How To Fix ‘This Site Can’t Provide a Secure Connection’

Coming across a “This site can’t provide a secure connection” message during your web browsing is a frustrating experience. The error stops you from accessing the website, which can slow down your work and force you to look for an alternative.

This error occurs when there’s a problem with the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection between your device and the website you’re trying to access. Usually, it means the site can’t provide a Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) certificate or has an invalid certificate. Either way, your browser refuses to load the website, leaving you unable to access it.

However, the “This site can’t provide a secure connection” error can also occur due to issues with your device or browser. Fixing these issues may give you access to the website you’re trying to view.

This Site Can’t Provide a Secure Connection on an Android

When you’re using an Android device, it’ll usually tell you that your connection isn’t private if you’re trying to access a website with an outdated or non-existent HTTPS certificate. The following methods may help you to access the website by making some minor changes to your Android device.

Method No. 1 – Change the Device’s Time and Date Settings

Your device may have time and date settings that don’t match those of the website, leading to a connection error. This often happens if you’ve set the time and date manually or if there’s an issue with the automatic update of these settings that your network provides.

You can change your time and date settings to make them accurate using these steps:

1. Tap “Settings” and select “General Management.”
   
2. Choose “Date and Time.”
   
3. Turn “Automatic” on to set your phone to your current date and time. If you prefer to do it manually, check the Date, Time, and Time Zone settings are all correct.
   

Method No. 2 – Update Your Browser

It’s possible that you’re using an older version of a browser on your Android device. That’s particularly the case if you don’t give the browser permission to update automatically.

Try downloading the most up-to-date version of the browser to see if it fixes the problem. You can do this via the Google Play store or by giving the browser permission to run an update.

Method No. 3 – Turn Your Antivirus App Off

An overzealous antivirus app may block access to legitimate websites. Disabling the app may give you access to the website you’re trying to access. However, you lose the protection the antivirus app provides when it’s disabled.

Always turn the app back on after you’ve finished browsing the website you couldn’t access previously. Furthermore, research the website before accessing it via this method to determine the issue that causes your antivirus to flag it.

Method No. 4 – Clear Google Chrome’s Browsing Data

If you’re using Google Chrome to browse the web on an Android device, you may be able to solve connection issues by clearing Chrome’s cache. Follow these instructions to clear your browsing data:

1. Open Google Chrome and navigate to the menu. It’s represented by an icon with three dots arranged vertically.
   
2. Tap “Settings,” followed by “Privacy.”
   
3. Select “Clear Browsing Data.”
   
4. Check all the boxes and select “Clear data.”
   

Note that wiping your browser’s cache also gets rid of cookies and clears username and password data saved to the browser. You’ll likely need to log back into previously used websites if you use this method.

Method No. 5 – Visit the Website in Incognito Mode

Incognito mode allows you to browse the web without saving any activity data to your Android device. It also doesn’t pull any data saved in your cache, meaning you won’t be logged into any of your accounts.

Using Incognito Mode is a temporary solution to website connection issues:

1. Open Google Chrome and click the icon showing three vertical dots.
   
2. Tap “New Incognito Tab.”
   

This opens a new tab in the Android version of Google Chrome. Enter the website’s URL into this tab to see if you can access it.

Method No. 6 – Reset Your Device

Resetting your device is your last resort because doing so means you lose everything you have stored. Create backups of everything you want to keep before following this method:

1. Head to “Settings” and tap “General Management.”
   
2. Scroll down to “Reset” and select it.
   
3. Tap “Factory Data Reset.”
   
4. Choose “Reset.”
   

Your device will restore itself to its factory settings. If you still can’t connect to the website after doing this, the connection error is likely a problem on the website owner’s end.

This Site Can’t Provide a Secure Connection on an iPhone

If you’re using an iPhone to browse the web, the odds are high that you’re using the Safari browser. If you get the message “Safari can’t establish a secure connection to the server,” try any of the below methods that may help you access the website in question.

Method No. 1 – Clear Safari’s Browser Data

Safari’s cache contains your browsing history and all the cookies downloaded to your device from the websites you visit. Clearing the cache may get rid of a pesky file that’s preventing you from accessing the website you want:

1. Start the Settings app and tap “Safari.”
   
2. Choose “Clear History and Website Data.”
   
3. Tap the “Clear History and Data” prompt when your iPhone delivers it.
   

Method No. 2 – Toggle Airplane Mode

Switching your iPhone’s Airplane Mode on and off may help to resolve minor connection issues. Try this method if you can access the website on other devices but not on your iPhone:

1. Place your finger on the bottom corner of your phone’s screen and swipe up to access the Control Center.
   
2. Tap the “Airplane” icon to turn Airplane Mode on.
   
3. Wait for a couple of minutes and tap the icon again to turn Airplane Mode off.
   
4. Enter the URL of the website you want to visit into your browser to see if you still get the connection error.
   

Method No. 3 – Correct the iPhone’s Date and Time Settings

An incorrect date and time may cause connection errors if you’re using the Safari browser on your iPhone. Setting your iPhone to the network-provided date and time may fix the connection issue:

1. Launch “Settings” and navigate to the “General” option.
   
2. Select “Date & Time” and toggle “Set Automatically” to on.
   

Method No. 4 – Disable Safari Extensions

When Apple released iOS 15, it brought official support for extensions to the Safari web browser for the first time. If you have downloaded extensions and you’re struggling to connect to a website using Safari, deactivating the extensions may help:

1. Open the “Settings” app and tap “Safari.”
   
2. Select “Extensions.”
   
3. Deactivate any extensions you see in the list.

Try the website again once all extensions are inactive. If you can access the site, the odds are that one of your extensions prevented a connection before. Once this is established, activate the extensions one by one, checking the website again after each activation, to find the one that causes the problem.

Method No. 5 – Install Pending iOS Updates

This method can help if you’re experiencing connection errors across multiple apps. You may find this happens if you’re using an older version of iOS. Updating your iPhone may reinstate your connection to the website you want to access:

1. Launch “Settings” and select “General.”
   
2. Head to “Software Updates” and install pending updates.
   

This Site Can’t Provide a Secure Connection Chrome Bypass

You can use Google Chrome to browse the web on Windows, Android, and iPhone. If Chrome fails to establish a connection with a website, it’ll throw up the message “Site can’t provide a secure connection.” These methods may help you establish a connection.

Method No. 1 – Check the URL

In many cases, the failure to connect to a website stems from user error.

Check the URL you entered to ensure there aren’t any typos or mistakes. Common errors include using the wrong domain name – such as using .com for a .co.uk website – or misspelling the website’s name in the URL.

Method No. 2 – Clear Your Browser Cache

Clearing your browser’s cache gets rid of any cookies or other files that may cause connection issues. It’s a quick process, though doing it means you’re logged out of any websites you’re currently signed into:

1. Open Chrome and click the “Menu” icon. This is the icon with three vertical dots at the top-right of the browser.
   
2. Select “More Tools” and click “Clear browsing data.”
   
3. Choose a time range or select “All time” to clear everything in the cache.
   
4. Click “Clear data.”
   

Method No. 3 – Check Your Chrome Extensions

Some Chrome extensions may interfere with other websites, particularly adblockers. Disabling these types of extensions may grant you access to the website:

1. Open Chrome and type “chrome://extensions” into the URL bar.
   
2. Once you reach the Extensions page, use the toggles attached to each extension to turn them on or off.
   

Try turning an extension off and testing the URL you typed again. Move on to the next extension if you still have a connection issue. Repeat until you gain access to the website. The last extension you toggled off is the one that caused the connectivity problems.

Method No. 4 – Check Your Internet Connection

Slow or patchy internet connections can cause Chrome to throw up a connection error.

Try opening a website you visit regularly into your browser. If you can’t access the site, run a speed test on your internet connection. You may find that there’s an issue on your internet service provider’s (ISP’s) side that needs fixing. Or your modem may have technical issues that slow your connection down.

Assuming your connection is fine, try connecting your device to a different modem or Wi-Fi hotspot. You can also try connecting your device to mobile internet. If you see the same connection issues across all devices, you can safely assume your internet connection isn’t the problem. But if you can access the website using a different internet connection, there may be something wrong with the one you had previously.

If you suspect an issue with your modem is to blame, restart it and try to access the website again.

Fix Your Connection Issues

The “This site can’t provide a secure connection” warning is always scary because it suggests a problem with the site’s security settings. However, it’s also possible that there’s an issue with your device or browser that’s preventing access. With the troubleshooting methods in this article, you can check if the problem is on your side or if there’s an issue with the website.

Now, we want to know what you think. Should browsers and devices prevent you from accessing websites they deem insecure? Do you have any other ideas for solving these types of connection problems? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.