wrong.

Save any changes and flush the DNS cache again:

ipconfig /flushdns

Test the website after making the change.

12. Test DNS Using Command Prompt

If the usual fixes have not worked, use nslookup to check whether DNS can resolve the domain.

This helps distinguish a local browser problem from a domain-resolution problem.

Run an nslookup test

1. Open Command Prompt.
2. Enter the following command, replacing example.com with the domain that is failing:

nslookup example.com

3. Press Enter.

Read the response carefully. If an address is returned, the configured DNS resolver was able to find a result for that name at the time of the test. If the response says the domain does not exist, the resolver returned a negative result.

Test with another DNS resolver

You can compare the response from a public DNS server by running:

nslookup example.com 1.1.1.1

Replace example.com with the actual domain.

If the normal lookup fails but the query to the alternate resolver succeeds, the issue may involve your default DNS resolver or its cache.

If both resolvers report that the domain does not exist, check that you entered the correct domain and investigate whether its DNS records are configured properly.

A failed query to a particular DNS server does not always prove that the domain is missing. Network restrictions, DNS filtering, and temporary resolver problems can also affect the result.

13. Check the Website’s Domain and DNS Records

If the error occurs for only one website across multiple browsers and devices, the problem may be outside your computer.

The domain may have expired, the DNS records may have been removed, the nameservers may be incorrect, or the domain may not have been configured properly after a hosting or DNS change.

This section is especially important if you manage the website yourself.

If you are just visiting the website

Try opening it through another network, such as mobile data.

If the same domain returns NXDOMAIN on multiple devices and networks, there may be a domain-side issue. Contact the website owner or wait for the administrator to resolve it.

Changing your computer’s DNS settings repeatedly is unlikely to help if the domain’s authoritative DNS records are missing.

If you own the website

Check the following:

• Domain registration: Confirm that the domain has not expired or been suspended.
• Nameservers: Make sure the domain is using the intended DNS provider’s nameservers.
• Root-domain record: Confirm that the apex domain, such as example.com, has the required DNS records.
• Subdomain records: Check www.example.com or any other hostname that is failing.
• DNS provider configuration: Verify that records have been saved in the correct DNS zone.
• Recent changes: Review recent migrations, nameserver changes, hosting changes, or DNS record deletions.

For example, the root domain and the www subdomain can have separate DNS configurations. One may work while the other returns NXDOMAIN.

If you recently changed nameservers or DNS records, allow time for the change to propagate through caching resolvers. The time required depends on the records’ TTL values and the DNS configuration. However, do not assume every NXDOMAIN error is simply propagation delay; verify that the records actually exist and point where intended.

If your DNS is managed by a hosting provider or a third-party DNS service, use that provider’s dashboard and documentation to check the zone. If the records appear correct but the domain still fails to resolve, contact the DNS provider or domain registrar.

14. Update Windows and Your Network Driver

If several domains fail on your computer but work elsewhere, the problem may involve Windows networking or the network adapter’s driver.

This is less likely to be the cause when a single domain returns NXDOMAIN on every device, but it is worth investigating when the error affects broader network access.

Check Windows Update

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Windows Update.
3. Select Check for updates.
4. Install appropriate available updates.
5. Restart the computer if prompted.

Check the network adapter driver

1. Press Windows + X.
2. Open Device Manager.
3. Expand Network adapters.
4. Right-click your active network adapter.
5. Select Update driver.
6. Follow the available instructions.

If Windows does not find a suitable driver and the problem started after an update, check your computer manufacturer’s official support page for a compatible driver or a rollback option.

Keep in mind that a driver update is not a substitute for checking DNS records. If only one domain is affected and other sites work normally, focus on the hostname and its DNS configuration first.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN mean?

It means that the DNS lookup returned a result indicating that the requested domain name does not exist. The cause can be an incorrect address, a DNS resolver issue, or missing or incorrect records for the domain.

Is DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN a problem with my internet?

Not necessarily. Your internet connection can be working while a particular domain fails to resolve. Test several websites and another device to determine whether the issue is limited to one domain or affects your broader connection.

How do I fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN quickly?

First, check the website address. Then try ipconfig /flushdns in Command Prompt and restart Chrome. If the error remains, test another browser, check your DNS settings, and use nslookup to investigate the domain.

Why does a website work on mobile data but not on Wi-Fi?

Your home network may use a DNS resolver that is returning a different result, or the router may have a DNS configuration issue. Try restarting the router and comparing DNS results. If the website is accessible through another resolver, investigate your network’s DNS configuration.

Will changing DNS to Google or Cloudflare fix the error?

It may help if the DNS resolver provided by your network is returning an incorrect result or experiencing a problem. It will not fix a domain that genuinely does not exist or has missing DNS records.

Can a VPN cause DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN?

Yes, a VPN may use its own DNS servers or network configuration. If the error began after connecting to a VPN, disconnect it temporarily for testing and check the VPN’s DNS settings. Follow your organization’s rules if the VPN is required for work.

Why does only one website show NXDOMAIN?

The address may be incorrect, the domain may have expired, or the website’s DNS records may be missing or misconfigured. If the error occurs across multiple devices and networks, the website owner or DNS provider may need to investigate.

Does flushing DNS delete saved passwords or browser history?

No. The ipconfig /flushdns command clears the Windows DNS resolver cache. It does not delete your saved browser passwords, bookmarks, or browsing history.

How long does it take to fix a DNS problem?

A local cache or configuration issue may be resolved in minutes. If a domain’s DNS records or nameservers are incorrect, the administrator must fix the configuration, and cached DNS information may take additional time to expire.

Conclusion

The DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error can appear even when your internet connection is working. It means that the requested domain could not be resolved, but it does not automatically mean that your computer is broken.

Start by checking the URL and testing other websites. Then flush the DNS cache, renew your network configuration if appropriate, and compare results using another DNS resolver. If the issue affects only one domain across several devices, investigate the domain’s DNS records instead of repeatedly changing Windows settings.

The most important step is identifying where the failure occurs. Once you know whether it is limited to one website, one browser, one computer, or an entire network, you can focus on the fix that addresses the actual cause.