Connection Refused Error

Getting "Connection refused" or "ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED" when accessing localhost? This error means your browser cannot connect to the server. Here's how to fix it.

Common Causes

  • Server not running - Apache/Nginx/Node.js not started
  • Wrong port - Accessing wrong port number
  • Firewall blocking - Security software blocking connection
  • Port already in use - Another app using the port
  • Service crashed - Server stopped due to error

Solutions

1. Start Your Web Server

# XAMPP # Open XAMPP Control Panel # Click "Start" next to Apache # Linux Apache sudo systemctl start apache2 sudo service apache2 start # Nginx sudo systemctl start nginx # Node.js node server.js # Check if server is running # Windows netstat -ano | findstr :80 # Linux/Mac sudo lsof -i :80

2. Verify Correct Port

# Default ports: # http://localhost (port 80) # http://localhost:8080 (port 8080) # http://localhost:3000 (Node.js) # http://localhost:8000 (Python) # Check which port your server uses # Look at server configuration or startup logs

3. Check Firewall

# Windows - Allow Apache netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Apache" dir=in action=allow program="C:\xampp\apache\bin\httpd.exe" # Linux - Allow port 80 sudo ufw allow 80/tcp # Temporarily disable firewall to test # Windows: Windows Security > Firewall > Turn off # Linux: sudo ufw disable

Related URLs and Resources