Error guide / DNS server not responding
DNS server not responding
"DNS server isn't responding" is the verdict Windows Network Diagnostics gives when the DNS server that turns site names into IP addresses returned no answer at all. Unlike NXDOMAIN, where the server replied "no such name", here there was simply no reply: the resolver is unreachable or silent. So the browser can't find the site's IP and the page won't open.
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What causes it
Most often it's your side: your ISP's or router's DNS server is momentarily down, the local cache is stale, or a VPN or firewall is in the way. Less often the domain is at fault: its name servers (NS) are down or misconfigured, and then the site fails for everyone.
How to fix it
- Restart your router and computer: a silent DNS server often comes back after a simple power cycle of the hardware.
- Flush the DNS cache: on Windows run ipconfig /flushdns, then restart the browser.
- Set a public DNS instead of your ISP's (1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8) in your network adapter settings and try again.
- Turn off VPN, proxy and your firewall or antivirus one at a time; they sometimes intercept DNS queries.
- Open the site over mobile data: if it loads there, the problem is your network, not the domain.
- If the site is down for everyone, use the check below to inspect the domain's NS and DNS records and see whether its name servers answer at all.