If you are trying to connect to the internet using the Microsoft Edge browser but encountered an error message instead that says, “Can’t connect to the proxy server”, read on as this post will show you how you can fix this error. This kind of error in Microsoft Edge could be caused by incorrect proxy settings or worse, malware.
To fix this error, here are some suggestions you need to check out:
Option 1 – Try to check your internet connection
The first thing you can do to resolve the “Can’t connect to the proxy server” error in Microsoft Edge is to check your internet connection. There are times when your internet connection or Wi-Fi router can cause such problems. In such cases, you have to ensure that you have a valid internet source and if you are using a Wi-Fi router, you can try to use another connection and then see if the error is gone or not.
Option 2 – Try to disable the manual proxy set up from the Settings
In case you miss it, there is actually an option in the Settings panel that you can use to set up proxy in your Windows 10 computer. So if you encounter the “Can’t connect to the proxy server” error, you should disable manual proxy for the meantime and check if it fixed the error or not.
- Tap the Win + I keys to open the Windows Settings.
- Then go to Network & Internet > Proxy.
- And on your right-hand side, ensure that the Automatically detect settings are enabled and that the Use a proxy server option under the Manual proxy setup is disabled.
- Now try to open any website again and see if the problem’s fixed.
Option 3 – Try disabling the VPN
Like pointed out earlier, if you are using VPN, this could be the reason why you’re getting the “Can’t connect to the proxy server” error so the most obvious thing to do is for you to turn off the VPN and try to load a website in Edge again. And if you use a VPN software that works using their software, you can just completely exit or log-off from its account. On the other hand, if you are using a built-in Windows 10 VPN, you can simply turn it off or delete all the settings you have created there.
Option 4 – Disable the proxy server for your LAN
If your PC was just attacked by some adware or malware as of late, it is possible that it has changed the network settings in the system and might display spam advertisements. Thus, you have to disable the proxy server for your LAN. To do that, refer to these steps:
- 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 5 – Temporarily disable Firewall and third-party antivirus
Firewall and antivirus programs are known to block files the instant it detects a threat to the system. However, there are some cases when it can also block a file even when it’s a safe one. Thus, your antivirus or firewall programs might be the reason why you can’t download anything on your Windows 10 computer. To isolate the issue, you need to temporarily disable both the Firewall and antivirus programs and then check if you can now download anything from the internet. Do not forget to enable them again as disabling them can leave your computer vulnerable to cyber threats.
Option 6 – Clear the browsing data of Microsoft Edge
- Open Microsoft Edge.
- Then click on the three horizontal dots to open the menu.
- From there, click on Settings. And under Settings, click the “Choose what to clear” button under the Clear browsing data section.
- Next, check all the checkboxes and then click the Clear button to clear the browsing data in the Edge browser.
- Restart Edge.
Option 7 – Try to reset, repair or reinstall Edge via Settings
You can reset, repair or reinstall the Edge browser through Settings.
If none of it helped, you can try the following:
- Open File Explorer and then go to this path – C:/Users/YourUsername/AppData/Local/Packages
Note: Before you type in the path in the Address bar, make sure that you put your user account name in place with the “YourUsername”.
- Tap Enter to proceed.
- Next, look for the folder named “MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe” then right-click on it.
- Click on Properties and uncheck the option “Read-only” under the General tab in the Properties window.
- Click on Apply and then OK to save the changes made.
- After that, look for the MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe folder again and delete it. And if a prompt stating “Folder Access Denied” appears on your screen, just click on the Continue button to proceed – doing so will delete most of the content inside the folder except for the folder named “AC”.
- Restart your PC.
- Now all you have to do is to re-register Microsoft Edge using PowerShell. In the Start Menu, search “Windows PowerShell”.
- Right-click on Windows PowerShell from the search results and select the “Run as administrator” option.
- Type in this command in the PowerShell windows and tap Enter – Cd C:/Users/YourUsername
Note: Once again, make sure that you key in your user account name in place of “YourUsername.
- After that, type in this command and tap Enter – Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml" -Verbose}
- Restart your PC.
Option 8 – Scan your computer for malware using Windows Defender
Your computer could be infected with malware which might have triggered the “Can’t connect to the proxy server” error. To fix this, you need to scan your computer using a reliable program like Windows Defender.
- Tap the Win + I keys to open Update & Security.
- Then click on the Windows Security option and open Windows Defender Security Center.
- Next, click on Virus & threat protection > Run a new advanced scan.
- Now make sure that Full Scan is selected from the menu and then click the Scan Now button to get started.
According to Zimperium zLabs, this malware that was recently detected has been doing its scams and attacks even in November of 2020 and has thus far accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars in its scam.
On the surface it looks very harmless, asking for typical permissions like internet access, calls, and other related needed functions, and then it waits. After few months the real attack happens when users get charged with premium service they never subscribed to in the first place.
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