Unlike many problems that affect websites, the DNS Server Not Responding error seems pretty descriptive.
Clearly, some distant server isn’t playing ball and it’s blocking you from visiting a particular website. But what exactly is a DNS server and why is it misbehaving? In a strange way, the information provided by the error message is only useful if you already know what it means. To help you resolve this issue, we decided to take a deeper look at the DNS Server Not Responding error, and all the possible causes. Keep reading to find the answers you’re looking for!
What Does The “DNS Server Not Responding” Error Mean?
To understand this error, we first need to take a quick look at DNS, or domain name system. DNSThe Domain Name System (DNS) protocol keeps records of which domain names correspond to specific IP addresses. DNS enables you to browse the web by typing in regular URLs instead of IP addresses.Read More Whenever you ask your browser to connect to a website, a DNS server has to convert the domain name (e.g., mysite.com) to the numeric IP address (four numbers separated by three periods, for example, 127.0.0.1) of the hosting server. This is where the site actually lives; the domain name is simply a pretty title that is easier for humans to remember. DNS Server Not Responding error occurs when, for some reason, your browser can’t make contact with the server that handles the domain name to IP address translation. There are three underlying reasons why this could be happening: The DNS server is down or unreachable: There is something wrong with the server itself, or its network connection. You have connectivity issues: Often due to an outage somewhere between you and the server, including network issues. The DNS record for the domain name is incorrect or missing: This means the DNS server doesn’t know which IP address to point the domain name to. In order to fix the error, we need to work through a checklist that covers all three possible causes.
Fixing The DNS Server Not Responding Error
If the DNS Server Not Responding error appears only on your site, it might be because your domain name isn’t configured correctly. Make sure your domain name hasn’t expired. Check that you have an “A record” and it contains no typos. If you made changes recently, give them time to propagate. If none of this helps, or you see the error on other websites, here are all the ways you can fix a DNS Server Not Responding error:
- Try Using A Different Browser
- Check The Site From A Different Device
- Restart Your Computer
- Restart Your Computer In Safe Mode
- Turn Off Antivirus Software And/Or Your Firewall
- Turn Off Your VPN
- Flush DNS Cache
- Restart Your Router
- Disable IPv6
