If you always use Google Chrome when browsing the internet, then you might have come across an error saying, “This webpage is not available, DNS PROBE FINISHED BAD CONFIG”. If you do, then this problem certainly has something to do with the DNS since any error code which has “DNS” in it points out a network issue in the computer.
Getting the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG error indicates that your computer is not able to connect the website because the Domain Name Server or DNS wasn’t able to resolve the website name into IP address or it is not available at all. So in this guide, we’ll help you sort out this issue in Chrome on your Windows 10 PC.
Option 1 – Check the Network Cables and restart your router then reconnect
The most obvious thing you can do first is to try checking if the network cables connected to your computer or router are properly connected or not. If it turns out that some network cables are not connected properly, then it’s probably why you’re getting the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG error in Chrome.
And if your computer is connected via Wi-Fi, you need to make sure to restart your router once. In addition, you can also forget the Wi-Fi your computer is currently connected to and then try reconnecting again to see if it would work.
Option 2 – Flush the DNS and reset TCP/IP
Flushing the DNS and reset TCP/IP could also help in fixing the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG error in Chrome. To do so, refer to these steps:
- Click the Start button and type in “command prompt” in the field.
- From the search results that appear, right-click on Command Prompt and select the “Run as administrator” option.
- After opening Command Prompt, you have to type each one of the commands listed below. Just make sure that after you type each command, you hit Enter
- ipconfig /release
- ipconfig /all
- ipconfig /flushdns
- ipconfig /renew
- netsh int ip set dns
- netsh winsock reset
After you key in the commands listed above, the DNS cache will be flushed and the Winsock, as well as the TCP/IP, will reset.
Option 3 – Try to remove the Proxy
You can also try to remove the Proxy as it might also help you in fixing the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG error. Here’s how you can do it:
- Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
- Then type “inetcpl.cpl” in the field and hit Enter to pull up the Internet Properties.
- After that, go to the Connections tab and select the LAN settings.
- From there. Uncheck the “Use a Proxy Server” option for your LAN and then make sure that the “Automatically detect settings” option is checked.
- Now click the OK and the Apply buttons.
- Restart your PC.
Note: If you are using a third-party proxy service, you have to disable it.
Option 4 – Change the DNS
Try to use the Google Public DNS
If the first option didn’t work, you can try to use the Public DNS by Google and see if it can help fix the DNS error. You have to modify the DNS settings in your system explicitly and use the DNS IP addresses.
- The first thing you have to do is right-click on the network icon in the Taskbar and select Network and Sharing Center.
- Next, click on the “Change Adapter Settings” option.
- After that, search for the network connection that you are using to connect to the internet. Note that the option might be “Wireless Connection” or “Local Area Connection”.
- Right-click on your network connection and click on Properties.
- Then select the new window to choose the “Internet Protocol 4 (TCP/IPv4)” option.
- After that, click on the Properties button and click the checkbox in the new window for the option “Use the following DNS server addresses”.
- Type in “8.8.8” and “8.8.4.4” and click OK and exit.
Option 5 – Clear Chrome’s browsing data
If your browsing data in Chrome hasn’t been cleared for some time now then that might be the reason why you’re suddenly getting the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG error when you browse the web. To fix this error, you need to clear your web browsing data. Refer to the following steps to do so.
- Tap the Ctrl + Shift + Delete buttons to go to the Clear browsing data section in Chrome.
- Next, set the time range to “All time” and tick all the boxes and then click on the Clear data button.
- After that, restart the Chrome browser and try to open the website you were trying to open earlier.
Option 6 – Try running the Chrome Cleanup tool
In case you don’t know, there is actually a built-in malware scanner and cleanup tool in Chrome that helps you get rid of any unwanted ads, pop-ups, and even malware, as well as unusual startup pages, toolbars, and other things that could affect the performance of the browser.