When Google sign-in won’t load on Windows and you get messages like “Can’t reach this page,” “No internet,” or a spinning page that never finishes, it’s usually a network path problem (DNS, proxy/VPN, firewall, or time/TLS).
Work top-to-bottom and stop when it starts working again.
Before you change anything: try opening https://accounts.google.com in a different browser (Edge if you use Chrome, or vice versa). If one works and the other doesn’t, skip to the browser-specific checks in step 6.
1. Confirm your connection is real (not “connected, no internet”)
- Open Settings → Network & Internet and check your active connection.
- Try loading two unrelated sites (example: a news site and a speed test). If both fail, it’s not Google-specific.
- If you’re on Wi‑Fi, toggle Wi‑Fi Off → On, or switch to Ethernet (or a phone hotspot) just to test.
If Google works on a hotspot, your home/work network is the blocker.
2. Reset DNS and renew your IP (fast, safe, reversible)
DNS issues commonly break Google sign-in because it relies on several subdomains and redirects.
- Open Command Prompt (as Administrator).
- Run these commands one by one:
- ipconfig /flushdns
- ipconfig /release
- ipconfig /renew
Then reboot Windows and try sign-in again.
3. Switch to a known-good DNS (Cloudflare or Google DNS)
If your ISP or router DNS is flaky, changing DNS often fixes endless loading or “site can’t be reached.”
- Go to Settings → Network & Internet → Advanced network settings.
- Choose your adapter → View additional properties (or Edit DNS settings on Windows 11).
- Set DNS to manual and try one of these:
- Cloudflare: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
- Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
Reconnect to the network and retry accounts.google.com.
4. Turn off VPN/Proxy (and remove “auto config script” if present)
A VPN or proxy can block Google sign-in flows, especially on managed networks.
- Go to Settings → Network & Internet → Proxy.
- Turn Use a proxy server off (if it’s on).
- Turn Use setup script off (if it’s on). Auto-config scripts are a common hidden cause.
If you need a proxy for work/school, note the settings first so you can restore them later.
5. Check date/time and TLS interception (surprisingly common)
If your clock is off, secure connections can fail and sign-in pages may loop or refuse to load.
- Go to Settings → Time & language → Date & time.
- Enable Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically.
- Click Sync now.
If you’re on a corporate network with security software doing HTTPS/TLS inspection, it can also break Google sign-in. If the issue happens only on that network, ask your admin whether Google sign-in endpoints are being filtered.
6. Clear browser network state (cache + cookies for Google sign-in)
If only one browser fails, focus here.
- In your browser settings, clear cookies and site data for: google.com, accounts.google.com, and gstatic.com.
- Disable extensions that can interfere with login pages (ad blockers, script blockers, privacy tools) and retry.
- Try a private/incognito window. If it works there, an extension or old cookie is the likely cause.
Keep it targeted to Google domains if you don’t want to sign out of everything else.
7. Allow Google in firewall/security filtering (or test with a temporary pause)
Security suites can block the redirects and certificates used during sign-in, which looks like “no internet” even when everything else works.
- If you use third-party antivirus/firewall, temporarily pause web protection (just long enough to test sign-in).
- On Windows Defender Firewall, check whether your browser is allowed on your current network profile.
- If sign-in works only when protection is paused, add exceptions for your browser and Google sign-in domains (or adjust the web filtering category that blocks them).
Re-enable protection right after testing.
Final thoughts
Most Google sign-in failures on Windows that look like “no internet” come down to DNS, proxy/VPN, or filtered HTTPS traffic. The DNS reset + proxy check fixes a large share of cases quickly.
If it works on a phone hotspot but not on your main network, the problem is almost certainly your router, ISP DNS, or network filtering.