How to Fix ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE in Chrome
What ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE means
ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE means Chrome tried to reach a website's address but the request never arrived. No connection was ever made — not even a rejected one. That distinction matters, because it tells you where to look: the problem is usually on the road between you and the site, not at the site's front door. A broken network path, a stale DNS answer, a router that lost its route to your ISP, or a VPN sending your traffic into a dead end will all produce exactly this error.
The good news is that most cases are fixed with basic network housekeeping rather than anything exotic. Work through the steps below in order: first figure out whether the problem is your connection or just one site, then restart the hardware, strip away the VPN and proxy layers, refresh DNS, and clear out cached data. The step that makes the page load tells you what was broken, so you will know what to check first if the error ever comes back.
Common causes
- Router or modem losing its route: a stale routing table or a dropped ISP connection leaves your traffic with nowhere to go, so Chrome reports the address as unreachable.
- Bad or stale DNS answers: if DNS points Chrome at an address that no longer exists, the request goes to a dead end and never arrives.
- VPN or proxy sending traffic nowhere: a disconnected VPN with a leftover proxy setting is a classic cause — traffic is routed into a tunnel that is no longer open.
- Firewall or antivirus blocking the connection: Windows Firewall rules or a third-party web shield can silently block Chrome's outbound traffic to certain addresses.
- The site itself being down or blocking your IP: a crashed server, a broken DNS record, or the site's firewall blocking your address will make only that one site unreachable.
How to fix ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE — step by step
Work through these fixes in order. Most cases are fixed by step 2, 3, or 4.
- Check whether the problem is your connection or just one site. Before changing anything, open two or three other major websites. If nothing loads, the problem is your connection or your router. If only one site fails, check DownDetector or isitdownrightnow.com to see whether it is down for everyone. Also try the site on your phone with Wi-Fi turned off: if it loads on mobile data, your home network or ISP is the problem, not the site.
- Restart your router and modem, then reload the page. Unplug your router and modem from power, wait a full 30 seconds, plug them back in, and wait until the lights stabilize before reloading the page. A restart clears stale routing tables and reconnects your network to your ISP, which fixes a surprising number of unreachable-address errors. If you use a separate modem and router, power both down and bring the modem back up first, then the router.
- Disconnect your VPN and turn off any manual proxy. A VPN or proxy that routes traffic into a dead end is a classic cause of this error. Disconnect your VPN completely and reload the page. Then check for a stale proxy: on Windows, open Settings, go to Network & internet, then Proxy, and make sure Use a proxy server is turned off under Manual proxy setup. On a Mac, open System Settings, go to Network, click your Wi-Fi, then Details, then Proxies, and uncheck everything. If you use a corporate or school proxy, leave its settings alone and contact IT.
- Flush your DNS cache and reset the network stack. A bad cached DNS entry can send Chrome to an address that no longer exists. Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run ipconfig /flushdns, then netsh winsock reset, then netsh int ip reset, and restart your computer. If the error persists, change your DNS servers: on Windows, open Settings, go to Network & internet, then Wi-Fi or Ethernet, click your connection, edit the DNS server assignment, and enter 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 (Google Public DNS). Restart Chrome and try the site again.
- Clear Chrome's cache and test in incognito. Corrupted cached data can keep producing an error that no longer exists. Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Cmd + Shift + Delete on a Mac), set the time range to All time, check Cached images and files and Cookies and other site data, and click Clear data. Then open an Incognito window (Ctrl + Shift + N) and try the site there. Incognito disables extensions and uses no cache, so if it works, an extension or a cached entry was the culprit.
- Check your firewall, then contact the site owner if it is only one site. On Windows, open Windows Security, then Firewall & network protection, then Allow an app through firewall, and confirm Google Chrome is checked for both Private and Public networks. A third-party antivirus web shield can also block addresses, so try pausing it briefly as a test and re-enable it immediately after. If every other site works and only one site is unreachable, the site's own server or firewall may be blocking your IP or the site may be down — contact the site owner with your IP address and the exact error, or wait and retry later.
Did this fix it? Quick checklist
- The site loads within a few seconds
- No VPN or manual proxy is enabled
- The error is gone in an incognito window
- It works on a second network (mobile hotspot)
If the site loads in incognito but not in a normal window, an extension or a piece of cached data is still the problem — leave extensions off and clear browsing data once more with All time selected. If the error happens only on your home Wi-Fi and everywhere else works, log into your router and check whether it has parental controls or an "attack protection" mode blocking the site, or ask your ISP whether they block that domain. And if the site is up for everyone else but still unreachable for you after all six steps, it is almost certainly a routing problem between your ISP and the site — switching to a public DNS provider or waiting a few hours for routes to settle usually clears it.
Frequently asked questions
What does ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE mean?
It means Chrome tried to reach the website's address but could not get there at all — no connection to the server was ever made. Unlike a refused connection, where the server answers no, this error means Chrome's request never arrived, usually because of a broken network path, a bad DNS answer, or a VPN or proxy sending traffic into a dead end.
What is the difference between ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE and ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED?
ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED means the server was reached but actively rejected the connection. ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE means Chrome could not reach the address at all — the request never arrived. Unreachable points more toward your network, router, DNS, or VPN, while refused points more toward a firewall or a server that is not listening.
Can a VPN cause ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE?
Yes — this is one of the most common causes. If the VPN's exit server is down, blocked, or misconfigured, your traffic goes nowhere and Chrome reports the address as unreachable. Disconnect the VPN entirely as a test, and also check that no manual proxy is left set in your operating system's network settings.
Why does only one website show ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE?
That points at something specific to that site: its server may be down, its DNS record may be broken or pointing nowhere, or its firewall may be blocking your IP. If other sites work fine and down-checkers say the site is up for everyone else, your ISP's routing to that site may be the problem — try a different DNS provider or a mobile hotspot to confirm.
Does restarting my router really fix ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE?
Often, yes. A router restart clears stale routing tables, refreshes your connection to your ISP, and forces a fresh DNS lookup. It is the single highest-value first fix for this error, and it costs nothing — power the router and modem fully off for 30 seconds before bringing them back up.