Every once in a while, your browser might get bugged with an issue. In most cases, there would be an accompanying error message as well. This goes a great length in helping the users get hold of the underlying issue and, more importantly, its relevant fix. But that isn’t always the case.
Sometimes, the issue might sound quite an easy one on paper, but finding its fixes turns out to be quite challenging. I recently tried to access a website, but the browser refused to establish the connection.
The first culprit straightaway seemed to be some network-related issue. But it turned out that the internet connectivity was all well and good.
I researched online and discovered that I wasn’t the only one facing this problem; many other users are on the same page.
Fortunately, I managed to get hold of a few workarounds that we’re able to rectify this issue. And this guide shall make you aware of just that.
So without further ado, let’s start with the tutorial to fix the internet connection, but the browser is not working.
Data Packet Loss
Before moving ahead with any of the advanced fixes, you should re-verify that there are indeed no issues with the network. The best test is ping Google and check if the data exchange occurs without any losses.
If the total packets sent are equivalent to the received packets, then the loss% stands at 0, and the network issue might be negated. However, if there are indeed some packet losses, it points to your internet issues.
Here are the steps to check data packet loss for any website:
- Head over to the Start menu, and search & launch Command Prompt.
- Type in ping google.com, and hit
Now verify the results. If data exchange occurs with packet loss, you should try out some network-related tweaks, such as restarting the router, switching over to a different network, and so on.
However, if there is no data loss, here are some other workarounds you could try out.
Clear DNS Cache
The web browser doesn’t deal with the website URL in plain text format; instead, it calls for its associated IP address. These IPs are provided by the DNS servers, which seek the same from the stored DNS cache.
If these DNS data get corrupted by malicious codes, scripts, or sites, then the DNS server wouldn’t correctly provide the IP address for the required site. To rectify this issue, you should consider deleting this DNS cache.
Here are the steps clear the DNS cache on the Windows PC:
- Go to the Start menu, search cmd, and launch the Command Prompt window
- Now type in ipconfig /flushdns, and hit .
It will delete all the DNS cache.
- Check if it can fix the internet connection, but the browser is not working.
Deleting the DNS cache would take a few extra seconds for the browser to get hold of the associated IP address. However, this is a one-time delay and would only last until the data is re-populated.
Update Network Drivers
Using an old or outdated network driver could result in several internet issues, including those we are currently dealing with. Therefore, using the latest version of these drivers is always advised.
Here are the steps to update the network drivers on Windows PC:
- Keypress + shortcut keys, and select Device Manager from the menu.
- Expand the Network Adapter section.
You should find your driver listed there, either 802.11 B/G/N or A/C. - Right-click on it and select Update Drivers.
- Click on Search automatically for driver software.
Windows will now search for the latest drivers online and, if found, will download and install them.
Once done, restart your PC and verify whether the issue is fixed.
Disable Windows Firewall
If only a few sites your browser cannot access, the issue could be related to the Windows Firewall being slightly overprotective.
So if you are sure of the site’s trustworthiness and believe that the Firewall has raised a false positive, then you may consider temporarily disabling it.
Here are the steps to disable the Windows Firewall:
- Head over to the Start Menu and search Windows Defender Firewall.
- Click on Turn Windows Defender Firewall On or Off from the left menu bar.
- Select Turn off Windows Defender Firewall under both the Public and Private network sections.
- Once done, try accessing the site and check whether the issue has been rectified.
Disabling the Firewall might prove to be a pretty risky bet. So make sure to re-enable it once you are done using the site.
Reset Windows Network Socket
Windows Network Socket, or Winsock, contains information related to network configurations. If this information gets corrupted due to malicious codes or harmful programs, then there is every possibility of the system’s internet not working along the expected lines. The best bet, in that case, is to reset this Network Socket.
Here are the steps to reset the Windows Network Socket:
- Launch Command Prompt as an administrator from the Start menu.
- Type in the below command and hit
netsh winsock reset
:
It shall reset your computer network. Once done, restart your PC and then check if it fixes the network issue
Bottom Line: Browser not Working
So with this, we round off the guide on how you could fix the internet connection but the browser is not working. We have shared five different fixes for the same.
Also, check your data plan to see if you’ve exhausted your subscribed ISP plan’s bandwidth or data limit. Some mobile data plans suspend the internet but still display that the internet is connected.
In my case, clearing the stored Domain Name Server cache was enough to rectify the underlying issue.
Do let us know in the comments section which workaround spelled out success for you. Also, mention which method worked to fix the issue with the browser not working even though the internet was connected.
God bless you
My ‘the internet connection but browser not working issue’ was fixed by the netsh winsock reset process. Thanks
Thank you
Still its not working
Reset Windows Network Socket worked for me thanks!
Thank you so much for this! Resetting the network socket fixed my issue.
network reset did it! Thank you
I am not sure if that was dnsflush or socket reset, but the browser works well now, Thank you very much!!! Happy New Year!
Hi,
I have done all the suggested methods, still internet is not working in any of the browser. But I am able to work on remote desktop server already. Please help to resolve it in any way. Thanks!
The netsh winsock reset fixed the issue I was experiencing – thanks!
When I enter these commands in the command prompt I get “The requested operation requires elevation”
Thanks , this help me out. Appreciate the time you put into this article.
Thank you , thank you . Winsock did the trick 😎thank you for making this easy to understand for those of us that are not computer geeks . Very straight forward and easy to do .
I have tried every single thing on this post and it still is not working please help!
1. Try disabling the system firewall.
2. Check with other network connection.
Wow whoever wrote this page is a big dummy….starts with lets ping Google ok…..(I cant) so he makes and entire page of yes you can……..if my internet was working I would not be searching for help woooow hey idiot my laptop shows full wifi bars and says connected yet NO websites will load on any of my 3 browsers (ie, Chrome, and edge) the even more odd thing is my cellphone can connect and websites do load.
Hey Matt, if your cellphone can connect and load websites on your computer, basic common sense should let you realize that it’s an issue with your ISP rather than your computer or browser. By the way, ISP stands for Internet Service Provider.
You are so polite!
I tried all that you suggested and l still can’t get online on my laptop BUT I can connect with TOR, with TOR I have no issues and therefore it can’t be my ISP.
Clear DNS cache worked for me. Thank you
hi, did you ever resolve this issue with browsers not working? I have tried everything and still no luck. if you have any advice I’d appreciate it.
thanks
Glad to have found this page. I spent the whole afternoon trying to figure out how to resolve the issue where only the Brave browser was working but the rest of the browsers like Chrome, Edge, Firefox could not load any websites at all. Using this guide I tried flushing DNS cache which did not work (likely so as I was not able to access websites even by IP address). Then tried to reset Windows network socket reset and it worked like magic. What a relief! Thank you for putting up this guide.
ipconfig /flushdns command
followed by a PC restart solved my problems. thanks for the tips
Thanks to the person that wrote this blog. It was very helpful to me. After updating my Window, my browser stopped working but it was working perfectly On my phone and tablet, and sad part is, my phone and tablet were connected to my PC’s hot-spot which indicated that it was an Internet problem.
“Reset Windows Network Socket” Solved my problem, thanks alot.
I went through all of these and identified the Windows Defender Firewall as the issue. I reset the firewall to it’s default settings and that worked for me (open Windows Defender Firewall in Control Panel, select restore Defaults and accept prompts)
Hey I found an old acer and tried to make connection for my grandkids. None of these worked but I really appreciate you taking the time to write the article. Even this 60 year old Grandma was able to follow along.
Hello
I don’t have the 802.11 B/G/N or A/C driver!
Can this be the problem? How can I fix it?
Please help 🙁
Reset Windows Network Socket did the trick for me.
Thank you SOOOO much!! Geek Squad wanted to charge me $200 dollars to fix it.
resetting the windows network socket worked for me. thanks a bunch
The netsh winsock reset fixed the issue I was experiencing – Thank you very much.
Thanks for your time.
I actually cleared the dns cache and performed the netsh winsock reset but it did not work.
The issue is that when I take the computer outside the house and connect to other networks it works perfectly but it has refused to work with my wifi /Lan at home
.
Pls what else do you suggest .Thanks
Check your WiFi router settings if your system MAC address is blocked. Each device has a unique MAC address..
Thank you so much…… I am able to fix my web browser problem using the netsh winstock reset.You are blessed
While I was unable to resolve my issue, I was delighted by the excellent way in which you guided me through all of the processes. It’s about time that a knowledgeable person was able to write a foolproof explanation of how to address a computer issue. That’s rare!
My problem is very weird, with some internet apps (e.g. Skype, Thunderbird) working flawlessly and, on several browers (Firefox, Chrome, Edge), some websites having no problem whatsoever while many others falling flat completely with ‘connection issue’ errors.
I followed all the steps but none was able to fix this.
Any suggestions?
thank youuuuu
I experienced this issue after upgrading my laptop from windows 7 to Win 10pro. tried all the steps above but couldn’t resolve the issue.
for some reason I realized only internet explorer was working. I uninstalled Chrome and Mozilla then downloaded them from I.e and reinstalled. It worked!
reset windows network socket work for me thanks
or: uninstalling and re-installing chrome.
helped me.
but thank you! I tried all your stuff, and now everything runs faster 😀
Many thanks, last step fixed my issue – still helping people a year on!!
TOR works but Firefox, Opera, Edge don’ t. I’ve tried everything mentioned here without success.
Reset Windows Network Socket,
worked for me on 22nd Dec 2022
Thanks, Gr8
Resetting the Windows Network Socket also worked for me.
Thank you!
Feb. 2nd, 2023