When the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error comes up, your browser is unable to find the website you are trying to access.

This means the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error typically occurs when there is a DNS problem or misconfiguration on the domain name you are trying to visit.

DNS (Domain Name System) is the system that translates IP addresses into domain names. This provides a simple and easy way for everyone to connect to the internet.

When you type a domain name like infoceptor.com into your browser, DNS connects you to an IP address (for example, 121.232.54.34) to resolve our website.

If DNS fails to connect properly or some type of DNS misconfiguration exists, you will likely see the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error.

The dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error looks different depending on your browser.

Here is what it looks on different browsers.

Google Chrome

This site can’t be reached or This webpage is not available.

Safari

Safari can’t open the page “domain.com” because Safari can’t find the server “domain.com”.

Microsoft Edge

Make sure you’ve got the right web address: domain.com.

Mozilla Firefox

We can’t connect to the server at domain.com.

Let’s now explore how to fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error.

Here are 10 tried and tested methods to fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error.

1. Clear your browser cache

Clearing your cache may be the simplest way to fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error.

You can find the Clear Browsing Data section in Settings or Preferences on most browsers.

Google Chrome

To clear your browser cache in Google Chrome, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Menu icon (3 vertical dots), and then click on Settings.

2. Under Privacy and Security, click on Clear browsing data.

3. In the top-right corner of the window that opens, check only Cookies and other site data under Cached images and files . Then click Clear Data.

Safari

To clear your browser cache in Safari, follow these steps:

1. Open Safari and click on History

2. Choose Clear History

3. Select All History and click Clear History

Microsoft Edge

To clear your browser cache in Microsoft Edge, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Edge browser and click More (…) icon, then select Settings.

2. Click Choose what to clear under Clear browsing data option, tick Cookies and other site data and hit Clear button.

Mozilla Firefox

To clear your browser cache in Microsoft Firefox, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Menu icon (3 horizontal lines) located at the top right corner of your browser, then select History.

2. Click Clear Recent History … and then click on Time Range to choose how long you want to clear your history from drop down list and hit OK button.

3. Fill out based on screenshot below

4. Fill out based on screenshot below

2. Flush DNS cache

DNS cache contains the IP addresses of sites you have previously visited. An outdated IP address from previously visiting sites may be prompting the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error.

Flushing your operating system DNS cache could fix the problem.

Mac

To flush DNS cache on Mac (Mac OS X Big Sur), open Terminal and enter the following command:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; 
sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Windows

To flush DNS cache on Windows, open Command Prompt and enter the following command:

ipconfig /flushdns

Releasing and renewing your IP address may fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error because the IP address you’re using may be outdated.

This will further clear cache.

##Mac

To release and renew an IP address on Mac, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Apple icon (  ) at the top left corner of your screen, then select System Preferences.

2. Click Network icon under Internet & Wireless group.

3. Click the Advanced button.

START HERE

4.Click on the TCP/IP tab

5.Click Renew DHCP license

After you’ve clicked Renew DHCP license, restart your computer.

##Windows

To release and renew an IP address on Windows, follow these commands one by one from your Command Prompt application.

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

ipconfig /flushdns

ipconfig /release will release the current IP address.

ipconfig /renew will request a renewal of IP address from the DHCP server.

ipconfig /flushdns will release all DNS resolver caches associated with the adapter identified by  ipconfig  (typically your broadband interface).

5. Restart DNS client service

If none of the above methods works for you, restarting your DNS client service may fix dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error. Restarting the DNS client service is another way to flush DNS cache.

##Mac

To restart the DNS client service on Mac , follow these steps:

1. Open Terminal
2. Enter this command:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

3.Enter your Mac’s password and press enter to clear DNS.

##Windows

To restart the DNS client service on Windows, follow these steps:

Open Command Prompt

Enter this command:

net stop dnscache

You will see this prompt once the command has run:

The DNS Client service was stopped successfully.

Restart the DNS client with those command:

net start dnscache

You will see this prompt once completed:

The DNS Client service was started successfully.

6. Switch to Google DNS servers

Another option to fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error is to switch your DNS service provider from your current DNS server to Google Public DNS.

To switch to Google Public DNS, follow these steps.

##Mac

To change to Google DNS on Mac, follow these steps:

1. Click the Apple icon from the menu bar, then select System Preferences.
2. Click to Network icon under Internet & Wireless group.
3. Select the local area connection or Wi-Fi name and click Advanced button on the bottom right corner of your screen:

4. Select DNS from panel on left and enter:

• For IPv4: 8.8.8.8 and/or 8.8.4.4.
• For IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8888 and/or 2001:4860:4860::8844.

5.Click Ok and Apply.

6.Restart your computer or network connection to enable the Google Public DNS server to work correctly for you dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error.

##Windows

To change to Google DNS on Windows, follow these steps:

1. Click the “Start” button from your Windows desktop and select Control Panel.
2. Go to Network and Internet. Select Network Connections
3. On the window that pops up, click on change adapter settings
4. Right click on your current connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection)
5. Click on Properties from the dropdown
6. Click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
7. Click on Properties
8. Select Use the following DNS server addresses
9. Enter the following DNS:

• For IPv4: 8.8.8.8 and/or 8.8.4.4.
• For IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8888 and/or 2001:4860:4860::8844.

Click Ok to save your changes.

Check the website again from an Incognito window to see if the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error is gone.

7. Disable VPN or Antivirus client

A VPN or antivirus software can be a great tool to installing security when it comes to the internet, but they can also sometimes cause problems and glitches. For example, if you are using a VPN service, some websites might not load due to the connection going through an American server while browsing in another country.

If the error still persists, disable any VPN or antivirus to see if that fixes the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error.

To disable your VPN, you can follow these steps:

##Mac

To disable a VPN on your Mac, follow these steps:

Click the Apple icon from your menu bar, then select System Preferences.

Select Network on the top left corner of your screen.

Select VPN under Internet & Wireless group. Select Connection Name and click Advanced.  If you don’t see the following image below, skip this step and make sure that there is no VPN enabled.

Now your screen will look similar to this.  Highlight the current VPN connection and click on Delete (-). Repeat the previous step for any other VPN connections you have if more than one is shown. Once all are deleted, click Apply in the lower right corner of your screen, then Ok when prompted.

##Windows

To disable your VPN, follow these steps:

1. Go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network Connections

2. Right click on the connection that you are using for your VPN and click “uninstall/disable”. If you don’t see the following image below, skip this step and make sure that there is no VPN enabled.

3. Run ipconfig /all and note the IPs in use by your VPN connection.

4. Disable your local area network connection (LAN) on the same adapter that you are using to connect with your VPN service, usually called Local Area Connection #2 or similar.  You can do this by right clicking on it and selecting Disable.  Repeat for any other VPN connections you have if more than one is shown.

Once all are disabled, click Ok to save changes and restart your computer or network connection to see if the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error persists.  

If it does still persist, try disabling a different software that is causing problems.

8. Check your hosts file

The hosts file is a list of names and IP addresses. When you try to connect to a website that is not in the hosts file, it will redirect you to the IP address in the hosts file. Normally this network location will be your ISP’s DNS server or a random one that corresponds with an unknown website.

To check your hosts file, follow these steps.

##Mac

If you’re using a Mac, you can check your hosts file by following these steps:

1. Go to Terminal
2. Type in the following command:

sudo nano /etc/hosts

3.Enter your sudo password, this is normally the same password you use for signing into your computer. Click enter.

4.Check if the domain of the website you are visiting is in your terminal beside an IP address. If it is, delete it.

Once you’ve deleted it, click Control + X – Shift + Y, and click enter.

##Windows

To check the hosts file on Windows, follow these steps:

1. Open your File Explorer
2. Go to Systems32
3. Click Drivers
4. Click etc.

Within the etc. directory, look for a file called hosts. Click and open the hosts file. If your computer doesn’t open the hosts file right away, right click it, and open it up with the Notepad application.

Check and see if the domain of the website you are visiting is listed. If you see it listed, delete it and save the file.

9. Check with your ISP

If you’re still seeing the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error, it’s possible your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is caching the domain name on an old IP address.

To troubleshoot, try the following steps:

1. Power down your modem and router. Wait 30 seconds before powering up again.
2. Plug the modem and router again and wait a couple of minutes

See if that solves the error. If you’re still seeing the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error, get in touch with your ISP to see if they are having connectivity issues on their network.

10. Disable experimental chrome features

Another way to fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error is to turn off certain Google chrome experimental features or settings.

To disable experimental chrome features, follow these steps:

Open up a new browser in Chrome and type in the following in the URL bar:

chrome://flags

Right at the top you will see EXPERIMENTS, click on the Reset all on the button.

Close your chrome browser. Reopen a new incognito browser window and go to the website to see if that solved the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error.

The dns_probe_finished_nxdomain error is due to an IP and domain name mismatch, we hope our guide has provided an easy way to help you fix it.

If you’re aware of any other way to fix the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain, feel free to leave a comment below!