ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE: what it means and how to fix it
ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE means your device or network has no route to the destination address at all, so the connection attempt never leaves in a way that could reach the target. It is almost always a network-level problem, not something wrong with the website itself.
What ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE means
Before any TCP handshake can begin, the operating system has to know how to route a packet toward the destination IP address. ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE fires when there is no usable route: the local routing table has nothing that matches, a gateway that should forward the packet is down, or the address itself is not one the current network can reach at all. This is different from a timeout, where a route exists and a packet is sent but nothing answers; here, the operating system refuses to even send the packet because it has nowhere to send it.
Routing decisions happen locally, on the device or the first router the traffic passes through, before the packet ever reaches the wider internet. That is what makes this error different in practice from most others in this family: the failure is knowable in advance from the routing table alone, without needing to send anything or wait for a reply, which is also why it tends to appear faster than a timeout.
How the error appears
Chrome shows "This site can't be reached ... ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE," often faster than a timeout since no waiting is involved, the failure is immediate. From the command line, the same condition shows up clearly:
curl -v https://192.168.1.50/
* Trying 192.168.1.50:443...
* connect to 192.168.1.50 port 443 failed: No route to host
curl: (7) Failed to connect to 192.168.1.50 port 443: No route to host"No route to host" is the underlying operating system message behind ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE; ping produces the same class of failure against an address with no valid path.
What causes ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE
- The address is a private or LAN IP accessed from outside that network. An address such as
192.168.x.xor10.x.x.xonly means something on the local network it belongs to; reaching it from the public internet is never going to work. - A router or gateway is down. If the device responsible for forwarding traffic toward the destination is offline, everything behind it becomes unreachable at once.
- The wrong IP address is configured somewhere. A stale DNS record, a hardcoded IP in a hosts file, or a typo in a manually entered address can all point at something that was never reachable to begin with.
- IPv6 is enabled without real IPv6 connectivity. A device or network that has an IPv6 address assigned but no working path to the wider IPv6 internet fails this way for any AAAA-resolved destination.
- A VPN's routing table excludes the destination. Some VPN configurations only route specific subnets through the tunnel, and an address outside that range, or one that requires the tunnel but is not routed through it, becomes unreachable while connected.
How to tell whose fault it is
This error is, in the large majority of cases, a problem with your own device or network rather than the destination server, since it means your side never found a path to send the request through. If the address is a normal public domain, not a private IP, test the same address from a different network or device. If it connects there but not on your original network, the routing problem is local. An HTTP check run from outside your own network is the fastest way to confirm the destination itself is reachable from the wider internet.
How to fix ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE
If you are a visitor
- Check whether the address is a private IP. Anything starting with
192.168.,10., or172.16.through172.31.only works from inside that specific local network; you generally cannot reach it from elsewhere without a VPN into that network. - Restart your router to rule out a stuck or corrupted local routing table.
- Disconnect from any active VPN and retry; a VPN with an incomplete or misconfigured routing table is a common cause of this specific error.
- Disable IPv6 temporarily in your network adapter settings if the site has both an IPv4 and IPv6 address; this forces the connection over IPv4 and rules out a broken IPv6 path.
- Confirm the address itself by checking for a typo or an old note that may contain an internal IP rather than a public domain name.
If you run the site
- Check the DNS A and AAAA records for the domain and confirm they point at a live, publicly reachable IP address rather than a private range or a decommissioned server.
- Confirm the hosting provider's gateway and routing are healthy using their status page or support channel if the address is correct but still unreachable from multiple outside networks.
- Remove or correct any stale IPv6 (AAAA) record if IPv6 connectivity to the server is not actually configured end to end; a AAAA record with no working IPv6 path behind it sends IPv6-preferring clients toward a dead end.
How to prevent ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE
A DNS record that quietly starts pointing at a private or retired address rarely triggers an alarm on the server itself, since the server never sees the failed request at all. Ongoing HTTP and DNS monitoring resolves and connects to the domain from outside checkpoints on a schedule, catching a routing or record problem before it affects real visitors, and sends alerts by email, SMS, voice call, Slack, Telegram and more.
Related errors
- ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT means a route exists and a packet was sent, but nothing answered.
- ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED means DNS itself failed before any connection attempt could begin.
- This site can't be reached covers the full set of connection errors Chrome groups under one heading.
Frequently asked questions
Is ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE the same as the site being down?
Usually not. It most often points at a routing problem on your own network or device, especially when the address is a private IP or when IPv6 is involved, rather than the destination server being offline.
Why do I only see this error on certain Wi-Fi networks?
Different networks have different routing tables and VPN configurations. A route that works on your home network may not exist on a corporate or public network, particularly for internal addresses.
Can a firewall cause ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE?
Indirectly. Most firewalls that block traffic produce a timeout or a refused connection instead, but a firewall or router that withdraws a route entirely rather than filtering traffic on it can produce this error.
What is the difference between this and ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT?
ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE means no route to the destination exists at all, so nothing is sent. ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT means a route exists, a packet was sent, and the wait simply expired with no reply.
Does this happen with normal public websites?
It can, most often through a broken IPv6 path or a DNS record that resolves to an address with no valid route, but it is far more common when the address is a private or internal IP being accessed from the wrong network.
How do I check if an address is private?
Look at the first part of the IP address: 10.0.0.0 through 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 through 172.31.255.255, and 192.168.0.0 through 192.168.255.255 are all reserved for private networks and are never reachable from the public internet, no matter how the routing is configured.