Simple Ways To Fix Couldn’t Establish A Secure Connection Error

By Thomas G. Bass | December 12, 2019

Recently, various users experienced the ‘couldn’t establish a secure connection error‘ when they tried to access a certain website on their browsers. As a result, they were unable to open both popular and normal websites on the Internet. This problem can be caused by any browser. For the most part, an invalid certificate of the browser is the most common cause of this error. 

Fix ‘Couldn’t Establish A Secure Connection Error’

Before you start reading the following steps, make sure that the website you’re visiting has a valid certificate. Alternatively, you can try to access the page on a different browser and see if it’s connecting or not. 

Thereafter, go through the following solutions to try and fix this issue in no time. 

Solution 1: Reset Internet Settings

The first thing you can try is to disable the Internet settings of your system. By doing this, your connection can get refreshed. Thus, it can help to resolve the ‘Couldn’t establish a secure connection error’ as well.

Therefore, follow the steps provided below to reset your settings. 

  1. First, press Windows  + R button from your keyboard at the same time. Next, type ‘inetcpl.cpl’ in the empty text box and press Enter. 
  2. Now, the Internet Properties window will appear. Thus, go to the Advanced tab and then just click on Reset. 
  3. If prompted, simply click on Yes and your internet settings will be reset. Thus, all the factory default settings will be loaded once again. 

Now, launch your browser and check if you are able to access the website or not. 

Solution 2: Reset Browser Settings 

Another way to solve this issue is by resetting your browser settings. Sometimes, it can be the fault of your browser for showing the secure connection failed error. Thus, go through the following instructions to reset your browser settings. 

Here, we have provided detailed instructions for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox as they’re widely used. 

Google Chrome 

  1. First, you need to open Chrome’s menu by clicking on the three dots. This is located at the top-right position of the Google Chrome browser. From the list of options, click on Settings. 
  2. Next, scroll down and go on to click Advanced Settings. 
  3. After that, scroll further down until you see an option to Reset. Once you see this, select this option. 
  4. Now, you’ll see a prompt for confirmation. 
  5. Simply click on the Reset option once again and your browser will be reset. Thereafter, check whether you are able to visit the websites once again or not.  

Mozilla Firefox 

  1. Similarly, open Firefox’s menu by clicking on the three bars which are also located at the top-right position. Here, select Help from the list of options. 
  2. Thereafter, click on Troubleshooting Information and then click on Refresh Firefox. 
  3. Now, a new window will appear asking for confirmation. Thus, click on Refresh Firefox once again and your browser will revert back to its default settings. Check whether you’re able to open the websites or not. 

Solution 3: Disable IPv6 Protocol

Alternatively, you can try to solve this error by deactivating the IPv6 protocol. It is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol that is being slowly implemented across the world. It was developed to replace IPv4. 

However, it can create various problems including ‘Couldn’t Establish a Secure Connection’ error. Thus, you can try to fix this issue by disabling it. You can do this by following the below-mentioned steps. 

  1. The best way to fix this problem is by disabling it at the router’s level. Thus, open a browser and access your router’s settings page by entering its IP address into the address bar. 
  2. Next, enter your login credentials to access the page and go to the Connectivity tab. Here, select Internet Settings. 
  3. Now, you need to select ‘Type of Internet Connection’. Here, you will see two options which would be for IPv4 and IPv6. 
  4. Thus, click on IPv6 and go to Edit. Next, click on the checkbox beside IPv6 – Automatic to disable it by unchecking it. 
  5. Finally, click on the Apply option and save your settings. Now, reboot your router and check if this has solved your problem or not. 

Conclusion 

Finally, you should be able to establish a secure connection on your Safari browser after following the above solutions. In case the problem still persists, you can try to contact your network operator to get this issue resolved. 

Posted in Browser