ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED: The hostname could not be resolved
Chrome could not turn the hostname into an IP address. Closely related to NXDOMAIN but broader: it also covers resolver failures and timeouts, not just definitive 'does not exist' answers.
Short answer
Chrome could not turn the hostname into an IP address. Closely related to NXDOMAIN but broader: it also covers resolver failures and timeouts, not just definitive 'does not exist' answers.
What ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED means
This is the browser-level version of a DNS failure. It fires whether the resolver returned NXDOMAIN, timed out, or was unreachable, so the first diagnostic step is establishing which of those happened.
Causes and fixes, most likely first
No DNS record exists for the hostname. Add the A or CNAME record. Check apex and www separately.
The configured DNS resolver is unreachable or failing. Switch the device to a public resolver temporarily. If everything resolves again, the original resolver is the fault.
A VPN or split-DNS setup is routing lookups to an internal server without this record. Disconnect the VPN and retry. Split-DNS configurations routinely break public hostname resolution.
A local hosts-file entry or DNS-blocking extension is intercepting the name. Check the hosts file and disable ad-blocking or DNS-filtering extensions, then retry in a private window.
ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED on specific platforms
ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED on Chrome — Chrome keeps its own DNS cache separate from the operating system, so the site resolves in every other app and fails only in Chrome.
ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED on Windows — A stale entry in the Windows hosts file or a leftover VPN DNS suffix overrides public DNS, so the name resolves to nothing.
ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED on Cloudflare — A domain moved to Cloudflare resolves nowhere until the registrar's nameservers are changed — the DNS records exist in the dashboard but…
ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED on Android — Android's Private DNS setting forces every lookup through a specified DoT provider; if that hostname is wrong or the provider is blocked on…
How to stop it happening again
Monitor resolution from multiple public resolvers so a single provider's failure is visible before users report it.
Alert on NS and A record changes.
Check your own domain
Resolving the name from outside your machine proves in one step whether the record exists at all or whether only your resolver is failing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED and NXDOMAIN?
NXDOMAIN is a definitive answer that the name does not exist. ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED is Chrome's broader failure, which also covers resolver timeouts and unreachable DNS servers.