How to fix HTTP error 404 Not found [Browser error]

Publish date: 2024-06-30
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When browsing the Internet you might sometimes encounter certain errors. One of the most known errors is HTTP error 404 Not Found, and today we’re going to show you how to fix this error on Windows 10.

Error 404 is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol standard response code that tells the users that the client was able to communicate with the server but the server couldn’t deliver the requested file.

This error is the most common Internet error and it appears when a user tries to access a broken or expired link.

For example, error 404 can appear if you didn’t properly enter the URL or if you tried to access a certain page that was deleted or moved.

There are several versions of error 404 available, and now that you know what is error 404, we’ll show you how to fix it on Windows 10.

One of those versions is HTTP error 404. The requested resource is not found. In case this is the error message you should check the article to fix the requested resource is not available.

The error can have various messages like Looks like we can’t connect to one of our services right now HTTP 404 or We can’t connect you HTTP 404.

How do I fix error 404 on Windows 10? You can fix the error by simply checking your URL. In most cases, the 404 issues are caused by a mistype of the URL.

If the address is spelled correctly, clear your cache and then change the host’s file. If you want to know how to do that, follow the instructions below.

Quick Tip:

If, for example, you are using Microsoft Edge, the error message might show something like HTTP 404 error that’s odd… Microsoft Edge can’t find this page.

While any browser will display the same 404 – Not found error, we think this is a good opportunity to talk to you about the Opera browser.

This tool is a free Chromium based browser focused on security and privacy that is a lot less prone to such errors so before trying any of the solutions below, you might take into consideration changing tour browser to Opera.

Opera

Opera

A privacy-focused browser with innovative features. Definitely give it a go to improve your online experience.

How do I fix the HTTP error 404 Not found?

  • Check your URL
  • Clear your cache
  • Try entering the desired URL into Google’s search
  • Use Google Cache
  • Disable the proxy
  • Change the hosts file

    • 1. Check your URL

    As we previously mentioned, this error can appear if you spelled the website URL improperly.

    While entering the URL make sure that the path after forward slash is correct. It’s possible that you mistyped the path thus causing error 404 to appear.

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    If your URL is correct, you should know that this error can appear if the desired page is moved or deleted. If that’s the case, your only solution is to wait until this issue is fixed or contact the website administrator.

    2. Clear your cache

  • Click the Menu button in the top right corner and choose Settings from the menu.
  • Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Show advanced settings.chrome advanced error 404
  • In the Privacy section click the Clear browsing data button.Clear Browsing data chrome
  • In the Obliterate the following items from menu choose the beginning of time option.
  • Check Cookies and other site and plugin data, Cached images and files, and Hosted app data.
  • Click the Clear browsing data button and wait for the process to finish.
  • After the process is completed, restart Chrome and check if the issue is resolved.

    • Users reported that this issue can be caused by your browser cache, and one of the easiest ways to fix this problem is to delete the browser cache.

    Even if you don’t use Google Chrome you can easily clear your cache by following similar steps in your web browser.

    3. Try entering the desired URL into Google’s search

    If you can’t access a certain URL, you might want to enter it in a Google search. Even if you enter the wrong URL address, Google should give you the link to the correct address in your search results.

    If the problem persists even while using Google’s search results, it’s quite possible that the desired page is moved or deleted by the website administrator.

    4. Use Google Cache

    To prevent these types of problems, Google often caches web pages so you can view them even if the page is removed or if the website is down.

    To access Google Cache, simply enter this address and press Enter:

    http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://yoururl.com

    Remember to replace http://yoururl.com with the URL that you’re trying to access. If Google Cache can’t open the URL, it probably means that the URL address is wrong.

    5. Disable the proxy

    5.1 Use the LAN settings to disable the proxy

  • Press Windows Key + S and enter internet options.
  • Select Internet Options from the menu.
  • Go to Connections tab and click on LAN settings.
    http-error-404-internet-options-2
  • Make sure that Automatically detect settings and Use a proxy server for your LAN options aren’t checked. Click OK.
    http-error-404-internet-options-3
  • Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

    • 5.2 Use the Settings app to disable the proxy

  • Open Settings app and go to Network & Internet.
  • Navigate to the Proxy tab.
  • Turn off Automatically detect settings and Use a proxy server options.
    http-error-404-internet-options-4

    • Proxy can often interfere with your Internet connection and sometimes it can even cause error 404 to appear.

    6. Change the hosts file

  • Open Notepad.
  • Go to File and select Open.
    http-error-404-open-1
  • Go to this folder: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc
  • In the bottom right corner change Text Documents (*.txt) to All Files.
  • Select hosts and click Open.
    http-error-404-open-2
  • Locate the name of the website that is giving you error 404 and remove those lines. Users reported having these lines for example:

    • After removing the problematic lines, save changes and the error should be permanently fixed. Keep in mind that those lines might look different on your PC.

    Removing the wrong lines can cause problems with certain applications, therefore it might be a good idea to create a backup of hosts file.

    Few users reported that they can’t access their favorite websites due to this error. If you can’t access only one or two websites, your hosts file might be changed by a malicious user or malicious software.

    HTTP Error 404 is one of the most common errors on the Internet, but we hope that you managed to solve this problem by using the solutions from this article.

    If you are aware of another fix to this problem or have questions regarding Error 404, feel free to share them in the comments section below.

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