"Your Connection Is Not Private" — How to Fix It (All Browsers)

What Does "Your Connection Is Not Private" Mean?

"Your connection is not private" is a browser security warning that appears when your browser cannot establish a secure HTTPS connection to the website you are trying to visit. Specifically, your browser failed to verify the website's SSL/TLS certificate — the digital certificate that encrypts data between your browser and the server.

Every time you visit an HTTPS website, your browser checks the site's SSL certificate to ensure: (1) it was issued by a trusted certificate authority, (2) it has not expired, (3) it matches the domain name in the URL, and (4) it has not been revoked. If any of these checks fail, the browser blocks the connection and shows this warning.

This error does not always mean the website is dangerous. It often means something on your device — like wrong date/time settings, cached data, or security software — is interfering with the SSL verification process.

Error Codes by Browser

The error code tells you exactly what went wrong. ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID means the certificate has expired or your device clock is wrong. ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID means the certificate was not issued by a trusted authority. ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID means the certificate does not match the domain name.

Common Causes of "Your Connection Is Not Private"

Understanding the root cause helps you pick the right fix immediately. Here are the most common causes, ranked from most to least frequent.

• Incorrect date and time on your device — The #1 cause for end users. SSL certificates have validity dates. If your device clock is wrong, every certificate appears expired or not-yet-valid, triggering the error on all HTTPS sites.

• Expired SSL certificate — The website owner's SSL certificate has expired and has not been renewed. This is the website's fault, not yours.

• Self-signed or untrusted certificate — The website uses a certificate that was not issued by a recognized certificate authority. Common on development servers, internal corporate tools, and some IoT devices.

• Antivirus or firewall HTTPS scanning — Security software like Avast, Kaspersky, ESET, or Bitdefender intercept HTTPS connections and replace the site's certificate with their own. If the replacement certificate is not trusted by the browser, the error appears.

• VPN or proxy interference — VPNs and proxies can intercept SSL connections, especially on public or corporate networks, causing certificate validation to fail.

• Public Wi-Fi captive portal — Hotels, airports, and cafes often intercept your first HTTPS request to show a login page. This breaks SSL validation until you authenticate.

• Domain name mismatch — The certificate was issued for www.example.com but you visited example.com (or vice versa), or the certificate covers a different domain entirely.

• Outdated browser or operating system — Older browsers and OS versions may not have the latest root certificates, causing them to reject valid certificates.

Fix 1: Check Your Date and Time Settings

After correcting the date and time, close your browser completely and reopen it. Try visiting the website again. If the error appeared on multiple sites simultaneously, an incorrect clock was almost certainly the cause.

• Windows: Settings → Time & Language → Date & time → turn on "Set time automatically" and "Set time zone automatically"

• macOS: System Settings → General → Date & Time → turn on "Set date and time automatically"

• Android: Settings → System → Date & time → turn on "Automatic date & time"

• iPhone/iPad: Settings → General → Date & Time → turn on "Set Automatically"

Fix 2: Try Incognito / Private Browsing Mode

Opening the page in an incognito (Chrome) or private (Firefox/Safari) window disables extensions and ignores cached data. This quickly tells you whether a browser extension or corrupted cache is causing the SSL error.

If the website loads normally in incognito mode, the problem is a browser extension or cached certificate data. Disable your extensions one by one in normal mode to find the culprit, then clear your browser cache.

Fix 3: Clear Browser Cache and Cookies

After clearing, restart the browser and try loading the website again.

• Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → Delete browsing data → select "Cookies" and "Cached images and files" → Delete data

• Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Clear Data

• Edge: Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Choose what to clear → select Cookies and Cached images → Clear now

• Safari: Safari menu → Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data → Remove All

Fix 4: Clear SSL State (Windows)

Windows caches SSL certificates at the operating system level, separate from the browser cache. Clearing this SSL state forces Windows to re-validate all certificates from scratch.

• Open Internet Options: Press Win+R → type inetcpl.cpl → press Enter

• Go to the Content tab and click "Clear SSL State"

• Click OK and restart your browser

• Try the website again — Windows will now perform a fresh SSL handshake

Fix 5: Disable Antivirus HTTPS Scanning

If disabling HTTPS scanning fixes the error, you can either leave it disabled or add the affected website to your antivirus exception list.

• Avast: Settings → Protection → Core Shields → Web Shield → uncheck "Enable HTTPS scanning"

• Kaspersky: Settings → Network settings → turn off "Scan encrypted connections"

• Bitdefender: Settings → Protection → Online Threat Prevention → turn off "Encrypted web scan"

• ESET: Advanced setup → Web and email → SSL/TLS → disable "Enable SSL/TLS protocol filtering"

Fix 6: Switch to a Different Network

Public Wi-Fi networks in hotels, airports, cafes, and offices are the most common source of SSL errors. These networks often use captive portals that intercept your first HTTPS request to show a login or terms page — which breaks SSL validation.

Corporate and school networks may also use SSL inspection proxies that replace certificates with their own internal certificates, triggering the error if the proxy certificate is not installed on your device.

• Try mobile data: Disconnect from Wi-Fi and use your phone's cellular data to test the website

• Try a different Wi-Fi network: Switch to a personal hotspot or another Wi-Fi network

• Complete the captive portal: Try visiting an HTTP (not HTTPS) site like http://neverssl.com — the network will redirect you to the login page. After authenticating, HTTPS sites should work

Fix 7: Change Your DNS Server

Change your DNS settings in your OS network configuration or router settings. After switching, flush your DNS cache and try the website again. Use DNS Robot's DNS Lookup tool to verify the domain resolves correctly from multiple global servers.

Fix 8: Update Your Browser and Operating System

Browsers and operating systems ship with a built-in list of trusted root certificate authorities (CAs). If your software is outdated, it may be missing newer root certificates, causing it to reject valid SSL certificates.

This is especially common after September 2021, when the widely-used Let's Encrypt DST Root CA X3 certificate expired. Older devices that were not updated lost trust in millions of websites using Let's Encrypt certificates.

• Chrome: Menu → Help → About Google Chrome → update if available

• Firefox: Menu → Help → About Firefox → update if available

• Edge: Menu → Help and feedback → About Microsoft Edge → update if available

• Windows: Settings → Windows Update → Check for updates

• macOS: System Settings → General → Software Update

Fix 9: Bypass the Warning (Use with Caution)

If you trust the website and understand the risk, you can bypass the privacy warning to access the page. This does not fix the underlying certificate issue — it simply tells your browser to ignore it for this visit.

• Chrome/Edge: Click "Advanced" on the error page → click "Proceed to [site] (unsafe)"

• Firefox: Click "Advanced" → click "Accept the Risk and Continue"

• Safari: Click "Show Details" → click "visit this website"

• Chrome shortcut: Type thisisunsafe anywhere on the error page (no text field needed) — Chrome will immediately load the page

Fix 10: For Website Owners — Fix Your SSL Certificate

If visitors report "Your connection is not private" on your website, the problem is your SSL certificate configuration. Here is a checklist to diagnose and fix it.

• Check certificate expiry: Use DNS Robot's SSL Checker to see your certificate's expiration date. Renew it immediately if expired.

• Verify the certificate chain: Make sure your server sends the full certificate chain (root → intermediate → leaf). A missing intermediate certificate is the most common server-side cause. Read: What Is an SSL Certificate Chain?

• Check domain name match: The certificate's Common Name (CN) or Subject Alternative Name (SAN) must match your exact domain. If your cert covers www.example.com but not example.com, visitors without the www prefix get the error.

• Enable auto-renewal: If you use Let's Encrypt or Cloudflare, enable automatic certificate renewal so it never expires again.

• Check mixed content: Ensure all resources (images, scripts, CSS) load over HTTPS. Mixed content can trigger security warnings.

• Test your setup: Run your domain through DNS Robot's SSL Checker to get a full certificate analysis including chain validation, expiry date, protocol support, and cipher suites.

Fix "Your Connection Is Not Private" on Android

Android displays this error in Chrome and all Chromium-based browsers. Here are Android-specific fixes.

• Fix date and time: Settings → System → Date & time → enable "Automatic date & time" and "Automatic time zone"

• Clear Chrome data: Settings → Apps → Chrome → Storage → Clear cache (and Clear data if needed)

• Change DNS: Settings → Network & Internet → Private DNS → set to one.one.one.one (Cloudflare) or dns.google (Google)

• Check for system updates: Settings → System → System update — outdated Android versions may lack newer root certificates

• Try a different browser: If Chrome shows the error, test with Firefox — it uses its own certificate store separate from Android's

Fix "This Connection Is Not Private" on iPhone / iPad

Safari on iOS shows "This Connection Is Not Private" without a specific error code. Here are iOS-specific fixes.

• Fix date and time: Settings → General → Date & Time → enable "Set Automatically"

• Clear Safari data: Settings → Apps → Safari → Clear History and Website Data

• Change DNS: Settings → Wi-Fi → tap the (i) next to your network → Configure DNS → Manual → add 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1

• Update iOS: Settings → General → Software Update — Apple regularly updates its trusted certificate list via iOS updates

• Reset network settings: Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Reset → Reset Network Settings (this clears all saved Wi-Fi passwords and custom DNS)

How to Verify the Fix Worked

After applying a fix, verify that the SSL connection is working properly.

• Check the padlock: Look for the padlock icon in the address bar. Click it to view the certificate details — it should show "Connection is secure" and a valid certificate.

• Test with DNS Robot's SSL Checker: Run the domain through /ssl-checker to verify the full certificate chain, expiry date, and protocol support from an external server.

• Test multiple browsers: If the fix works in one browser, test the website in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari to ensure it works everywhere.

• Check from a different device: Use your phone or another computer to confirm the issue was local to your device and not a server-side problem.