How-To

How to Fix ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR in Chrome

By Brian Burgess

Published December 27, 2022

While browsing the web, Chrome can give you different error messages. You might need to fix ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR in Chrome. Here’s how.

If you are browsing the web using the Google Chrome browser, you may get a “This webpage is not available” error message. This is coupled with the “ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR” notification.

The error indicates that a web page is unavailable due to your browser’s inability to support the SPDY protocol. SPDY is a legacy protocol for transporting web content that diverged to HTTP/2.

Most modern browsers no longer support SPDY, but if you happen to run across the protocol error, there are ways to fix ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR in Chrome. We’ll explain how below.

Restart Your Browser

You can take several steps to resolve the issue if you get this error. One of the basic steps is to restart Chrome. Restarting your browser can fix many problems, and starting with this basic step is easy.

To do this, press the X button in the upper right corner to exit Chrome. After that, restart Chrome, point it to the site you experience the error, and see if it’s working.

Update Google Chrome

Another basic troubleshooting step you can use is ensuring Chrome is up to date. If you haven’t updated the browser for a while, there could be an update waiting with a bug fix that resolves the problem.

To update Google Chrome, do the following:

1. Launch the Google Chrome browser on your Mac or PC.
2. Click the menu ellipsis (three dots) in the upper right corner and go to Help > About Google Chrome.
3. The About Chrome page will open and download any available updates. Remember that the browser will restart to complete the update process. So, ensure you save your work in any open tabs.

Flush Sockets in Chrome

If you still have a problem with the error, try flushing socket pools in Google Chrome. This is a fancy way of saying that you can flush any active connections between Chrome and other servers and web pages. It may sound daunting, but it is a straightforward process.

To flush socket pools in Chrome:

1. Launch Chrome and enter chrome://net-internals/#sockets into your address bar.
2. Press Enter.
3. Click the Flush socket pools button.

After flushing the sockets, nothing will actually happen on the screen. You won’t see a message or notification. After clicking the button, check to see if the problem is fixed.

Run the Chrome Cleanup Tool

Malware could be causing the error, and the good news is you can run a scan directly from your browser with the Chrome Cleanup Tool.

To run the Chrome Cleanup Tool, do this:

1. Launch Google Chrome, enter the following path, and hit Enter.

   chrome://settings/cleanup

   

2. Click the Find button and wait while Chrome scans for malicious code and removes it. If you don’t want to send the scan details to Google, uncheck the box next to the message about reporting to Google.
3. Wait for the scan to complete while it scans for toolbars, problematic extensions, ads, and other malware. The amount of time it takes to complete will vary.

After the scan is complete, relaunch the browser and see if you can access the problematic web page.

Clear Browsing History and Cache

If you haven’t cleaned out your overloaded browsing history, cache, cookies, and other data, it can cause ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR. Another thing to try is clearing Google Chrome history and cache.

To clear out the cache in Google Chrome:

1. Click the Chrome menu (three dots) and select Settings near the bottom of the menu.
2. Select Privacy and security on the left and click Clear browsing data on the right.
3. In the Clear browsing data window, click the Basic header, choose All time from the Time range dropdown, and click the Clear Data button.
4. If the above step doesn’t work, click the Advanced tab, and delete all the items in the Chrome cache.

Use Incognito Mode

Incognito mode doesn’t save browsing history, cookies, and other data by default. So you can use that as a benefit when you get ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR when visiting a site in regular mode.

To use Incognito mode in Chrome:

1. Click Chrome’s menu button in the top right corner of the browser and choose the New incognito window option from the menu.
2. Alternatively, you can use the Ctrl + Shift + N keyboard shortcut to launch a new Incognito instance.
3. When you launch Incognito mode, you’ll see a message that lets you know what it does and doesn’t collect.

While running Chrome in Incognito mode, navigate to the site that’s giving you the error. Keep in mind this isn’t a permanent solution, but it can work to get you to the site you want in a pinch.

Flush DNS and Renew the IP Address

DNS takes a domain and points it to an IP address. But sometimes, a corrupt file or packet could be causing the error in Chrome. So, you can flush the DNS cache, remove the corruption, and renew your IP address to fix it.

Do the following to flush DNS and renew your IP:

1. Press the Windows key, type powershell, and choose Run as Administrator from the right side of the menu.
2. When the PowerShell terminal opens, type the following commands in order – pressing Enter after each one.

ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns 
ipconfig /release 
ipconfig /renew

Fixing Google Chrome Errors

While this error isn’t as common as it used to be, if you do get it, use one of the solutions above to get things working again. If you continue to get ERR_SPDY_PROTOCOL_ERROR, another workaround is to use a different browser. For example, you might want to try Firefox or Opera to see if you can access your site.

Google Chrome is the most popular web browser, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. There are other errors that it can produce. For example, you might need to learn how to fix ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE or fix STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION in Chrome.

You might also be interested in how to fix ERR_CACHE_MISS in Chrome. Another problem you might encounter that doesn’t produce an error but is annoying nonetheless is with links. The good news there is you can fix links not working in Chrome.