Fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN (2026)

DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN means the browser could not resolve the domain to an IP address. The DNS lookup returned "no such domain" (NXDOMAIN). The usual causes are a stale DNS cache, a wrong or leftover entry in your hosts file, a failing DNS server, or simply a typo in the URL. In most cases, flushing DNS and checking the hosts file fixes it in under a minute.

Fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

Work through these steps in order; stop when the page loads:

1. Check the URL for typos and try the bare domain in a new tab.
2. Flush the DNS cache for your OS, see flush DNS on Windows, flush DNS on Mac, or flush DNS on Linux.
3. Clear the browser host cache at chrome://net-internals/#dns (or edge://net-internals/#dns), then Clear host cache and Flush socket pools.
4. Inspect the hosts file for a wrong or leftover line mapping that domain to an unreachable IP.
5. Switch DNS servers to Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 or Google 8.8.8.8 and retry.
6. Restart networking (toggle Wi-Fi, or reboot the router for ISP-level DNS issues).

Why NXDOMAIN happens: how the DNS lookup works

When you open a URL, your computer asks a DNS resolver to turn the domain into an IP address. The resolver runs a recursive lookup, querying the chain of authoritative nameservers for that domain until it finds an A record (IPv4) or AAAA record (IPv6). If no nameserver holds a record for the name, the lookup returns NXDOMAIN, "non-existent domain".

The most common reasons the lookup ends in NXDOMAIN:

• The domain genuinely does not exist (a typo or an expired registration).
• A new or recently moved domain has not finished DNS propagation, so your resolver still has no record, cached answers persist until their TTL expires.
• A local override in your hosts file shadows the real domain with a broken mapping, so the resolver never reaches the authoritative nameserver.

When the hosts file is the cause

If only one custom domain (like myapp.test) shows NXDOMAIN, the hosts file is the prime suspect. Open it and confirm the line is valid:

127.0.0.1 myapp.test

A line pointing to a wrong IP, a commented-out entry, or a malformed line (with http:// or a port) will cause resolution to fail. See the hosts file syntax guide and, on Mac, hosts file not working.

Verify the fix

nslookup myapp.test

If the command line resolves correctly but the browser still shows NXDOMAIN, the browser cache is stale, repeat step 3.

Prevent it from recurring

Leftover testing entries are a frequent cause. A hosts manager like ToggleHosts lets you toggle entries off instead of deleting them and flushes DNS automatically, so old mappings never linger to trigger NXDOMAIN later.

_Last tested: June 2026 in Chrome 137 and Edge on Windows, macOS and Linux._

Sources and further reading

• How DNS works (Cloudflare Learning)
• The hosts file explained (Wikipedia)
• hosts(5) manual page (man7.org)