Allow Chrome to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings - Solved‍

If you are an extensive user of Chrome, then you would know that although the app is quite a useful and popular tool, it isn’t completely free of errors and bugs. Since it is a go-to browsing tool for many, these errors could tend to completely ruin the user experience.

In this article, we are going to tackle a fairly common error message, ‘Allow Chrome to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings.’ The picture below shows the error message, which is accompanied by the error codes DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NO_INTERNET or ‘ERR_NETWORK_ACCESS_DENIED’

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Reasons behind Google Chrome’s Network Access Glitch
2. How to allow Chrome to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings

• Add an exception for Chrome in the Windows Firewall
• Add an exclusion for Chrome in the Windows Defender
• Add an exclusion for Chrome in your antivirus software
• Reset Chrome to default settings

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What are the reasons behind Google Chrome’s Network Access Glitch, ' Allow Chrome to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings '?

Everyday that we browse the web, we are exposing ourselves to a huge number of websites, some of which are malicious. Firewalls or defenders exist in our systems to protect our e-footprint from all such content, including spam, viruses, and malwares. Further, besides the firewall, you may also have installed an antivirus software into your device.

Now, it could so happen that when keeping a check on your online activity, these firewalls or antivirus softwares come across some malicious activities and threats. When this happens, the software could block Chrome and bar you from accessing the internet.

So, while the Chrome access error could also happen due to network-related issues, some key issues which cause it are:

1. Chrome browser being blocked by Windows Firewall
2. Chrome browser being blocked by Windows Defender
3. Chrome browser being blocked by your Antivirus software

Based on these possible causes, we shall see how to allow Chrome to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings and help you have a smooth browsing experience.

Allow Chrome to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings - How to solve it

You have to identify the reason for the error and then specifically solve for it. So, the following fixes may need to be applied:

1. Add an exception for Chrome in the Windows Firewall
2. Add an exclusion for Chrome in the Windows Defender
3. Add an exclusion for Chrome in your antivirus software
4. Reset Chrome to default settings

1. How to add an exception for Chrome in the Windows Firewall

Firewalls selectively allow or deny content on your device. Basically, all the data coming from a network or the internet is checked and then the firewall decides whether the data is to be allowed to pass through or be blocked.

Some uses of firewalls are that they can:

1. Block malicious websites and hackers from gaining access to the device through the internet or through a network
2. Stop your computer from sending similar malicious content to other computers.

The Firewall can block access to the internet through various tools, one of which is Chrome. To make sure Chrome isn’t blocked by the firewall, you can add Chrome to the exceptions list on your Windows firewall through the following steps:

• First, you need to open the Windows Defender Firewall app. For this, either search for it on Windows using ‘Windows key + S’, or click on the magnifying glass icon at the bottom left of the screen to access the search bar.
• You can search for the app by simply typing ‘Firewall’ in the search field. From the list shown, select ‘Windows Defender Firewall’.

• You can also access it by opening Control Panel -> Systems and Security -> Windows Defender Firewall.

• On the settings panel shown to the left, select ‘Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall’. On doing so, you will see a list of all the apps along with the status of whether they are allowed access or not by Windows Defender Firewall.

• In this list, find Google Chrome and make sure that the ‘Private’ and ‘Public’ options are both checked. Go to Google Chrome and check if the issue persists.

If you are facing issues even after performing the above steps, then you can temporarily disable the Firewall for both Public and Private networks by using the ‘Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off’ option in the main page of the Firewall. However, this makes you vulnerable online, so do this step with caution and at your own risk.

2. How to add an exclusion for Chrome in the Windows Defender

The Windows Defender is an anti-malware component that comes built-in with Windows devices. To add an exclusion for Chrome in the Windows Defender, do the following:

• Click on the ‘Start’ option, and go to settings. Select the ‘Update & Security’ option.

• Here, go to Windows Security on the left panel, and select ‘Firewall & Network Protection’.

• Go to the ‘Virus & threat protection’ setting, and under this, first go to ‘Virus & threat protection settings’, and select ‘Manage settings’.

• To add an exclusion for Chrome, first open the settings, then go to 'Excluded files and locations', select 'Browse'.
• You will have to locate the folder that Chrome is located in. Usually, these are the steps you’d need to follow: Locate ‘C:\Program Files (x86)\Google’ -> Select ‘Google Chrome’ -> click on ‘Ok’.

• To confirm this selection, press ‘Add’. Check if the issue is resolved in Chrome.

3. How to add an exclusion for Chrome in your antivirus software

The steps to be followed for adding an exclusion for Chrome in your antivirus software differ based on the software that you use.

For McAfee,

• Open McAfee Antivirus, go to settings. Under PC security, go to Firewall.

• Next, go to ‘Internet connections for Programs’ and scroll until you find Google Chrome. Select it.

• Now, press ‘Delete’ and press ‘Yes’ under the Program permissions shown.

For Kaspersky,

• Launch Kaspersky, go to Settings. Select ‘Network Settings’ -> ‘Manage Exclusions’.
• Enter the URL of the website that has been blocked, and select ‘Add’ to include the URL in the exclusions list.

4. How to reset Chrome to default settings

The ‘Allow Chrome to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings’ error may also be caused due to corrupt saved bookmarks and cookies. To resolve the issue, you can hence clear all your saved items. However, remember to use this step with caution, and only as a last resort.

• Open Chrome, click on the three dots on the right top corner (the menu bar) and select Settings.

• Now, on the left panel, click ‘Advanced’, ‘Reset and clean up’ -> Restore settings to their original default -> Reset settings. Doing so will erase all your saved items, i.e., bookmarks, cookies, saved passwords, and history.

Check out more Chrome related content such as Chrome components and how to deal with other Chrome errors such as Chrome taking too much memory.