Choose another country or region to see content specific to your location and shop online.
UK

How to fix the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error

Picture of Kyle Tapping
Kyle Tapping

Published: September 24, 2022

Last updated: December 8, 2022

Table of Contents

First, let’s understand the “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error

In order to view a website, your browser needs to establish a connection to the server. Your browser, whether that be: Safari, Chrome, Firefox, or Edge will send a request to the server when you click on, or search for a website. If your browser gets a response to its request, it will start sending and receiving all of the information you need. The information you receive turns into a web page.

Whilst 95% of the time, your browser can connect to the server. There is still the other 5% where you’ll run into an error such as “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET”. It will look a little something like the image below:

Above: ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error in Chrome

There are a few reasons why you may run into this problem. However, with a little bit of guidance, you can discover the potential cause and fix it in a matter of minutes. Of course, this depends on individual capabilities.

In this post, we will be looking at what causes the “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error. I will then show you how to fix it.

NOTE: When you see this error, it is very easy to blame the website you’re trying to access. However, this issue is actually caused by your own browser.

What causes an “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error?

If you’re getting an “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error, this tells us that your browser cannot connect to the website’s server. This is an indication of a client-side connectivity issue, not the website itself.

Error CodeERR_CONNECTION RESET
Error TypeConnection error
Error Variants (dependant on browser, and circumstance)This webpage is not available
This site can’t be reached
Hmmm… can’t reach this page
The connection was reset
CausesNetwork device issues
VPN
Incorrect internet settings
Browser cache
Antivirus, Firewall
Proxy settings

How to fix the “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error

The first thing that you need to do in this scenario is, check your internet connection. Try to open a couple of other websites and see if they load. If they do, that’s great, however, we still recommend rebooting your network. You can do this by unplugging your router, waiting a minute, and plugging it back in. Your internet will reboot and will be available again in just a few minutes.

When your router has rebooted, and the connection is back up. Try to load the website that had the “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error. If the issue still occurs, move on to the below troubleshooting steps.

1. Disconnect from your VPN

A VPN undoubtedly has many benefits when it comes to online protection and privacy. Whilst also providing you access to region-based content. However, due to their nature and how they work, they can sometimes cause network connectivity issues.

If you find yourself with the “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error, you should disconnect your VPN. Once it has disconnected, refresh your browser and attempt to access the problematic website.

There are thousands of VPNs available such as NordVPN, and we can’t provide step-by-step instructions for all of them. However, here are the generic steps to disconnecting a VPN:

  1. Open your VPN application
  2. There is usually a big ‘disconnect’ button, press that if visible.
  3. If there is no disconnect button, click on the settings OR cog icon.
  4. Select ‘disconnect’

If the issue still persists after following these steps, simply move on to the other methods.

2. Disable your antivirus software/firewall

Antivirus software and Firewalls like Bitdefender are completely necessary, I personally use some sort of antivirus on all of my devices where possible. However, these applications are not always perfect and they can sometimes be too harsh blocking perfectly secure and safe websites.

If you’re certain that the website you’re trying to access is secure, and it is a website that you or a colleague visit regularly. We recommend temporarily disabling your antivirus and firewall to see if this fixes your “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error.

If you’re unsure how to disable your antivirus or firewall, check the documentation provided and follow the steps.

To disable the built-in antivirus and firewall on Windows devices, follow the documentation here.

To disable the built-in antivirus and firewall on Apple devices, follow the documentation here.

3. Clear your browser cache

Browsers store data in their cache to reduce the load times of websites that you frequently visit. Sometimes the cached data may be outdated, leading to errors such as the “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error.

You can solve this problem by clearing your browser cache. The process of doing this is very similar for all browsers. For Chrome, follow the instructions below:

  1. Click on the three dots menu in the top right of the browser -> Click ‘more tools’ > Click ‘clear browsing data’
  2. In the time range dropdown, select ‘All time’
  3. Be sure to select all the browsing data: ‘Browsing History’, ‘Cookies and other site data’, and also ‘Cached images and files’
clear browsing data in chrome
Above: Clear browsing data in Google Chrome

For instructions on how to clear your cache in other browsers and devices click here.

4. Reboot your internet router or device

Whilst this is the easiest way to troubleshoot any kind of computer/network issue, it is also one of the most overlooked. Restarting your computer and internet router has the ability to fix issues such as the “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error, amongst many other small issues you may encounter.

All you have to do is unplug your router for a minute and then plug it back in. It is also a good idea to reboot your device too. Once these steps are completed, you can attempt to access the problematic page.

5. Disable your proxy server

Proxy servers protect your web privacy much like a VPN by masking your real IP address. Unfortunately, as with the VPN this can cause issues such as the “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error.

Luckily, disabling this temporarily is very easy. I will show you how to do this on Windows and macOS:

Windows:

  1. Go to the ‘Control Panel’ -> Click on ‘Network and Internet’ -> Click on ‘Internet Options’
  2. Open the ‘Connections’ tab
  3. Choose the LAN (Local area network) settings.
  4. Untick ‘Use a proxy server for your LAN’ -> Tick ‘Automatically detect settings’
disabling proxy server on windows
Above: Disabling proxy server on Windows

macOS:

  • Click on the Apple icon -> Click on ‘System Preferences’
  • Navigate to ‘Network’ settings
  • On your connected network click ‘Advanced’ in the bottom right.
  • Click on the ‘Proxies’ tab -> make sure all protocols are unticked.
disable proxy server on macOS
Above: Disable proxy server on macOS

6. Reset TCP/IP Settings

The TCI/IP is one of the most important things that allows a computer to connect to the internet. If the TCI/IP is corrupted or incorrect, it can cause errors between your computer and the server causing error messages such as “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET”.

If nothing else in this article works for you then this action will reset all settings back to their defaults.

How to reset TCI/IP settings on a Windows OS

  1. Press the ‘Windows’ and ‘R’ keys and search for ‘cmd’ OR open the ‘Start menu’ and search for ‘Command Prompt’
  2. You’ll then see the ‘Command Prompt’ window.
  3. You need to enter the below commands into the Command Prompt one by one pressing ‘Enter’ after each command. Do not run all commands at the same time.
Netsh winsock reset
Netsh int ip reset
Ipconfig /release
ip/config /renew
Ipconfig /flushdns
Windows OS command prompt
Above: Windows OS Command Prompt

How to reset TCI/IP settings on macOS

  1. Click on the Apple icon -> Click on ‘System Preferences’
  2. Navigate to ‘Network’ settings
  3. On your connected network click ‘Advanced’ in the bottom right.
  4. Click on the ‘TCI/IP’ tab -> Click on ‘Renew DHCP Lease’
reset tci/ip on macOS
Above: TCI/IP Tab on macOS

Summary

In conclusion, the “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error means that your browser can’t connect to the website’s server.

Depending on what is causing your “ERR_CONNECTION_RESET” error, there are 6 ways that you can fix it:

  1. Disconnect from your VPN
  2. Disable your antivirus software/firewall
  3. Clear your browser cache
  4. Reboot your internet router or device
  5. Disable your proxy server
  6. Reset TCP/IP Settings
Sign up for free news, tips & offers

Your email is safe with us, we don't spam.

Picture of Kyle Tapping
Kyle Tapping
Kyle joined the Elite team in 2018. With a background in website development and search engine optimization, Kyle takes great satisfaction from spreading his knowledge to help others succeed in the world of the web. His interests include website development, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, coding, and graphic design.

Leave a Reply

Table of Contents

Products Mentioned
Sign up for the latest news + A Wordpress guide

Reseller login

If you’re a reseller, use the button below to sign in. (your reseller account is separate to your regular account)

New customer

New to ELITEWEB.Co? Create an account to get started today.

Registered users

Have an account? Sign in now.

Sign up for offers and the latest news