Steps to fix 'Server IP Address Could Not Be Found' error on Google Chrome

Google Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers, and with good reason. With so many features that let you browse the Internet while saving data, Chrome is one of the best browsers out there.

A serious error that you may encounter when using Chrome is Server IP Address Could Not Be Found . This error does not have a single cause, so there are several things you will have to consider to resolve this issue.

1. Check Internet Connection

The first thing you should do when you get this error is check your Internet connection. You may not even be connected to the Internet, and if that's the case then Chrome is not to blame. No browser can browse the Internet without a network connection.

A quick way to check an active Internet connection is to use the ping command in the Command Prompt.

Step 1: In the Start menu , search for Command Prompt and open it. This will display the interface of the Command Prompt tool.

Step 2: In Command Prompt, type the following line and press Enter. This command will ping google.com 4 times and return the result.

ping google.com

Step 3: Review the results.

If you get a response within a reasonable time, your connection is fine. However, if you receive the Request Timed Out error or other errors, then you need to further check your connection.

2. Check proxy settings

Another possible cause of the error is an invalid or offline proxy server. You (or an application on your desktop) may have set up a proxy that is currently not working. You can set up a new proxy or disable it completely in Proxy settings.

Here's how to do this:

Step 1: In the Start menu , search for Proxy , then select Proxy settings.

Step 2: In the Proxy settings window , turn off the Automatically detect settings option .

Step 3: Scroll down to Manual proxy setup and disable that feature.

Step 4: Open Chrome and check if your problem is solved.

3. Change network adapter settings

By default, the network adapter is set to use DHCP, allowing it to automatically obtain an IP address. However, if you have edited this setting, then IP and DNS will need to be configured manually for your adapter.

You can revert the settings to DHCP from the Control Panel. Follow these steps to do that:

Step 1: Open Control Panel and select Network and Internet .

Step 2: From here, select Network and Sharing Center .

Step 3: In the Network and Sharing Center , click Change adapter settings from the left menu bar. This will open a window showing all your network adapters.

Step 4: Right-click the network adapter you are using, then select Properties.

Step 5: Double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) to open its properties.

Step 6: Select Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain DNS server addresses automatically .

Step 7: Click OK to save the settings.

Step 8: Open Chrome and check if your problem is solved.

4. Update network driver

Another cause of network problems is the lack of appropriate drivers for the hardware. This can happen if your network driver is outdated or you have not installed the correct driver. Windows 10 does a great job of automatically finding and installing drivers, but you can't be sure.

Here's how to update your network driver:

Step 1: Open File Explorer.

Step 2: Right-click This PC . From the menu, select Manage. This will bring up the Computer Management window .

Step 3: From the left sidebar, under System Tools , click Device Manager.

Step 4: In the Network adapters category , right-click the adapter and select Update driver.

Step 5: Then Windows will search for new drivers and install them if it finds any. You can also manually install the drivers provided by the hardware manufacturer (e.g. Qualcomm or Realtek).

5. Using Windows Network Diagnostics

Google Chrome will not be able to function properly if your network is poorly configured. Fortunately, the Windows troubleshooting tool does a good job of finding and fixing configuration-related problems.

Step 1: In the Start menu , search for Troubleshoot settings and open it.

Step 2: Under Get up and running , click Internet Connections.

Step 3: Click Run the troubleshooter .

Step 4: Follow the instructions provided by the troubleshooter. In most cases, the troubleshooter can handle the detected problems on its own. However, it can provide you with instructions to fix the problem yourself if you don't have the necessary privileges.

6. Restart Windows service DNS Client

Windows uses a service called DNS Client to cache DNS and register computer names. It's possible that your DNS Client service is malfunctioning and needs to be restarted.

Step 1: Press Win + R on the keyboard to display the Run dialog box .

Step 2: Type services.msc in the text box and press Enter. This will bring up a window containing all the Windows services.

Step 3: Scroll down to find DNS Client.

Step 4: Right-click on the DNS Client service and select Stop. Wait a minute or two for the service to stop completely.

Step 5: Then, right-click on the DNS Client service and select Start to start the service again.

If the DNS Client service options are grayed out and unclickable, you can disable the service through Windows config.

Step 1: Press Win + R on the keyboard to display the Run dialog box .

Step 2 : Type msconfig in the text box and then press Enter.

Step 3: In the opened window, go to the Services tab and find DNS Client. Sort services by name to make searching easier.

Step 4: Uncheck the DNS Client service, then click OK to stop the service.

Step 5: Wait for a minute and then select the DNS Client service box . Click OK to start the service again.

7. Reset Winsock and IPv4 Settings

If none of the above solutions work for you, you can try resetting Winsock and IPv4 settings to default. This will revert a large portion of the network settings to default and potentially fix conflicting configurations.

Step 1: In the Start menu , search for Command Prompt.

Step 2: Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator .

Step 3: In Command Prompt , type the command below and press Enter. This will reset Winsock.

netsh winsock reset

Step 4: After the command is executed, restart the computer.

Step 5: Launch Command Prompt with admin rights and enter the command below:

netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log

Step 6: Restart the computer and then check if your problem is resolved.

Hope you are succesful.

Kareem Winters

Update 01 June 2021