DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN: What It Means and How to Fix It

Is it you or the website? A one-minute check

1. Check the spelling. One wrong letter is the most common cause. Copy the address from a trusted source rather than typing it.
2. Run the name through our DNS checker. It asks three large public DNS resolvers (Google, Cloudflare and AliDNS) directly, so it bypasses your device and your internet provider.
   • The checker also says NXDOMAIN: the problem is with the domain itself. Skip to If it's your website.
   • The checker returns an address: the domain is fine, and the problem is on your device or network. Go to If you're visiting the site.
3. Try another network, for example your phone on mobile data. If the site opens there, your Wi-Fi network or its DNS settings are the cause.

What NXDOMAIN actually looks like

We ran these lookups on October 6, 2026 against Google's public resolver (8.8.8.8). They show the three answers DNS can give, and why only one of them produces this exact error:

Two things stand out:

• A typo of one letter turns a working address into NXDOMAIN.
• A missing name under a real domain also returns NXDOMAIN. That's why example.com can work while www.example.com fails, or the other way round. Each name needs its own record.

Even large sites get this wrong. In our study of 450 top websites, the bare domain marketingplatform.google returned NXDOMAIN on both resolvers, both with and without www. in front. The actual service lives at a different address, marketingplatform.google.com.

If you're visiting the site

Work down this list and test the page after each step.

1. Reload with the address bar cleared. Retype the address, or paste it from the original link.
2. Turn off your VPN, proxy or "secure DNS" extension for a moment. These replace your DNS and can return NXDOMAIN for names they block.
3. Clear your browser's DNS cache. In Chrome, open chrome://net-internals/#dns and click Clear host cache.
4. Flush your computer's DNS cache.
   • Windows: open Command Prompt and run ipconfig /flushdns
   • macOS: open Terminal and run sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
   • Linux (systemd): run resolvectl flush-caches
5. Switch to a public DNS resolver. Set your network's DNS servers to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1) or Google (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). Internet-provider resolvers sometimes cache a "doesn't exist" answer longer than they should.
6. Check your hosts file for a line mentioning the site. A leftover entry there overrides DNS.
   • Windows: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
   • macOS and Linux: /etc/hosts
7. Restart your router if every device on the network has the problem. Many routers act as a small DNS cache.

If the DNS checker returns an address and these steps don't help, something on your network, such as a company filter or school firewall, is blocking the name. Only that network's administrator can fix that.

If it's your website

If public resolvers also say NXDOMAIN, the problem is in your domain's setup. Check these in order:

1. Is the domain still registered? Look up the domain at your registrar or with a WHOIS/RDAP lookup.
   • An expiry date in the past, or a status like clientHold, serverHold, redemptionPeriod or pendingDelete, explains it. Renew the domain first.
   • A hold status can also mean a verification email from the registrar was ignored.
2. Do the nameservers match? The nameservers set at your registrar must be the ones that actually host your DNS records. After moving DNS to a new provider, make sure the registrar points to the new nameservers. Leaving the old ones in place is one of the most common causes. Our guide How DNS Fails covers this and eleven other failure modes.
3. Does the exact name have a record? Check the precise name that fails:
   • www and the bare domain are separate names, and each needs its own A, AAAA or CNAME record.
   • A CNAME that points to a name which no longer exists, such as a deleted hosting app, also ends in NXDOMAIN.
4. Did you just add the record? If a resolver looked up the name while the record didn't exist, it can remember that "no such name" answer for a while. How long is set by the last field of your zone's SOA record, often between a few minutes and an hour. Wait that long, then test again. Avoid deleting and re-creating records during a migration; edit them in place instead.

Related errors

• ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED: a broader "couldn't look up this name" error. It often appears when the name exists but has no address record, or when DNS can't be reached at all.
• DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NO_INTERNET: your device has no working connection, so DNS was never reached.
• DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG: your device's DNS settings are broken or unreachable.

FAQ

Is DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN a virus?

Almost never. It's a normal "name not found" answer. Malware can change DNS settings or the hosts file, though, so if many sites fail at once, run a malware scan and check step 6 above.

Why does the site work on my phone but not my computer?

Your phone on mobile data uses your carrier's DNS, while your computer uses your Wi-Fi network's. A cached answer, a hosts-file entry or a VPN on the computer is the likely cause.

How long until a new domain stops showing NXDOMAIN?

Once the domain is registered and the nameservers are set, most resolvers find it within minutes. Ones that cached the earlier "doesn't exist" answer can take up to the negative-cache time set in your zone's SOA record.