A lot of us have come across the Can’t Open the Page message while surfing the internet with Safari. Different versions of the message are also seen on Chrome or Firefox. This post will discuss the reasons behind this messages and the possible fixes.
Safari is the go-to browser for most MacOS and iOS users and it is a great browser by all means. It has strong security features, you can open multiple tab simultaneously on iOS 15 and later versions, it protects you from malware infected pages, and gives you a browsing experience that is smooth overall. However, errors like Can’t Open the Page do occur and put a halt to your browsing experience. Let’s discuss why this happens and how you can fix it.
Why does the Can’t Open the Page message appear?
When you try to open a web page with your browser, the browser requests the website server to present the files required to show the webpage. Any blockade in this process can result in an error and the browser fails to show the web page. The likely reasons are
- A broken or inactive internet connection
- Outdated browser
- Corrupt or outdated data in the browser cache
- Damaged cookies and site data
- Corrupt data in the DNS cache
Also Read – DYI Guide to Fixing “a problem repeatedly occurred” Error in Safari
How to fix the Can’t Open the Page Error?
Hard reload
More often than not, this issue is fixed with a simple hard-reload of the web page. All you do is press Command+R. The equivalent of this on Windows is Ctrl+F5. If you want to reload the page with out loading the cache, you can use Command+Option+R or hold down the Shift key while clicking the refresh icon.
Check internet
If the hard reload doesn’t work, you can check the internet connection just to be sure. Just open a different web page, something that you use regularly to find out if it is working. If it isn’t check your WiFi connection.
If you are browsing with your iOS device and Safari is failing to open pages even though the mobile data is turned on, you might have disabled mobile data usage for Safari.
Go to the Settings app > Tap on Mobile Data > Scroll down to find Safari > Enable by switching on the toggle.
Turn the extensions off
Extensions increase the functionality of your browser, a VPN, for instance masks your IP and lets you browse securly and avoid geo-restrictions. Similarly Adblocker extensions block ads while you visit webpages. However, these extensions can interfere with a web page you are trying to visit. So turning them off might do the trick.
Open a new tab on your browser > Click on the Safari icon > Select Preferences > Select Extensions.
You will land on a page with all the installed extensions. Turn extensions like VPNs and Adblockers off and refresh the web page. If it doesn’t work, you can disable all installed extensions and try again.
Add a Public DNS Server Address
Switching to a public DNS server address can remove the error. You can use Google DNS server addresses like [8.8.8.8] and [8.8.4.4]. Here’s how to do that.
Go to Apple menu > System preferences > Network preferences
Select the preferred mode of internet – WiFi or Ethernet
Select Advanced from the bottom right corner. You’ll see a DNS tab on the top menu bar in the window that opens. Select the DNS tab > Click on the Add (+) button. Enter the Google public DNS server addresses > Hit OK. Refresh the web page after this.
Clear caches
The cached data often interferes with web pages and can result in your browser failing to load pages. Follow the steps.
Open browser > Click on Safari icon > Select Preferences > Select Show develop menu on menu bar.
This will add the develop option on the Safari menubar. Click on Develop > Click on Empty Caches.
Hopefully one of these steps has helped you remove the Can’t open the page error. Do you know a better way of doing it? Let us know.
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