If you are here, it is because you have tried to enter a page and the browser returned the disastrous message that indicates "this website cannot be accessed". This problem can have various causes and in that sense, it is necessary that we carry out a troubleshooting process. This means that we must perform a series of steps, from the simplest to the most complex, to detect the fault quickly.
In that sense, we are going to review the route to follow to discover if the problem is on our side or on the side of the website.
Steps to fix “cannot access this website” error
Check your internet connection
The first step to solve this error when entering a website is to take a look at our internet connection. As we mentioned before, we must start with the most obvious and in that sense, check if your service is operational. Additionally, you can restart your router or modem in order to refresh the communication and try to enter the site again.
Is it me or is it the website?
If you restarted the router and the problem persists, it's time to check if the problem is really on our side or if it is with the website. To do this, we will rely on a service that recognizes the operation of any site just by entering the link.
The service is Down For Everyone or Just For Me?, enter, paste the link of the page where you receive the error and see if it is online or not.
Disable antivirus
Although it seems strange, it is quite normal for the antivirus to cause problems when accessing certain websites. This is because each software has its own security criteria, so they could recognize some pages as malicious, although sometimes they are not.. This can frequently occur due to expired certificates or the detection of some outdated component on the web, which generates a security risk.
Therefore, an important step will be to disable your antivirus solution and try to access the page again.
disable the firewall
If the problem persists after disabling the antivirus, then we turn to the firewall. The firewall is the software in charge of controlling the traffic that enters and leaves our system, therefore, it is possible that for some reason it is preventing access to a certain web page.
To disable the firewall in Windows the process is very simple. If you are in Windows 10 and 11, it will be enough to go to the start menu, type Firewall and enter the first result.
This will take you to the Firewall settings panel and on the left side you will see a list of options. Locate “Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off” and click it.
Finally, check the box that says “Turn off Windows Defender Firewall”.
Clean the browser
If you are using Google Chrome, cleaning the browser is a fairly simple task. In that sense, click on the 3 dots icon, go to “More Tools” and select “Clear browsing data”.
This will take you to a new tab where you can select the items you want to clean. Select everything except passwords and autofill data to keep the good user experience.
Finally, try to enter the website again.
Clear the DNS cache
The DNS cache is a space in memory dedicated to storing DNS addresses to speed up access to those pages where we are frequently. This can cause problems because the system is likely pointing to an outdated address and that is the reason why you get the “this website cannot be accessed” error.
In this regard, We will proceed to clean this section in order to refresh the DNS addresses and resolve access to the web. To do this, open Command Prompt with privileges by clicking the Start Menu, typing CMD and then clicking “Run as administrator”.
Once the window is displayed, type the following command and press “Enter”: IPCONFIG/FLUSHDNS
At the end of the process, close the window and try to enter the website again.
Try a Proxy or VPN
If the above steps have not worked, the last alternative is to try to access using a proxy or a VPN. The proxy can be defined as a mask that allows us to access sites that we would not have access to without it. It does not change our IP address or location, it only allows us to navigate by hiding who we are. This could help us bypass local restrictions and open the web page. In that sense, we can recommend a classic of this type of service called NinjaProxy.
For its part, VPNs are a more complete solution because they provide the possibility of browsing the internet with a different IP and location. In other words, we move around the network with an identity of any other country, this allows us to enjoy the benefits of the different locations. One of them may be precisely to access pages or networks that are not available in your country.
If you are trying to enter a website that is operational, but the browser indicates that this site cannot be accessed, it is likely that you can enter with one of these two options.