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How to Fix: Site can’t be reached, Server IP could not be found

Web browsers often encounter errors, such as the site cannot being reached on your device or the IP address not being found. We can quickly solve such issues through quick fixes such as checking your internet connection, fixing network issues, checking proxy settings, changing IP and DNS settings, and Resetting IPv4 settings. 

Fix: Site can't be reached, Server IP could not be found

So you finally settle down and fire up your browser to gather notes for your project, but you end up seeing the Site can’t be reached, the Server IP address could not be found, and an error on the screen instead of the webpage. Yeah, I know the feeling, as I used to get those errors all the time.

After some research, I’ve found some solutions to my specific problem. But if you have hit this page, you probably got with the problem and want to solve it permanently. Hence in this article, I’m about to provide all possible solutions that we can use to resolve the issue with the Server IP address that could not be found.

This site cant be reached - server IP address could not be found

My friend had the same problem once, but his reason was different. So this error doesn’t happen due to some specific issue but for various reasons; it can be hardware to the network. Hence, it’s wise to consider all points to rectify the issue.

Please note that there might also be an issue with the website server, which is not in our control. However, it’s a real issue if you can access the page on other devices but not on your device.

Here we are about to break down each issue and provide the solution. These are the exact steps I have taken to resolve the error message at my end. Let’s get started —

Check for a working internet connection

The first of your network is out. You cannot access any website. Hence you’ve to make sure that you have a working internet connection. Use different browsers like Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox to check if you can access the web from them.

Also, you can use the ping command from cmd (in Windows) or terminal (in Mac or Linux), by

  1. Open cmd from the Start menu or using the Run command cmd OR, press Ctrl + r and on the dialogue box, type cmd and hit Enter.
  2. When the command prompt opens, type ping google.com and check for results.
ping google.com with cmd prompt

If the result shows statistics instead of an error, you have a working connection, and you can proceed with step #3, or you’ve to go through step #2 to fix network issues.

Windows Network Diagnostics

Network issues may occur due to poor configuration of network settings and Network drivers. And such network issues can give rise to Site can’t be reached, the Server IP address could not be found errors.

First, run the troubleshooter available with Windows to run diagnostics and fix.

Here are the steps to troubleshoot network issues on Windows:

  1. Right-click on the ethernet or wifi symbol from the taskbar and click on Troubleshoot problems.
  2. Wait for the troubleshooter to check errors in the background and fix them for you.
windows network diagnostics

The troubleshooter will automatically apply the best network settings and make the changes. It might ask to make some adjustments if things are out of its control (something that needs administrative access).

Update Network Drivers

There could be network drivers that don’t support the network hardware within the computer. The best thing you can do is to update the network drivers.

Reinstall or update drivers for your Network devices by following the below steps:

  1. Open Device Manager using the Run command devmgmt.msc in the run dialogue box.
  2. Right-click on the Network adapter and click the Update driver command.
    update network driver in windows
  3. You can also use drivers provided by the manufacturer from their website—for example, Realtek or Atheros.

It will automatically look up driver and hardware changes and repairs to rectify the network issues.

Check Proxy Settings

Proxy settings, when misconfigured, will cause errors. Allowing a proxy to detect automatically will solve the problem.

Here are the steps to check the proxy setting in the Chrome browser:

  1. Click on Menu vertical 3dots icon at the top-right corner.
  2. Select the Settings menu.
  3. On the Settings page, scroll down until you see Advanced, and click to open it.
  4. Now scroll down until you see Open your computer’s proxy settings.
    open computer proxy settings in chrome
  5. Click to launch the Proxy settings within the operating system.
  6. Set the proxy setting to Automatically detect settings.
Automatic proxy setup in windows OS

It automatically chooses the best proxy setup and ensures your internet works without issues.

Change IP and DNS settings

IP and DNS are vital for connecting to the internet; hence, they must be appropriately configured. IP will be automatically obtained using the DHCP protocol. So, here we can enable DHCP to configure IP automatically.

In most cases, the options are set to default. However, you can revert the changes if you’ve made any changes or if any antivirus software has deliberately misconfigured it.

Here are the steps to change IP and DNS settings on Windows:

  1. Right-click on the network icon on the taskbar and click on Network and internet settings. OR
    You can also lookup up Network and Internet settings in Windows Search.
  2. From the Status menu, click on Change adapter settings.
  3. When the control panel is launched, right-click on the network adapter through which you’ve connected to the internet.
  4. Select the Properties sub-menu.
    Windows Network Properties
  5. From the properties tab, click on Internet protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click on Properties.
  6. In the properties tab, select Obtain an IP automatically and Obtain DNS server address automatically.
    Internet Protocol Version 4 IPv4 Properties
  7. Hit Ok to save the changes and reconnect to check if the problem persists.

Note: If your PC belongs to a private DNS service or uses proxy-based connections, you can contact your network admins to get those configuration settings.

Resetting the IPv4 settings and flushing the DNS resolver cache are the last steps that can fix all the issues within your computer.

Reset IPv4 settings

If nothing works, you can reset every setting to avoid conflicts. Using cmd, we can issue netsh commands to reset IPv4 settings.

Here are the steps to reset IPv4 settings on Windows:

  1. Launch the CMD prompt as administrator, and type netsh winsock reset and hit Enter.
    netsh winsock reset
  2. Now restart your PC.
  3. Open CMD again and type netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log and keypress Enter.
    ip4 reset in windows
  4. Again restart your PC and check if you can connect to the internet.

It will completely reset all the IP configurations and changes we made to the default one for automatic resolution.

Flush DNS Cache

You can also flush the Domain Name Server (DNS) information cached on your system.

Here are the steps to flush the DNS cache on Windows:

  1. Open cmd as administrator and type ipconfig /flushdns
    flushdns ipconfig windows
  2. If everything is running right, you should get this as output — Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

Finally, check if this solves your issue and if you are no longer receiving the error.

Bottom Line

The site cannot be reached; the Server IP could not be found is a tragic error many people face daily. Such errors can drastically degrade one’s internet experience. Also, you won’t be able to do online transactions if you keep getting such errors.

And if your problem hasn’t been solved yet, ensure you have paid for your Wi-Fi or cellular connections. Sometimes we don’t realize it, but our internet data is empty. In such cases, you are prone to encounter such error messages.

And once the error is solved, don’t do online transactions for 2-3 hours. Monitor if everything is working fine, and if yes, you can start doing sensitive tasks such as website logins and online transactions without worrying about error codes.

Also, as mentioned, the Server IP address error could be genuine. The website is down, and the DNS resolver cannot map a domain name with an IP address. In such a case, we have no option but to wait until the website admin fixes the mapping between the domain address and the masked IP address.

FAQs

How to fix the Server IP that cannot be found or the site cannot be reached?

The significant fixes you can use to solve Server IP that we could not find are: check your internet connection, fix network issues, check proxy settings, change IP and DNS settings, and Reset IPv4 settings.

How to Reset IPv4 settings and flush the DNS cache?

Launch the CMD prompt as administrator, type netsh Winsock reset, and hit the enter button. Now, restart your PC, open CMD again, type ‘netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log’, and keypress Enter. Now, restart your PC and check whether the internet is connected.

How do Proxy settings resolve the IP server, not a founding problem?

Open your browser, click the three dots in the top right corner, and open Settings. Please scroll down under the advanced section, open your computer’s proxy settings, and set it to detect settings automatically.

Lastly, if you've any thoughts or feedback on How to Fix: Site can’t be reached, Server IP could not be found, then feel free to drop in below comment box. You can also report the outdated information.

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Rahul Verma

Rahul is a Computer Science Engineer with an MBA degree. He is keenly interested in the field of tech and cryptocurrency. He has 6+ years of technical content writing experience, mainly experimenting with and troubleshooting computer and mobile operating systems. Connect him on LinkedIn.

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