On the internet, when trying to access websites, you will notice that there are two types of links; one that starts with HTTP and another that starts with HTTPS. HTTP is the older of the two and the S in the latter stands for the SSL certificates, which means that the connection is private or secure.
Many users have reported that when trying to access certain sites, they get an error where they get https sites not opening in any browser. Here I shall discuss how you can solve if you are suffering from https not working.
How To Solve ‘Https Sites Not Opening In Any Browser’?
To begin solving this error, you need to make sure that the error is with your device and not the site owner. This is very easy to diagnose, as all you need to do is open a bunch of other SSL encrypted sites and check if they open normally on your device. If they do, the page that will not open is probably in error.
If none of the sites opens in your browser, you need to solve the error on your device. Follow these solutions and check if the error is solved. Make sure to check all the solutions, as any one of these may solve the error on your device.
Solution 1: Adjust Time And Date
The security protocols are somewhat reliant on your time zones. If you can’t access certain websites on any browser, you can start by adjusting your date and time, as this is the easiest solution to this error as reported by many users.
To change the date and time in Windows 10, follow these steps:
- Open the Windows Settings You can use the keyboard shortcut Win + I.
- Click on Time & Language.
- Under the Date & Time section in the left pane, turn the toggles towards off for the Set Time automatically.
- Adjust the date and time, along with the Time zone to anything other than what is currently set for your device.
Now try accessing the websites on your browser. If the websites open normally, you can change the date and time back to your current settings from the same settings window.
However, if changing the date and time fails to solve your error of https sites not opening in any browser, you can check some other solutions as well.
Solution 2: Flush DNS Cache
On nearly every kind of network, there is a timeout period, after which the connectivity throttles upon continued usage. Restarting your router and putting your device on Airplane mode and back, will reset the network, and the throttle should be over. This will clear the network errors, and you should be able to resolve the https not working error.
On Windows, you can try clearing the DNS cache as well. To do that:
- Open an elevated Command Prompt. To do this, open a Run window by pressing Win + R. Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch Command Prompt with administrative privileges.
- Type the following command to flush your DNS cache:
ipconfig /flushdns
Wait for the confirmation message and then try loading the troubled websites again. These should load without any privacy error.
Solution 3: Clear SSL Cache
Rarely, an incorrect SSL state is known to cause this error on Windows 10 devices. If that is the case on your device as well, you need to clear the SSL cache to resolve the HTTP not working error. Simply follow these steps:
- In Windows search, type Internet Options.
- Open the first result that opens the Control panel entry.
- Go to the Content
- Here, locate and click on the button that says, ‘Clear SSL state’.
- Wait for the confirmation dialog that says cache cleared successfully.
Solution 4: Check SSL Certificates
If clearing SSL cache did not help you solve the error of some websites not opening in any browser, you need to check if the SSL certificates of the website are approved or not.
To do this, you can use many online SSL checker websites, which help you check the SSL certificate of the website showing the privacy error. One of the most popular websites to check SSL websites is www.sslshopper.com/ssl-checker.html
Paste the whole URL of the website on the SSL checker website and wait for the scan to complete. If the site displays all green ticks, it means that there is no error in the certificate and the problem is on your side. However, if you get red X marks on your certificate check, the problem is with the website itself and there is nothing you can do except look for your query elsewhere.
Solution 5: Re-Register The Following dll Files
Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL) are external codes of the memories for applications. Most applications are actually incomplete in themselves, meaning they lack some parts in the installation folders. When there is a need for some code, the application pulls the required code and loads them into memory, for the use of the application.
You may want to re-register the following DLL files if you can’t access certain websites on any browser.
- Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, open a Run window by pressing Win + R, type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch Command Prompt with administrative privileges.
- Use the regsvr32 command to re-register the following dll files:
-
- regsvr32 urlmon.dll
- regsvr32 wintrust.dll
- regsvr32 initpki.dll
- regsvr32 dssenh.dll
- regsvr32 rsaenh.dll
- regsvr32 gpkcsp.dll
- regsvr32 sccbase.dll
- regsvr32 slbcsp.dll
- regsvr32 cryptdlg.dll
- regsvr32 shdocvw.dll
- regsvr32 mshtml.dll
- regsvr32 browseui.dll
- regsvr32 jscript.dll
- regsvr32 vbscript.dll
- regsvr32 oleaut32.dll
- regsvr32 softpub.dll
- regsvr32 urlmon.dll
- regsvr32 actxprxy.dll
Now try accessing the https sites, which are not opening on your device. This should solve the error on your device.
Solution 6: Reinstall Google Chrome
As a last resort, if all other fixes fail, you can try performing a clean reinstall of the Google Chrome browser. This will also help you in case you have a corrupt Chrome installation. A fresh install will reset all the broken files and settings, and form the data libraries again.
- Uninstall the Chrome application from the Control panel. Then remove the residual files as well. To remove the residual files, you can use a third-party junk file cleaner like CCleaner.
- Then download a fresh copy of the Chrome installer from the Google website and run the installer.
- Wait for the installer to finish.
Now try loading the web page in this new installation of Google Chrome. This should solve the error where https sites not opening in any browser.
Conclusion
So there you have it. Now you know how to solve the ‘https sites not opening in any browser’ error using the solutions provided above. Comment below if you found this useful and tell us how you solved the error on your Windows 10 device.
gayan says
very help full.thanks
Aniruddha Shrotri says
I have the same problem on my machine. I tried all the above suggestions but it still does not work. Computer time is right, re-registered the DLLs (btw, some DLLs are missing and some are not registrable), cleaned SSL state. Removed anti-virus, virtual machines, reset all browser settings, cleared all cache, removed all networks other than the ethernet connection I am using. Also made sure there are no proxies configured. Made proxy detection manual, instead of automatic. I have not reinstalled Chrome because, 1) problem is coming with all browsers, not just Chrome; 2) since https connections are not working, I won’t be able to download Chrome installer.
Any suggestions?
Penyo says
I have the same problem with the ethernet controller (Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controler) on the motherboard. In addition to everything that you described, I also reinstalled the driver for the network adapter after disabaling it in the BIOS, uninstalling the network adapter in the Device Manager, and then enabling it again in the BIOS. I tried both Microsoft’s driver and Realtek’s driver. Nothing of the above actions resolved the problem. I think it may be a hardware issue, because if I plug an USB WiFi adapter and connect through the WiFi, everything works as supposed. My next step will be to reinstall Windows, and If that does not help — it must be a hardware problem.
Chiffy says
the only thing I did recently, was install utorrent, then tried to download a publically offered legal free game, it was junk at DLing it, so I googled and found that uTorrent is shady at best, si I went to uninstall it, it also installed two “web helper” apps without permission and a “UTWEB.exe” without asking, I tracked all of those down and removed them (along with EVERY step listed above).
Still no dice.
I am 100% convinced it is a software issue.
The only other thing that changed that day was that I am using TMobile home intenet, which is basocaaly a SIM card in a router that uses cell towers, and that service was spotty.
Thse two things are the only possible changes that would have caused this.
Did a registry sweep and clean, scanned for malware, flushed, cleared SSL, installed a brand new browser even and cleared all browser data.
Now have THREE browsers it happens on.
I restarted and it worked fine for a few minutes, then it came back.
Hope someone has ideas. I am working remote for a few months and I have lots on this computer set up.