Webpage Not Available: What Causes this Error and How to Fix It? 

Were you ever interrupted by the “webpage not available” error when accessing a website? Then, you’re not alone. Both Google Chrome and Android device users have reported experiencing this issue and other equivalent error messages many times. 

Solving this error involves finding the root cause of the problem, which is usually attributed to cookies, DNS server issues, or a dead proxy. Continue reading if you’d like to learn more about the “webpage not available” error message and the recommended solutions to this issue. 

What is the “Webpage Not Available” Error?

The super annoying “webpage not available” error is commonly experienced by users of Google Chrome and Android smartphones. Unlike most web browser errors that are HTTP errors associated with three-digit error codes like 404, the ‘webpage not available’ error appears when the website you are searching for fails to load. 

Browser errors can be complicated to nail down because browsers work at the intersection between the internet and your computer. However, the issue usually exists on your end. It could be from your browser settings, network connection, and DNS settings. So it can take a few tries to figure out the issue and apply the correct solution.

Why Google Chrome and Android Smartphones?

You may wonder why this error predominantly affects Google Chrome and Android smartphones. Well, at its core, the “webpage not available” error is a Google Chrome browser issue. 

Chrome is a highly popular browser first released in 2008, which offered a faster browsing experience with a simple, user-friendly design. Since then, it has risen to the top, holding about 66% of the browser market share. Chrome is a cross-platform browser available on smartphones, including iOS and Android, Windows, Linux, and even macOS. 

While the Chrome app is available on every major platform, it disproportionately affects Android users because Android is the most used OS in the world. Since both have the highest market share, it makes sense that this group of users will experience the issue more often. 

What causes the “Webpage Not Available” Error?

The “webpage not available” error that most commonly affect Google Chome and Android smartphone users have a bunch of possible causes:

• Outdated DNS or IP address used – If your local cache has not been updated since a site change its DNS information, this error message may appear. To solve this, you can delete your cache for Google Chrome. 
• DNS server side issues – DNS servers can suffer hardware and network failures, DDOS attacks, high latency, and other issues that can trigger this error. Thankfully, DNS servers can be changed, and some public high-quality DNS servers are available. 
• Specific website is down – A website may be down due to hosting issues or scheduled maintenance. You may be able to check the uptime status of a website using a service like WebsitePlanet or isitdownrightnow. If the website you are trying to access is down, there is not much you can do but wait until service is restored. 
• Chrome installation issues – If the problem isn’t due to one of the above reasons, it may lie with Chrome itself. Many issues can be resolved by uninstalling Google Chrome and starting with a fresh install. 
• Proxy settings – If your proxy settings have somehow been altered or corrupted, they may need to be adjusted back to automatic to prevent any DNS errors.
• Outdated Network Drivers – Check that your network drivers are up to date because this can cause so many issues, including Chrome errors. This can easily be done within the Device Manager using Windows integrated driver tools. 
• Corrupted App Data – specifically an Android issue, the Google Chrome application’s App Data can become damaged, preventing proper connection to websites

How to Solve the “Webpage Not Available” Error

Before you get started on the solutions outlined below, you should verify that you have the correct web address entered into the address bar. You don’t want to waste time walking through these solutions if it’s something you can immediately remedy! 

The solutions are broken into two categories, Google Chrome on Windows and the Google Chrome browser application on Android. 

Google Chrome – Windows

1. Clear Browser Data

1. On your computer, open Chrome.
2. In the top-right-hand corner, click the three ellipses to open the dropdown menu. 

3. From the dropdown menu, click More tools and select Clear browsing data.

4. You will be redirected to the Google Chrome Settings page, with the small Clear Browsing Data window pulled up. From the Basic tab, select the Time range you want to clear and then select which types of browsing data you want to be removed (select all three for the best results):

• Browsing history
• Cookies and other site data
• Cached images and files

5. Now click Clear data. Close and reopen Google Chrome and try to access the problematic site(s) to see if the problem is resolved. 

2. Clear DNS Cache & Flush Socket Pools

Google Chrome comes with its own DNS and proxy caching server. You can flush out your DNS entries straight from the Google Chrome browser. You can also find specific DNS entries by manually entering DNS server addresses. To clear the DNS cache and flush socket pools from Google Chrome, follow these steps:

1. On your computer, open Chrome. 
2. In the address bar, enter the following: 

chrome://net-internals/#dns

3. To flush the DNS cache, click the Clear host cache button.
4. Now enter chrome://net-internals/#sockets into the browser address bar or click Sockets on the left-hand navigation menu.

5. Click on the Flush socket pools button.
6. Then close the Google Chrome browser. Once reopened, you can test if you can now access the website with the “webpage not available” error. 

3. Reset TCP/IP

Sometimes resetting TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol helps solve browser issues. If you’d like to give it a try to solve the “webpage not available” error, follow these steps below:

1. Using Windows Search, enter cmd into the search box. Select Run as administrator from the options. Click Yes if prompted Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your computer?

2. Now in the Command Prompt window, type the following command, then hit Enter: 

netsh int ip reset

3. Command Prompt will reset TCP/IP. Once completed, you can close the Command Prompt and restart your computer to ensure the reset has been applied 100%. 

4. Change DNS

You can try changing the DNS server from the one provided by your current service provider by following these instructions:

1. Open the Chrome browser.
2. In the top-right-hand corner, click the three ellipses to open the dropdown menu. 

3. From the dropdown menu, select Settings. 
4. Once on the Settings page, click Privacy and security from the navigation menu on the left-hand side. 

5. Select Privacy from the list of options. 

6. On the Security page, scroll down past Safe Browsing to Advanced, and find Use secure DNS.

7. By default, it will be on With your current service provider. You want to now select With. Click Custom to open the drop-down menu and select from the list of available DNS servers. 

8. If you want to choose a specific DNS not listed, select the Custom option and enter the DNS URL in the text box.
9. Close Google Chrome and reopen the browser to check if the error message is resolved. 

5. Change Your Proxy Settings

Proxies act as intermediaries between the Internet and your network and computer. Google Chrome uses the standard proxy settings provided by Windows 10. But if you’ve accidentally messed with the proxy settings or they’ve changed in some other way, you may need to check it. Here’s how:

1. Click on the three ellipses in the top-right-hand corner and select Settings from the drop-down menu. 

2. Once on the Settings page, enter “proxy” into the search box. 

3. Under the System heading, find and click Open your computer’s proxy settings.

4. Select the Connections tab from the Internet Properties window and click on LAN Settings.

5. Within the LAN Settings window, ensure the Automatically detect settings checkbox is checked. 

6. Click OK and then OK again to save settings. Close Google Chrome and restart the browser to check if the “webpage not available” error message reappears. 

Google Chrome – Android

1. Reboot Your Device

Before trying anything else, you should always start by turning your Android smartphone off and then back on. It’s a solution as old as computers, but it really does work. If rebooting your device doesn’t resolve the “webpage not available” error message, move on to the next solution.

2. Force Stop Google Chrome and Start it Again

Another solution you can try on Android that you can’t do on Windows is force stop. Force Stop in Android closes the application and cleans up all resources associated with it. All open files and allocated memory will be closed. To force stop Google Chrome, follow these steps:

1. Find and open Settings from your list of applications.

2. From the Settings app, scroll down until you see Apps. Click to expand and select Manage apps.  

3. From the list of apps, find Google Chrome. Click to open the App Info page.

4. Ffrom the App Info page, you’ll notice three options: Uninstall updates, Disable, and Force Stop. Select Force Stop and click OK to confirm that you want to close the app.

3. Clear Browser Data

1. Open the Chrome Browser. 
2. Click the “i” icon in the top right-hand corner to open a drop-down menu. 

3. From this menu, select Settings.

4. Within Settings, select Privacy.
5. Tap Clear browsing data at the bottom of the screen with browsing history, cache, and cookies selected. Then, tap Clear data.

4. Clear App Data

Clearing App Data clears the Cache and resets the application. Not only that it frees up some storage but also fixes many application issues. Once you clear App Data, you must log back into your Google Chrome profile.

1. Find and open Settings from your list of applications.
2. From the Settings app, scroll down until you see Apps. Click to expand and select Manage apps.
3. From the list of apps, find Google Chrome. Click to open the App Info page.
4. Move to the Storage tab and then tap Clear Storage or Clear App Data.

5. Ensure Android System Webview is Updated

Android System Webview is a system app that allows Android applications to display web content directly within an application. If Android System Webview is outdated, this can cause issues with your web browser application:

1. Find and open Settings from your list of applications.
2. From the Settings app, scroll down until you see Apps. Click to expand and select Manage apps.
3. From the list of apps, find Android System Webview. Tap App details in store to open the Play Store.

4. If an update is available, tap Update. Restart your phone to ensure the update has been fully applied.  

“Webpage Not Available” Google Chrome Error Resolved!

The frustrating browser error in Google Chrome that we talked about here has affected millions of Windows PC and Android smartphone users. Various things may cause the “webpage not available” error, and it can sometimes be difficult to figure out the issue. 

This guide has provided five solutions each for the Google Chrome browser on Windows computers and the Google Chrome browser on Android. Hopefully, one of these ten solutions helped you resolve the “webpage not available” error.