Easy Fixes For ERR_NETWORK_CHANGED Errors in Windows

If you’re seeing ERR_NETWORK_CHANGED errors on your Windows computer, it is usually because there is a misconfiguration in your network settings. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to fix it that will have you up and browsing in no time.

The majority of people who report this are using Google Chrome but it isn’t usually Chrome at fault, it is just the syntax used by Chrome. If you come up against the error in Edge, it would say something like ‘Hmmm, this is embarrassing’. Not the most informative error message I’m sure you’d agree!

How to Fix ERR_NETWORK_CHANGED Errors in Windows

The ERR_NETWORK_CHANGED error usually indicates that a change has been made in the network configuration on your computer. That change is either stopping or interrupting the network connection between the browser and the internet. It is this that we need to tackle to fix the error.

It can be caused by misconfiguration, VPN software, or DNS issues. Each of which is simple to address.

Restart Your Computer and Router

As most IT support will recommend, start with a computer and network restart.

1. Reboot your computer and your router.
2. Now, check if your internet connection is up and running even if your browser is error.
3. Check that you don’t have a software VPN active on the computer when you are trying to browse.

If you’re still seeing the error, then it’s time to try the next solution.

Reset Your TCP/IP Configuration

Not to bore you with you the details of how the internet works, but the internet communicates with a series of protocols that define how information is transferred and interpreted. If some of these are having issues, such as TCP/IP, then you’ll receive errors.

Here’s how to reset TCP/IP on your computer:

1. Open the Start menu, type “command prompt“, and then click on Run as administrator.
2. Now, type ‘netsh int ip reset’ and hit Enter.
3. Retest your connection using your internet browser.

Resetting TCP/IP usually does the trick, Windows then reloads the defaults for your network card and overwrites whatever misconfiguration it was causing the error. If that didn’t work, then keep on reading.

Check Your DNS Settings

If none of the other solutions worked, then you’ll want to check your DNS settings. 

1. Open the Start menu, type “Control Panel” and then click on the app.
2. Next, navigate to Network and Internet.
3. Now, click on Network and Sharing Center and select Change adapter settings in the left pane.
4. Right click your network adapter and select Properties.
5. Highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 and click the Properties button in the window.
6. If Obtain DNS server address automatically is selected click the other button, ‘Use the following DNS…’, Add 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as the servers. Click OK and retest. If you had DNS servers specified, change the setting to automatic, click OK and retest.

If the issue was with DNS then this should fix it. If you’re still seeing ERR_NETWORK_CHANGED errors in your browser, let us reset your network card completely. This will force Windows to reload the configuration altogether.

1. Again, open the Control Panel and navigate to Network and Internet.
2. As before, select Change adapter settings in the left pane. 
3. Now, right-click your network adapter and select Disable. The icon should go gray and you will likely see a ‘lost network connection’ message, that’s fine.
4. Right-click your network adapter once more and select Enable. Let Windows load the configuration and then retest.

In every case I have seen, completely resetting the network card has fixed the error. That’s not to say it won’t come back but at least you will know which method works best if it happens again!

Fixing Network Errors

For various reasons, networking errors happen and it always seems to be at the worst time. However, now you know how to remedy the error and can get back to what you were doing.

Were you able to resolve the issue? Does the error only pop-up when using certain apps? Let us know below.