5 Ways to Fix Google Chrome Not Loading Pages on Android and iPhone

Quick Tips

• In most cases, clearing the Google Chrome cache and cookies should help fix the issue.
• If Chrome is taking longer than usual to load web pages, enable standard preloading and try changing the DNS server.
• Ensure you haven’t restricted Chrome from opening certain websites using Screen Time on your iPhone.

Try Basic Fixes

• Enable or disable the VPN: If webpages are not loading in Chrome, consider disabling your VPN connection temporarily and see if that resolves the problem. Conversely, if you can’t access some websites in Chrome, they might be blocked in your region. In such instances, enabling a VPN connection might be a solution.
• Update Google Chrome: App updates usually bring all kinds of bug fixes and performance improvements. So, if nothing else works, head over to the Play Store or App Store to update Google Chrome to its most recent version.

Fix 1: Enable Mobile Data for Chrome (iPhone)

If you have accidentally disabled mobile data access for Chrome on your iPhone, it won’t load pages when you’re not using Wi-Fi.

To change this, open the Settings app and scroll down to tap on Google Chrome. Then, enable the toggle next to Cellular Data.

Fix 2: Clear Chrome’s Cache and Cookies

A common reason why Chrome may fail to load web pages on your Android or iPhone is due to outdated or corrupt browsing data. Hence, it’s a good idea to clear the cache and cookies in Chrome.

Step 1: Launch Google Chrome on your phone. Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner and select Settings.

Step 2: Tap Privacy and security (or Privacy on iPhone) and select Clear browsing data from the following menu.

Step 3: Use the Time menu to select All time. Then, tick the Cookies and site data and Cached images and files options.

Step 4: Hit the Clear data button.

Fix 3: Enable Standard Preloading

If you feel that Chrome is taking forever to load web pages, enabling standard preloading can help speed up the process. This feature allows the browser to cache pages linked to the current web page you’re on.

Android

Step 1: Open Google Chrome on your phone. Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner and select Settings.

Step 2: Go to Privacy and security and select Preload pages.

Step 3: Select the Standard preloading option.

iPhone

Step 1: Open Google Chrome on your iPhone. Tap the three-dot menu icon in the bottom right corner and select Settings.

Step 2: Go to Bandwidth and select Pre-load Web Pages.

Step 3: Select Always or Only on Wi-Fi, depending on when you want Chrome to preload links, and tap Done.

Fix 4: Change the DNS Server

Problems with your ISP’s DNS server can be another factor preventing Chrome from loading web pages on your Android or iPhone. If that’s the case, switching to a more reliable DNS server should get Chrome to load pages.

Android

Step 1: Open Google Chrome settings and go to Privacy and security and select Use secure DNS.

Step 2: Select the Choose another provider option and use the drop-down menu to select your preferred DNS server.

iPhone

As Chrome for iOS doesn’t offer the option to change the DNS server, you’ll need to use the Settings app to make the necessary changes.

Step 1: Open Settings on your iPhone and navigate to Wi-Fi. Tap the info icon next to your Wi-Fi network. Then, tap on Configure DNS.

Step 2: Scroll down to select Manual from the following menu.

Step 3: Tap the minus icon to remove the prefilled entries under DNS servers. Then, tap Add Server to create a new entry for Google DNS by entering 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 in the provided box.

Step 4: Tap Save in the top right corner.

Fix 5: Check Content and Privacy Restrictions (iPhone)

If you’ve previously enabled content restrictions on your iPhone or iPad, Chrome may encounter difficulties loading specific web pages. If the issue is limited to a select few web pages, try disabling content and privacy restrictions on your iPhone using these steps:

Step 1: Open the Settings menu and tap Screen Time.

Step 2: Tap on Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn off the toggle in the following menu.