Google Chrome is a widely used browser, and it serves well most of the time. However, sometimes you may get the resolving host error.

What does resolving host mean?

If you encounter this error, you will fail to open a website or the website loading is very slow. Even worse, the DNS (Domain Name System) server may not be found.

The technical reason behind “resolving host error” is that the DSN servers configured by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) spend a long time finding the IP address for the URL that you have entered.

The ISP makes changes to itself or DNS settings, causing the resolving host error.

Clear Google Chrome DNS Cache

1. Launch Google Chrome on the computer.
2. Type in chrome://net-internals/#dns in the address bar, and hit Enter key.
3. Hit on the Clear host cache button.
   
4. Restart the browser.

Clear Local Computer Cache

A browser always uses cache to get a quick loading of websites. Similarly, the computer also utilizes cache to enable fast loading of repeated domains. Therefore, you can also fix the “resolving host” Chrome issue by clearing your local computer cache.

1. Run Command Prompt from the search box.
2. Type ipconfig /flushdns and press “Enter”.
3. Then, you will see the Successful flushed the DNS Resolver Cache message.

Convert DNS Servers to Public DNS Servers

The Internet Service Provider (ISP) sets up the DNS by default. However, in some instances, you could consider manually switching over to a public DNS like Google DNS, Cloudflare DNS

1. Launch Control Panel.
2. Select the Network and Sharing Center menu.
3. Click on Change Adapter Settings from the left menu bar.
   
4. Right-click on the connected network in the context menu and select Properties.
   
5. Select the Internet Protocol Version 4 option, and click on the Properties button.
   
6. Switch to Use the following DNS server address option.
7. Type in 8.8.8.8 under the Preferred DNS Address, and 8.8.4.4 under the Alternate DNS Address.
   
8. Hit OK to save the changes.

Apart from Google, recently, Cloudflare has also made available its own DNS whose value is 1.1.1.1. So, if the Google DNS one doesn’t give out the desirable results, then you may try out Cloudflare as well.

Using Google Public DNS on Ubuntu Server

Open /etc/resolv.conf file and paste the following lines in it:

• nameserver 8.8.8.8
• nameserver 8.8.4.4

Next, remove/comment out any existing lines.

Reset IP Configuration

TCP/IP is a set of networking rules governing the interaction of two or more computers over the internet. Any issues with either the Transmission Control Protocol or the Internet Protocol, there could be a slew of network-related errors.

The solution would be to flush the current IP and renew another one.

To reset the IP configuration of Windows OS:

• Open the Start menu, and search Command Prompt.
• Launch Command Prompt as an administrator.
• Now execute each of the below three commands, one at a time:
• ipconfig /release
• ipconfig /flushdns
• ipconfig /renew
• Relaunch the Chrome browser.

N/B: The IP address has now been changed. So, if you need to manually enter IP in any place, make sure to use the newly generated one.

Disable IPV6

When you encounter Chrome resolving the host issue, try disabling IPV6 to fix it. This method is easy to operate.

Here are detailed steps to follow.

• Right-click on the Wi-Fi icon on your desktop and
• Click Open Network and Internet Settings option to go on.
• In the next window, click on Network and Sharing Center.
• Click your present Wi-Fi connection to open its Properties window.
• In the Properties window, uncheck Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) and
• Click OK to save the changes.

Disable Proxy and VPN

Using a proxy server or VPN helps to hide your identity and browse the web anonymously, while also allowing access to blocked websites by governments, organizations, and schools. Unfortunately, many people use these services to do illegal activities.

There are scam monitoring services on the web that update the IP addresses from where the scams originate. Companies like Google and other web developers use these scam monitoring services databases to filter unwanted networks.

Most likely, all those free services will get blocked, since proxy and VPN companies share the same server details with numerous users.

It is best practice, therefore, not to use free proxy and VPN services and try to get premium VPN services to avoid seeing resolving host messages.

Refresh DNS Client

The DNS Client service is constantly running in the background. In some instances, this service is able to resolve the domain names but fails to cache them. As a result, the entire process would come to a halt. In that case, you should consider refreshing it so that it starts off afresh.

1. Open the Run dialog box using Windows + R shortcut keys.
2. Type in services.msc, and hit Enter key.
3. Scroll to the DNS client service, right-click and select the Refresh command.
   
4. Restart Chrome and check if the issue is fixed or not.

If there’s an issue with this client, then all the associated network services wouldn’t be able to start up, let alone function properly. So, refresh it.

Disable Chrome’s AutoComplete Feature

Chrome’s Autocomplete feature uses your past history and browsing activity to bring up the results. In other words, it is picking up the data from the cache. But if a website has undergone a change in its IP or DNS, then that wouldn’t be reflected in the cache.

As a result, the browser would continue to use the old stored file, which in turn could lead to the Resolving Host issue. So, you could disable the autocomplete feature and then check if the issue gets fixed.

Here are the steps to disable autocomplete in the Chrome browser:

1. Launch Google Chrome on the computer.
2. Click on the Menu, and select the Settings menu.
3. Select and open the Sync and Google Services sections.
   
4. Scroll down to the Other Google Services section and disable the Autocomplete Searches and URL toggle.
   
5. Now try accessing the site to check if the host has been fixed.

No doubt, AutoComplete is quite a handy feature, but if it leads to a host issue, then you should keep it disabled.

Turn Off DNS Prefetching in Google Chrome

Option 1 –   How to Disable Prefetch

1. Click the “Menu” button in the upper-right corner, then select “Settings“.
2. Scroll down and select the “Advanced” option.
3. Scroll down to the “Privacy and security” section, then toggle the “Use a prediction service to load pages more quickly” option to the left to disable Prefetch.

On Windows – Registry

1. Hold the Windows Key and press “R” to bring up the “Run” box.
2. Type “regedit“, then press “Enter“.
3. Note: You may have to create “Google” and “Chrome” folders.
4. Navigate to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Policies \ Google \ Chrome
5. Right-click “Chrome” and select “New” > “DWORD 32-bit value“
   
6. Give the value a name of “NetworkPredictionOptions“. Set the value data to:
   • 0 = Prefetch always enabled
   • 1 = Prefetch enabled on any network that is not cellular
   • 2 = Disable prefetch
7. Restart the computer, and the setting will stick.

On macOS – Terminal Command

1. From the Finder, select “Go” > “Utilities“.
2. Open the “Terminal” application.
3. Type the following,
    defaults write com.google.chrome NetworkPredictionOptions -integer <n>
4. Then press “Enter“ Where “<n>” is 0, 1, or 2 depending on what you wish to accomplish.
   • 0 = Prefetch always enabled
   • 1 = Prefetch enabled on any network that is not cellular
   • 2 = Disable prefetch
5. Restart your Mac.

Changing LAN Settings

If you see a “Resolving proxy” message in the status bar, it might be due to your LAN settings.

1. Open Chrome’s settings and click on the “Show advanced settings…” link.
2. Navigate to the “Network” section and click on the “Change proxy settings…” button.
3. Go to the “Connections” tab and click on the “LAN settings” button as shown in the picture below.
   
4. Uncheck the box “Automatically detect settings” if already checked and restart your browser.
   

Contact Your ISP

Contact your ISP, if none of the above-mentioned solutions at the browser, computer, and router level are fruitful. Convey the issue with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) along with the URLs of the sites you are trying to access. Your ISP can check at their end and confirm whether they are blocking those sites. They can also provide alternate DNS servers if need be or change configuration settings at their side to overcome the resolving host issues.

Conclusion

We hope one of the above-explained solutions could help to fix the above host issue in the Google Chrome browser. Remember the below points when you try to fix the issue:

• The site not opening in one network may open fast in another network, only since the different ISP might be using a different DNS server.
• If you use wireless and LAN connections alternatively, then DNS servers have to be changed in both network settings separately.
• Changing the DNS on the router will affect all devices like mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and computers connected to that router.
• Modifying DNS and host files requires administrator access to your local PC or Mac.