Fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN Error in Google Chrome in Windows 10

The dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error is common for Google Chrome users on Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and on Windows 10. The error does not occur on all the web browsers but is mostly limited to Google Chrome. If this error occurs on you Chrome browser, you won’t face this error on Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer at the same time.

However, at times, you may not be able to access any browser on your PC, be it Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer or Google Chrome. The dns_probe_finished_nxdomain can occur due to several reasons, but all of them are related to DNS server of your PC.

The dns_probe_finished_nxdomain usually occurs because the DNS lookup has failed while accessing the web page.

The dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error in Google can be temporary, or may require some tweaks to be made in your internet settings. At times, a simple restart can fix this error. If not, you may need to follow some extra steps to resolve this error.

Another reason for this error could be your VPN connection or your anti-virus. Disabling them can also resolve this error. Another common solution for this error is to flush the DNS server or to change the DNS server on your PC.

Since there is no single solution for this error, we will be trying each available method to fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error in Windows 10 and other PCs.

Fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN in Google Chrome

Method 1: Restart Your PC

As I said earlier, the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error could be a temporary error and can be resolved with a simple restart.

So, close Google Chrome browser if you have it open. Close all the open programs on your PC and restart it. After the restart, connect to the internet and try to access any web page on Google Chrome. If the restart has resolved the error, you may don’t need to anything else on your PC.

Method 2: Restore Google Chrome to Default Settings

The error “DNS probe finished nxdomain” can also be fixed by resetting your Chrome settings to default settings. To do this, follow the steps given below.

Open Google Chrome and in the address bar type “chrome://flags/” and hit enter.

It will open the “Chrome experiment” section. At the right side, you can see a “Reset all to default” button. Click the reset all to default and restart your Chrome browser.



Clicking on it will be reset your Chrome settings to the default state. Now try opening the web page that was giving the “DNS probe finished nxdomain” error and see if the error has been resolved.

Method 3: Flush The DNS

After restarting your PC, even if the error did not appear immediately, it may return after few hours of usage. Some users have reported that, after restarting the PC, the Google Chrome browser works fine. However, after few hours of usage, the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error occurs again. This is same with every restart.

Now to resolve this error, you can try flushing the DNS and see if it can resolve the error.
To flush the DNS, open elevated command prompt (command prompt as admin).

To do this Press Windows key X and select Command prompt (admin).

If not press Windows Key R and type cmd in the Run dialogue box. Alternatively, search cmd in the search bar, right click on cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator.

Once the command prompt window opens, type the following command and hit enter.



netsh winsock reset catalog

After the execution of the command, reboot your PC. Try opening Google Chrome and try to access the web page. In most cases, this should fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error.

Method 4: Change the DNS Setting and Server

If flushing the DNS didn’t resolve the error, you may need to change the DNS settings and change the DNS server to something else. Here is how to do it.

Step 1: Open Network and Sharing Center

There are two ways to access the Network and Sharing center section. Go to Control Panel, click on Network and Internet and then click on Network and Sharing Center.

If not, right click on Network icon in your taskbar and select open Network and Sharing Center.

Step 2: Change DNS Settings

From the Network and Sharing Center section, click on Change adapter settings (left pane ).

Now double-click or right-click on your current active internet connection and select Properties button.

Double-Click on the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP /IPv4) to bring up the properties window.

Now at the bottom of the Internet Protocol Version 4 window, select Use the following DNS server address.

Here we will be using Google’s public DNS server address. Set records as mentioned below.

Preferred DNS server: 8.8.8.8
Alternate DNS server: 8.8.4.4

Click on Ok to save the settings. Click on OK again and close the Control Panel.



Reboot (restart) your PC once. After the reboot, open Google Chrome browser and try to access any webpage. This time, the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error should not occur again.

Method 5: Restart DNS Client

Restarting the DNS client from Services can also fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error in your PC.

To do this, press Windows Key R, and type services.msc and hit enter to open Services window.



From Services, find DNS client and right click on it. From the options, click on “Restart” to restart the “DNS client”. Once done, try to open Google Chrome and access the web page that was giving the error.

Method 6: Disable any VPN Temporarily

If you have installed any VPN client on your PC recently, you may face the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error in your PC. The VPN client might block the DNS while accessing any web page using Google Chrome.

What you can do here is temporarily disable your VPN client. If disabling VPN client didn’t work, you could try uninstalling the VPN client from your PC. Once uninstalled, reboot your PC and see if the error has been resolved.

Method 7: Restore Your PC

The methods mentioned above should fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error in your PC. However, in case you couldn’t resolve the error, you may need to restore your PC to the earlier point. Restoring your PC to last restore point can fix some major and minor issues with your PC occurred due to corrupted drivers or software issue or because of improper settings.

Note: Restoring your PC to last restore point will remove any software installed after the restore point creation.

So, this was about how to fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error in Windows 10 and other PCs. Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below.