What exactly does ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ mean? And how can this 101 error be corrected?

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What does ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ mean?

If you want to access a website with your browser and you receive the message ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ instead, it means that the con­nec­tion could not be es­tab­lished correctly. As a result, the con­nec­tion has been ‘reset’. The error, which usually comes with the 101 code, is par­tic­u­larly common on Chrome (Google’s browser), but Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc. also display similar error messages such as ‘The con­nec­tion was reset’ which indicate a con­nec­tion problem. In contrast to HTTP error messages, for example, the ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ message does not directly indicate whether the problem is caused by the client, the server, or the network.

Note

Tech­nic­ally speaking, when con­nect­ing to the desired web project, your browser only receives a FIN packet (finish) instead of the regular reply package. This is used by the Trans­mis­sion Control Protocol (TCP), the web’s standard transport protocol, to announce the end of a con­nec­tion to the client. Normally, however, the FIN packet is preceded by a pre­vi­ously es­tab­lished con­nec­tion over a certain period, which is not the case with an ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ error.

How can you fix the ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ error?

The 101 error on Chrome, Firefox, etc. can occur when the browser reaches the contacted web server, but the sub­sequent con­nec­tion setup fails. As with many other problems on the web, there are several possible sources of error, which is why there is no general solution for solving the ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET error. If the error message pops up, there are a number of solutions to try if simply re­fresh­ing the page or pressing the [F5] key doesn’t work.

Solution 1: website and browser/system check

We recommend that you check the func­tion­al­ity of the website you want to access before you attempt anything with the browser and system setup to rectify the ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ problem. The first thing to do is to try and access any other website and if this doesn’t result in a 101 error, this is a clear sign that the problem lies just with the website in question. However, to ensure that the browser and system are not solely re­spons­ible for the con­nec­tion problem, you should also try using a different browser. For example, if you open the web ap­plic­a­tion with Firefox instead of Chrome, you can rule out a server-side problem.

If you have done these different tests and have come to the con­clu­sion that the error is probably something to do with the website operator, you should contact them. By doing this, you can make them aware of the problem or obtain in­form­a­tion on what has been done already to fix the problem.

Solution 2: check the proxy settings

One of the most common reasons for the ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ error is that a proxy server has been defined in the internet settings and this is blocking the con­nec­tion setup. This can be entered auto­mat­ic­ally by plugins or add-ons that you have added to your browser. The simple solution in this case is to inspect the proxy settings and de­ac­tiv­ate proxy access if necessary. To do this, first open the control panel and select ‘Internet Options’.

Image: Classic control panel in Windows 10.
If you cannot find the internet settings in your control panel, this may be because the category view is activated. In this case, simply switch to the icon view (small/large).

Switch to the ‘Con­nec­tions’ tab and click on the ‘LAN settings’ button:

Image: Menu item ‘Connections’ in Windows 10 Internet Properties
Under the ‘Con­nec­tions’ tab, you can configure VPN and dial-up con­nec­tions in the Windows internet settings.

You have now reached the menu where you can find your system’s current proxy settings. If you see an entry under the category ‘Proxy server’ here, you should de­ac­tiv­ate it by unticking the box ‘Use a proxy server for your LAN’.

Image: Windows 10: local area network settings
If the tickbox for switching the proxy server on and off can’t be clicked on, you should def­in­itely perform a malware check or contact your system ad­min­is­trat­or.

Save the changes by clicking on `OK´ and then try to access the desired website again.

Note

Some browsers such as Firefox and certain ex­ten­sions for Chrome, etc. use their own proxy settings, which become active in­de­pend­ently of the proxy con­fig­ur­a­tions in the system settings. In this case, you must switch off the proxy usage directly in the browser or delete the cor­res­pond­ing ex­ten­sions to fix the ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET.

Solution 3: clear the browser cache

The browser cache not only stores passwords, cookies, and the download history, but also data from websites you’ve visited. If you have already visited the page, it is possible for the cache to contain in­form­a­tion that doesn’t match the current version of the website and so blocks the con­nec­tion setup, making the ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET message appear. Since it’s possible to clear the browser cache in a few steps, you can easily check whether this is causing the problem. To do this, go into the settings menu in Chrome (the three-line symbol), then select ‘More tools’ and the ‘Clear browsing data’.

Image: Google Chrome: setting menu
You can also access the Chrome settings menu by typing ‘chrome://settings/’ into your Google browser’s address bar.

Chrome auto­mat­ic­ally displays the different cat­egor­ies of cached in­form­a­tion. To fix the ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ error, you should tick all available cat­egor­ies. Also make sure that the ‘All time’ option is selected next to ‘Time range’. This is the only way to clear the entire cache when you click on ‘CLEAR DATA’ at the end.

Image: Delete browser data in Google Chrome
Storing images and files in the browser cache ensures that fre­quently visited websites can load faster. If you clear the cache, the pages will take longer to load than usual.

Solution 4: delete Winsock catalogue entries

Windows users can fix the ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ problem by removing the catalogue entries in Winsock. The interface and system ap­plic­a­tion ensures that programs can establish con­nec­tions via TCP/IP in Windows operating systems. Winsock also creates entries for once es­tab­lished con­nec­tions in the program’s own catalogue, which could be what’s standing in the way of accessing the desired website. However, this archive can easily be deleted from the command line if you have ad­min­is­trat­or rights. To do this, open the start menu via the Windows icon, select ‘All programs’ and then ‘Ac­cessor­ies’ Right-click on ‘Command Prompt’ and then use the ‘Run as ad­min­is­trat­or’ function.

Image: Run Command Prompt as Administrator on Windows 8
It isn’t possible to reset the Winsock catalogue without ad­min­is­trat­or rights.

If you have started the command prompt as an ad­min­is­trat­or, you can enter the following command to reset the Winsock catalogue:

netsh winsock reset

If suc­cess­ful, you will receive a no­ti­fic­a­tion that Winsock has been reset. For it to take effect, you simply have to restart your system.

Solution 5: restart the router

Con­nec­tion errors such as the 101 error can often be fixed by rebooting the network device that connects you to the internet. Most routers have a power button for this, which simply needs to be pressed. If there isn’t one, you still have the option of tem­por­ar­ily dis­con­nect­ing the power supply to the unit by un­plug­ging the power cord. Wait at least half a minute to release all the residual charges and empty the router’s memory. Then reconnect the power cable to your network device and try reloading the website you want.

Solution 6: tem­por­ar­ily disable the firewall and antivirus programs

Real-time checks and filtering rules ensure that your system is protected against un­au­thor­ised access and malicious software at all times. However, you can also block web ap­plic­a­tions or their IP addresses that don’t actually pose any danger to your computer, since they can be the cause of the ‘ERR_CON­NEC­TION_RESET’ error. If you are certain that the site you are visiting is trust­worthy, you should consider tem­por­ar­ily disabling your security software.

Working with Windows security ap­plic­a­tions? Read the following articles on de­ac­tiv­at­ing Windows Firewall and turning off Windows Defender.

If the site can still be accessed, you know the cause of the con­nec­tion reset. Possible solutions are to install the relevant software again or to use another firewall or antivirus app. Al­tern­at­ively, with the necessary know-how, you can check whether the IP address can be found on the blacklist of the re­spons­ible program and delete the cor­res­pond­ing entry.

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Solution 7: contact your internet provider

It’s not just your own firewall that protects your computer against the imminent dangers of the internet, but your internet provider also uses their own firewall system to auto­mat­ic­ally block selected IP addresses for their customers. If you haven’t had much success with the previous solutions mentioned here, you should contact your provider. This way you can find out if they have blocked the website you’re trying to access. If this is the case, you can ask them to allow you access, however, they don’t have to comply with your request.

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