If you are unable to browse the internet due to “Server DNS address could not be found” error in Google Chrome, you can make use of methods as provided below to Fix Server DNS address could not be found error on a Windows computer.
Server DNS Address Could Not Be Found Error in Chrome
When you try to visit any website using Chrome browser, it first contacts the DNS Server in order to resolve the website name to its IP Address or location on the world wide web.
However, sometimes the DNS lookup fails and the Domain Name Servers (DNS) is unable to resolve the website to its IP Address.
This prevents the Chrome browser from accessing the website and it comes up with DNS Address could not be found error.
In general, Server DNS address could not be found error does not block access to all the websites. The error appears to pop-up on certain websites, while allowing the user to access other websites.
Before trying out methods as provided below to fix this error, make sure that you try basic troubleshooting steps like clearing the browser cache and restarting your computer.
1. Clear Host Cache
One of the most common reason Server DNS Address Could Not be Found error is due to Chrome’s host cache becoming full or corrupted. This can be fixed by clearing Chrome’s Host Cache
Open Chrome browser on your computer, type chrome://net-internals/#dns in the address bar and press the Enter Key.
Next, click on Clear host cache button.
2. Flush DNS and Renew IP
Right-click on the Start button > Command Prompt (Admin)
On the Command Prompt window, type the following Commands (in order) and hit the enter key after each command.
- ipconfig /flushdns
- ipconfig /registerdns
- ipconfig /release
- ipconfig /renew
- netsh winsock reset catalog
- netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log
- netsh int ipv6 reset reset.log
- Exit
Restart your computer and check to see if you are still getting DNS Server not responding error on your computer.
3. Disable Proxy Settings and Automatically Detect Settings
Click on the 3-dots Chrome menu icon located at the top-right corner of your screen and click on Settings in the drop-down menu.
On the Settings screen, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Advanced.
Scroll down more until you reach “System” Section and click on Open Proxy Settings.
On the next screen, click on the LAN Settings button, located under “Connections” Tab.
On the Local Area Network Settings screen, check the option to Automatically detect settings, uncheck the option to Use a Proxy Server for your LAN option and click on OK.
Restart your Computer for the changes to Apply and check to see if you are still getting Server DNS Address could not be found error in Chrome browser on your computer.
4. Change DNS Servers
Switching to Google’s public DNS service can help if the problem is due to DNS servers of your service provider experiencing problems or being crowded.
Click on the Start button > Settings Icon > Network & Internet.
On the next screen, click on Network and Sharing Center link.
On the Network and Sharing Center Screen, click on your Network Name.
On the next screen, click on Properties.
On the properties screen, select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click on the Properties button.
On the next screen, select Use the following DNS Server addresses option and enter 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as your Preferred and Alternate DNS servers.
Click on OK to save the new DNS Server settings.
5. Edit Hosts File
Windows Hosts File located at “C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc” can get modified, preventing access to certain websites.
Right-click on the Start button and click on Run option in the menu that appears.
Type C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc in the Run Command Window and click on OK.
On the next screen, double click on the Hosts File and choose Notepad in the contextual menu to open this file.
Once the Hosts File opens in Notepad, scroll down and delete all the lines containing 127.0.0.1 clients2.google.com and Save the file.
If you cannot find any additional entries in the Hosts File, simply close the editing window without saving the file.
6. Remove or Disable Browser Extensions
Click on the 3-dots Chrome menu icon > More tools > Extensions.
On the next screen, disable all the extensions by moving the toggle to OFF position. If an extension is unnecessary, click on Remove to uninstall the extension.
After disabling Extensions (All of them), Restart Chrome browser and see if you are still getting “Server DNS Address could not be found” error in Chrome browser.
7. Reinstall Google Chrome
If above solutions did not help, the problem could be due to corrupted Chrome User Profile or Chrome Browser itself being corrupted.
Click on the Start button > Settings Icon.
On the Settings screen, click on Apps
On the Apps screen, click on Apps & Features in the side menu; click on Google Chrome in the right pane and then click on the Uninstall button.
Once Google Chrome is uninstalled, Re-install the latest version of Google Chrome browser back on your computer.