How to fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error in Microsoft Edge

• Microsoft Edge can show DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN even when your internet connection works normally.
• Turning off Secure DNS or using your current service provider can restore website access in the browser.

On Windows 11, I recently ran into a strange DNS error in Microsoft Edge where websites refused to load with the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN message. The odd part was that my internet connection was working, and the same websites loaded normally in Google Chrome.

Since the problem was limited to Edge, I knew I wasn’t dealing with a general DNS or network outage. The issue was somewhere inside Edge’s network configuration or cached connection data.

After a few troubleshooting steps, I got Edge working again without changing the system’s network settings or restarting my router. If you’re seeing the same DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error in Edge while Chrome or another browser works normally, these are the steps that worked for me.

In this guide, I’ll outline the steps to quickly resolve the no internet access issue in Microsoft Edge.

Turn off Secure DNS in Microsoft Edge

To fix the internet access problem in Edge, follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Edge.

2. Open the Security page with this path:

   edge://settings/privacy/security

3. (Option 1) Turn off the “Use secure DNS” toggle switch to disable the feature completely.

4. (Option 2) Select the “Use current service provider” option under the “Use secure DNS” setting.

   

5. (Option 3) Select one of the available providers, including Cloudflare, OpenDNS, Google (Public DNS), CleanBrowsing, or NextDNS.

   Quick note: I recommend using this configuration only if you fully understand it, as separate DNS configurations on your computer can get confusing and can cause issues like the one in this guide.

Once you complete the steps, the browser should immediately connect to the internet, and you should no longer receive the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN message.

What’s Secure DNS in Edge?

Secure DNS in Microsoft Edge encrypts DNS lookups between Edge and a DNS service.

Normally, when you visit a website, the browser needs to translate a domain name such as google.com into an IP address. This process uses the Domain Name System (DNS). Secure DNS, also known as DNS over HTTPS (DoH), sends those DNS requests over an encrypted HTTPS connection instead of traditional unencrypted DNS.

In Edge, the setting is called “Use secure DNS to specify how to lookup the network address for websites.”

Why it can cause problems

If the browser is configured to use a specific Secure DNS provider and that service is unavailable, misconfigured, or having trouble resolving a domain, Edge may show errors such as DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN.

Have you come across this issue, and does this configuration resolve the issue? Let me know in the comments.