To access a website, your browser must establish a connection with the server hosting the site. The browser sends a request, and if it gets a response, it starts receiving and sending information. That information becomes a web page like the one you see right now.
However, in some cases, that connection may not be established, and you run into an ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error.
There are several reasons this problem may occur. Fortunately, if you understand the potential causes of the error, you should be able to troubleshoot it in a matter of minutes.
This article explains what causes the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error and shows you how to resolve it promptly. Let’s get to work!
The “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error
The “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error code appears when the browser fails to establish a connection with a website. This means the server cannot transmit data to your browser. The error points towards a problem with your internet connection.
What causes the “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error?
The ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error code is particular to Google Chrome. However, you may encounter similar messages in other browsers. For example, Firefox returns a “The connection was reset” error code.
Connection reset errors appear when you visit a website, and the browser fails to establish a connection. When that happens, the connection is “reset,” which means the server cannot transmit data to your browser.
Here’s what the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error looks like in Chrome:
In most cases, this error points towards a problem with your internet connection, such as:
- An issue with your Virtual Private Network (VPN)
- Your firewall or antivirus blocking the connection to the remote server
- A problem with your proxy settings
- An issue with your browser cache
The good news is that fixing any of these issues is remarkably easy. The following sections shows you how to troubleshoot each of them in order.
How do I fix the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error?
The first thing you want to do if you encounter the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error is to determine whether your internet connection is working properly.
To get started, try accessing a few other websites to see if they’re loading correctly.
Even if they do load, we recommend that you go ahead and reset your router by disconnecting the power cable, waiting a minute, and reconnecting it. Your connection should be available again in a matter of minutes. Once it’s up, you can check if the error persists.
If that doesn’t solve the problem, it’s time to start troubleshooting other possible reasons.
1. Check your VPN
If you use a VPN for work or privacy reasons, it’s important to know that your connection to it can drop. When that happens, you might be unable to establish a connection with some websites until it’s restored.
Depending on what VPN software you use, it might try to reconnect automatically, or you may have to do so manually. Some software also gives you the option to block navigation while it tries to reconnect to the network:
If you use a VPN for work, the website you’re trying to access may block or reset the connection if you use an IP address it doesn’t recognize. Reconnecting to the VPN should solve the problem if that’s the case.
2. Reset your TCP/IP settings
When resetting your browser manually doesn’t do the trick, you can force your operating system (OS) to renew your TCP and IP protocol settings. That will return your internet connection to its default settings, and in the process, it can fix the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error.
How to reset TCP/IP settings in Windows
If you’re using Windows, you can reset and renew your TCP/IP settings through the command line.
To do so, click on the Start button, type in cmd, and hit Enter. A window like this will appear:
Now go ahead and enter the following commands one by one. Each line is a different command — so type one in, hit Enter, and move on to the next one:
Netsh winsock reset
Netsh int ip reset
Ipconfig /release
ip/config /renew
Ipconfig /flushdnsAlong with resetting your internet connection, the last command will also flush your local Domain Name System (DNS) cache. An outdated cache can lead to connection errors, so this additional command can come in handy.
Once your internet connection is up again, try accessing the website that returned the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error. If it persists, move on to the next fix.
How to reset TCP/IP settings in macOS
Resetting your TCP/IP settings on macOS is remarkably simple — you can do it in just a handful of steps:
- Go to System Preferences and select the Network option.
- Choose your active internet connection and open its Advanced settings.
- Go to the TCP/IP tab.
- Click on Renew DHCP Lease.
Once you reset your TCP/IP settings, try accessing the website that showed the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error. If your internet connection was the problem, the error should be gone.
3. Disable your antivirus software and firewall
Antiviruses and firewalls can be quite aggressive when it comes to protecting you on the web. In some cases, your antivirus software might prevent you from downloading and opening files, or block you from visiting websites altogether.
The same applies to your firewall, which may reset your connection when you’re trying to access a specific site.
The best way to rule out your firewall is to temporarily disable it and then check to see if the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error persists. Here’s how to do this in either OS:
If your antivirus software is blocking the connection to a remote server, you have to disable it manually as well. That process varies depending on what program you use, so you need to check its documentation.
In our experience, it’s relatively rare for your firewall or antivirus software to reset the connection. If you’re trying to access a website that’s not safe, it’s much more likely that your browser shows you a warning. However, if you’ve tried every other fix so far, it’s worth disabling both sets of software to rule them out as a cause.
4. Clear your browser cache
Your browser stores data from most of the websites you visit, so it doesn’t need to reload them from scratch when you return. In some cases, outdated cache files can lead to errors when loading a website, such as ERR_CONNECTION_RESET.
If that’s the case, you can solve the problem by emptying your browser cache. That process works much the same regardless of what browser you’re using.
For example, if you use Chrome, you can go to Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data, and tick the Cached images and files option:
Click on Clear data and wait for Chrome to delete the cached files.
The process shouldn’t take long, and once it’s done, you can try to reload the page that gave you the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error.
This process will work with non-Chrome browsers as well. The steps for clearing the cache in other browsers are very similar.
5. Disable your proxy server
If you’re routing your connection through a proxy server, it can lead to errors such as ERR_CONNECTION_RESET when you try to load a website. That can be because the proxy server fails to establish a connection to the website, or because you can’t connect to the proxy server in the first place.
In any case, unless you’re using a proxy server for a specific reason, you can go ahead and disable it.
If you’re using Windows, you can do that by opening the Start menu, typing in Internet Options, and selecting the option that comes up.
A window called Internet Properties will open up. Go to the Connections tab and select the LAN settings option:
In the next window, look for the option: Use a proxy server for your LAN. If that setting is enabled, turn it off and check the option that says Automatically detect settings:
Click OK, and that’s it. You can go ahead and try to access the website that returned the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error. If you’ve already tried everything else, this should fix the problem.
Summary
If you run into the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error, it means that your browser can’t establish a connection to the remote server. In most cases, it’s due to a misconfiguration in your internet settings or something else that’s blocking the connection.
Depending on what’s causing the error in your case, there are five ways you can go about fixing it:
- Check your VPN.
- Reset your TCP/IP settings.
- Disable your antivirus and firewall.
- Clear your browser cache.
- Disable your proxy server.
If you’re running into the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error while trying to access your website hosted with us, you can always reach out to Kinsta support to help you fix it. Check out our plans to learn more about the solutions we offer!
