Enter your search term

Search by title or post keyword

How to Fix Err_Connection_Refused Error: Six Ways to Fix It If It Doesn’t Go On its Own

Our website is supported by our users. We sometimes earn affiliate links when you click through the affiliate links on our website

Contact us for Questions

Are you trying to open a website, but continuously being blocked by an error message telling you that your connection to the site was refused? Well, you’re not alone.

This is a very common error for most internet users. And most of the time it also goes away when the page is refreshed a couple of times.

But if it’s not going away for you, this tutorial will come in handy.

Here we’ll tell you everything that you can do to fix the err_connection_refused error. Let’s start!

What is the “err_connection_refused” Error?

Err_Connection_Refused error is a client-side error message that’s shown when something is wrong with the configuration of your browser or your system.

It blocks you from visiting a website, but you can easily fix it and access your desired websites.

What Causes “err_connection_refused” Error?

There are a variety of reasons that can cause this error.

Sometimes it appears because of server-side issues, but usually, it’s a result of client-side problems.

In most cases, it also disappears on its own (just refresh a few times).

If it doesn’t then you can try the steps given below.

How to Fix Err_Connection_Refused Error: Step-by-Step Instructions

There are six reasons that can lead to an err_connection_refused error.

Given below is how can you deal with all of them to fix the error:

1. Check Website Status

First of all, check whether the error is appearing for you only or for others also.

Because if it’s appearing for others too, then it may be a result of any server-side issues that need to be fixed by the website owners.

You can easily check the status of a website by using status checker tools available online, such as Down For Everyone Or Just Me and Is It Down Right Now.

Just enter your website URL in these tools and they’ll tell you if it’s just you who is unable to access a particular website or others too!

2. Restart Your Router

If it’s just you who is unable to access the site because of the err_connection_refused error, the first thing you should try is restarting your router.

You can fix a number of network connection issues by simply restarting the network equipment, so reboot your router or whatever other network device(s) you’re using and see if it fixes the issue.

3. Clear Your Browser Cache

If restarting the router didn’t fix the err_connection_refused error for you and you’re still facing the same error, we’d suggest that you try clearing your browser’s cache. Cache-related issues may lead to various types of errors, and this one is also among them.

So follow the steps given below and clear your browser’s cache to see if it fixes the issue:

  1. Go to chrome://settings/clearBrowserData
  2. Make sure that the time range is set to “All Time”
  3. Make sure that the checkbox for “Cached images and files” is checked
  4. Hit the “Clear data” button.

That’s it.

Now try again to access the website that you wanted to visit.

4. Disable Extensions

If you’ve still not been able to diagnose the error, then maybe some of your browser extensions are causing the menace.

If that’s true then the solution will come from disabling the extensions installed in your browser one by one until you’re able to access the site that you want to visit.

How to disable Chrome extensions has been explained in full detail in another one of our tutorials.

5. Temporarily Disable Firewall or Antivirus

Sometimes the firewall and antivirus installed for our protection can also misjudge a website as insecure, and start blocking us from accessing it.

When that happens, there are a variety of errors that can appear to discourage us from visiting the website that we want to visit, including err_connection_refused.

In such a scenario the only solution is to temporarily disable the antivirus/firewall and see if that fixes the issue.

The exact steps to disable the firewall/antivirus would vary, but you can usually do it by launching the antivirus or firewall program and turning off its protection from there.

Once turned off, try again to open the website that you wanted to open and see if it works.

If it did, you should try whitelisting the website in your firewall.

Again, the exact steps to do that vary depending on which firewall or antivirus you’re using.

You may have to Google it.

6. Update Browser

Finally, if nothing works then try updating your browser. Because in that situation, there may be an issue with your browser’s configuration, which can only be fixed by updating it.

Here’s the update procedure:

Click on the hamburger menu icon in the top right corner of your browser;

Go to Help >> About Google Chrome

Untitled 9

The browser will start checking for the update automatically. If there’s one, the browser will download and install it automatically;

Once the update is installed (you can check its progress in real-time if it’s being installed), you’ll see a Relaunch button next to the version of your browser.

Untitled 10

Click on it to restart your browser, and see if the err_connection_refused error has gone from the website you wanted to access or not.  

Similar Tutorials to Check Out

  • How to Fix the “Your Connection Is Not Private” Error: If you’re getting this error, it means something is wrong either with your system or with the SSL installation of your website. Follow the steps outlined in this tutorial to fix it.
  • How to Fix the “err_ssl_protocol_error” Error: This is another SSL-related error that’s shown when something is wrong either with your browser or with the website you’re trying to access. But following the suggestions given in this tutorial can help you fix it easily.
  • How to Fix the “err_ssl_obsolete_version” Error: This error is shown when your website is using an old and obsolete version of the SSL certificate that’s no longer supported by the browsers. The solution, as expected, is to upgrade your certificate, and this tutorial deals with how to do that.

Wrapping Up

So that’s how you can get rid of the err_connection_refused error if it doesn’t get fixed on its own.

We hope we were able to explain everything in proper detail. If you still have any questions about it, drop them in the comments and we’ll try to answer them at the earliest.

Also, don’t forget to share this tutorial on your social media handles, because sharing is caring!

Leave a Comment