10 Fixes for DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN Error

10 Best Fixes for DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN Error

by

DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN is a common error in Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Linux, Mac, and even Android Operating Systems.

DNS probe error may occur on one browser, mostly Google Chrome and fail to appear on other browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Internet Explorer.

At times, it may occur on all browsers, preventing you from accessing the internet completely. The error code may appear due to various reasons, but all of them are related to DNS server on your computer hence the name DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN.

What is a DNS server? DNS stands for “domain name system”. A domain name is a human-readable website address that you usually enter into your browser’s address to access the web page, for example, Google.com.

However, the computer does not understand where google.com is. The Internet and other networks use numerical Internet Protocol addresses (IP addresses).

Hence, Google.com is located at IP address 216.58.192.4. So you can either use the IP address or the domain name to get onto a website of your choice, but you cannot remember all those numbers.

DNS servers match the human readable names to their associated IP addresses that machines can easily understand.

How to Fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

[table id=1 /]
DNS Probe Finished Nxdomain Error

What does DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN Mean?

To understand the term better, we can split it into two phrases: DNS probe and NXDOMAIN.

What is DNS probe? It is essentially making a request to the DNS servers using a domain name to find a matching IP address so that the website can load,

If at all the domain exists, if it fails to find, then DNS probe finished error is returned.

When you see NXDOMAIN error message on your browser, it means the domain does not exist after DNS probe finished hence the request could not be resolved.

Would you like to know what causes the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN? Below are possible causes and ten methods on how to fix the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error.

10 Fixes for DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN Error

#1. Restart your PC

Restarting your computer is probably the first thing you should try because the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN could be a result of a temporary error that can be resolved by a simple restart. So,

  • Save your data
  • Close all the open programs on your PC
  • Restart it.

When it restarts, try and go to the page you were trying to access, if it loads, you may not have to do anything else.

#2. Power Cycle Computer and Router

Your router could be having problems connecting to your ISP. Try unplugging both your computer and router from the power source.

Just turning off is not enough. Leave them for 5 minutes. It ensures that any residual charge is released, and the memory is cleared.

Plug the power cables back in and check the websites again.

#3. Clearing or Resetting Browser’s cache

In certain circumstances, cached data can prevent accessing some web pages. A simple method for resolving this error is resetting the browser’s cache by following these steps.

  1. Open a tab in Chrome, then click Menu in the top Right Corner.
  2. In the Menu Items, Click on More Tools>Clear browsing data.
  3. A dialog appears. Select the checkboxes for the types of information that you want to remove.
  4. Select the amount of data you want to delete using the menu at the top.
  5. Click “Clear browsing data”.

For Mozilla Firefox, follow these steps.

  1. Click Menu button on the top right then history.
  2. Select “Clear Recent History”.
  3. From the Time Range drop-down menu, select everything to do a full cache reset.
  4. Next to details button, select “All Items” to clear your entire cache.

#4. Restoring Browser to Default Settings

Sometimes the DNS probe finished NXDOMAIN error can be as a result of browser customizations. You can resolve this error by restoring the browser to its original settings. To do this, in Google Chrome follow the steps below.

  1. Open a tab in Google Chrome and type the below address in the address bar: “chrome://flags/”
  2. Press enter.
  3. The “Chrome experiment” section opens up. In the right side, there is a “Reset all to default” button. Click the button to reset everything to default then restart the Chrome browser.

If you are using Mozilla Firefox, then follow the given steps below;

  1. Click on the Menu button on the top right corner of the Mozilla Firefox window.
  2. Find the help button, usually a question mark at the bottom of the pop-up window of the menu. Click it to open the Help menu.
  3. Choose “Troubleshooting Information” from the help menu.
  4. In the right corner of the Troubleshooting Information page, click the “Reset Firefox” button.
  5. In the confirmation Window that opens, click Reset Firefox and wait for the process to finish.
  6. Try to reload the web page that was bringing the error.

#5. Disable Antivirus or Firewall

Sometimes, antivirus and firewalls do cause connection issues. You might be having an antivirus or firewall that blocks certain scripts from connecting to the internet.

Disable the antivirus, firewall or any website filtering programs if you have installed them and try accessing the website that was giving you the NXDOMAIN error.

If it fails to work, then uninstall the antivirus or website filtering programs and try again. If this method solves your problem, then you should consider finding a different antivirus or firewall program.

#6. Temporarily Disable your VPN Client

If you are running a VPN client on your computer, the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error can be as a result of the VPN client blocking the DNS while accessing any web page using a browser like Google Chrome.

A simple resolution here is temporarily disabling the VPN client. If it does not work, then uninstall the VPN from your PC and reboot. Try to reload the web page to see if the error has resolved.

#7. DNS Flushing

DNS flushing means clearing or rather resetting the contents of the DNS client resolver cache.

This procedure discards negative cache entries and any other dynamically added entries. Follow these steps to perform DNS Flushing.

  1. Start the Command Prompt by pressing Windows key +X and click on Command Prompt Admin. Alternatively, you can press Windows Key+ R, to open up the Run Dialog box, then type in CMD and press enter.
  2. In the open command prompt window, type in the below command and press enter:
    netsh winsock reset catalog
  3. Wait for the command to execute, then reboot your PC and try to open the web page that was bringing the NXDOMAIN error. This procedure should resolve the issue.

#8. Restart the DNS Client

In some incidents, DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN occurs due to a misconfiguration issue on your PC or Wi-Fi Router.

When accessing a website, the browser attempts to resolve the IP address of the corresponding website using cached domain names in the DNS client.

If it cannot reach the DNS server, it means the IP addresses in the cached domain names did not match, or some problem occurred, hence, it needs restarting. Follow the steps below to restart the DNS client.

  1. On your computer keyboard Press the Windows key + R, then in the run dialog box that pops up, type services.msc
  2. Press enter to open the Services Window.
  3. Keenly, scroll through the list and find the DNS client.
  4. Right Click on the DNS client, look for Restart option and click it.
  5. The DNS client restarts, and you can reload the web page you were trying to access.

#9. Change the DNS Servers

This method involves changing the DNS settings which basically means changing the DNS address. These changes help get rid of the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error code and you can achieve it by following the steps below;

  1. Find the Network icon in your taskbar, usually among the icons on the right side of the taskbar. Right click on it, then click on “Open Network and Sharing Center.”
  2. In the window that opens up, check on the Left Pane, Click on Change Adapter Settings.
  3. You can see all the available network connections on your PC, but you have to identify the active and connected one, it can be Wireless or LAN connection. Right click on the active connection and Click on “Properties”.
  4. A window pops up. In the window, click on Internet Protocol Version 4(TCP/IPv4), then click on the “Properties” button just below it
    v. Another pop-up window appears, check the box for [Use the following IP address:].
  5. In the text box for Preferred DNS server, enter 8 in each of the four segments, so it appears like 8.8.8.8
  6. In the text box for Alternate DNS server, enter 8.8.4.4
  7. Click OK to save the settings then reload the web page in your browser to see if the error is resolved.

#10. Restore your PC

Restoring your PC is the last method you would want to try on your PC if all the above failed to work.

It involves restoring your PC to an earlier point when everything was working fine. Restoring your PC to the previous restore point can fix many issues that may have occurred due to improper settings, corrupted drivers, or software issues.

The downside is that you lose software installed after the restore point creation. To restore your PC, you need your Operating System installation disc to boot from instead of booting directly from hard disk. When the disc loads, choose the option for restoring to an earlier restore point.

If you are trying to access sites like Youtube, GoDaddy, WordPress, Dreamhost, Facebook, or Gmail on your mobile phone or computer and you encounter errors such as server can’t find NXDOMAİN, the above methods are enough to solve your nxdomain error.