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Google Chrome is one of the most popular internet browsers, along with Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera. However, there are many types of errors, which sometimes appear in the Google Chrome browser.

You might feel annoyed when encountering these errors, especially the Err_Connection_Timed_Out error, also known as Err Connection Timed Out or ERR_Connection_Refused.

This “connection” error will appear on your Google Chrome browser besides the “This webpage is not available” error message. It occurs in your browser due to some reasons, such as:

  • The Host File blocks the connection.
  • The firewall blocks the connection.
  • An unresponsive proxy on LAN settings.
  • A misconfiguration in DNS settings.

However, you don’t need to worry while facing this error. There are a few simple solutions that you can use to fix this problem.

These solutions are step-by-step and easy to understand. As I mentioned above, this error occurs due to many reasons. So you need to try all the solutions until the problem is solved.

Read Article: Windows Could Not Automatically Detect This Network’s Proxy Settings ’ – Solving the Problem

Fix Err Connection Timed Out Error In Google Chrome Browser

Fix Err_Connection_Timed_Out Error In Google Chrome

The Hosts File in your Windows system can be the primary reason behind this “connection timed out” error. You can easily modify or restore the hosts file back to the clean version, without any customizations.

Check And Verify The Hosts File To Fix Err_Connection_Timed_Out Error or ERR_Connection_Refused

To modify the Hosts File in Windows, go to C:WindowsSystem32driversetc.

In the “etc” folder, select the file named “hosts“, right-click and then open it with Notepad or any text editor, such as Notepad++.

Windows hosts file

You will have to remove all lines after the last hash (#). If you know how this hosts file work, then just need to remove any lines that you think it could block websites you want to access.

How To Fix Err Connection Timed Out Error?

The Windows system will ask you to provide the “Administrator” privilege to modify the file.

Overwrite Windows hosts file

You also can copy the “hostsfile to your Desktop screen and then modify it. After that, overwrite the old “hosts” file in the “etc” folder with the new one, which stores on Desktop.

Make sure you have the “Administrator” privilege to do that.

If you want to learn more about hosts file or want to know how to reset the hosts file back to default, then read this article from Microsoft.com.

Check The LAN Settings In Internet Options

You might have used a proxy or sock on your LAN settings before, and then forgot to turn off the proxy option. Or sometimes, some programs might have modified and enabled this option, too.

To check LAN settings, click on the Start icon, and select “Control Panel” (or click on the Control Panel icon on your Desktop screen).

In the Control Panel window, click on the “Internet Options“.

Windows Internet Options In Control Panel

Next, click on the “Connections” tab, select “LAN settings“, and then uncheck all three options (as the image below) and click on the “OK” button.

Disable Proxy In LAN Settings

If the problem occurs due to a misconfiguration on the “LAN settings“, it will be fixed after applying this solution.

Flush & Refresh DNS, IP Information

The “connection timed out” error on your Google Chrome browser can be a result of wrong DNS or IP information.

That’s why you have to flush all DNS caches and then refresh the DNS & IP information, which might help to fix the problem.

Firstly, you have to open Command Prompt with Administrator privilege and type following commands:

  • Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.
  • Type ipconfig /registerdns and press Enter.
  • Type ipconfig /release and press Enter.
  • Type ipconfig /renew and press Enter.

Command Prompt

Once completed, restart your computer for changes to take effect. Then check and verify if the error is solved yet.

This method also helps you to fix a few other common errors in Google Chrome , including DNS Lookup Failed, Err_Connection_Reset, and Err_Name_Not_Resolved.

Below is a short video of how to flush and refresh DNS:

You should also try to remove all cookies and cached files on your Google Chrome browser to solve this error and many other errors, too.

Temporary Disable Firewall Or Antivirus Program

Sometimes, your firewall or antivirus program might block a few specific websites if it doubts these websites are threats.

You can try to disable Windows firewall or close your antivirus program on your computer, temporarily – and then check if the problem remains or it’s gone.

Pause Protection

In the case that your Windows firewall or antivirus program blocks particular websites that you want to load, try to add them to the whitelist, then you will be able to access it again.

If you have any further questions about this article or the Err_Connection_Timed_Out error (Err Connection Timed Out), let me know.