Allow Chrome to Access the Network in Your Firewall or Antivirus Settings

Google’s Chrome browser is currently the most popular browser in the world today. It has a 64% usage of the total worldwide browser market share which is higher than the second placed Safari with only a 16% market share. One reason why a lot of people prefer using Chrome is because it is fast. Although this is a solid browser there are instances when certain issues can occur which we will be addressing today. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will tackle the allow Chrome to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings issue.

Fix Allow Chrome to Access the Network in Your Firewall or Antivirus Settings

Before performing the recommended troubleshooting steps for this particular problem I suggest that you try restarting your computer first. This will refresh the operating system as well as remove corrupt temporary data and is quite effective in fixing most software related issues.

There are several factors that can cause this particular problem ranging from the firewall blocking the browser to an interference from the antivirus software. Listed below are the troubleshooting steps you need to do to fix this problem.

Add Chrome to the Exception list of Windows Firewall

The first thing that you will need to do in this case is to make sure that the Firewall is not blocking Chrome from connecting to the internet.

  • Type “Windows Firewall” (without quotes) in the search input box.
  • Select “Allow an app through the Windows Firewall” from the Search results pane.
  • Tap or click the “Change Settings” button, and then select “Allow another app.”
  • Select “Google Chrome,” and then choose “Add.”
  • Select “OK” to finish adding Google Chrome to the Windows Firewall.

Check if the allow Chrome to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings  error still occurs.

Add Google Chrome to the antivirus exception list

One factor that can cause this problem is interference from the antivirus software. If this is the culprit you can fix this by adding Chrome to the exception list.

Windows Defender

  • Click the Windows button and in the search bar type “Windows defender”.
  • Open the application named “Windows Defender Security Center”.
  • Select the option “Virus and threat protection”.
  • Go to Virus and Threat Protection Settings. Windows may prompt you to allow an administrator access to use this feature. If so, press Yes.
  • Search the window which says “Add or remove exclusions”. Click it and you will be navigated to a menu where you can add exclusions.
  • Click on the option which says “Exclude a folder” and navigate to your Chrome directory. Once you reach the location select the folder and save changes.

Bitdefender

  • Open Bitdefender and go to the Protection Window by clicking the shield icon shown below in the picture.
  • Click on the link which says View Modules.
  • Click on the Settings icon which you can see on the upper right corner of the antivirus.
  • Go to the Exclusions tab present in the window.
  • Click on “List of files and folders excluded from scanning”.
  • Click on the ADD button. Navigate to your game directory and select the folder to exclude it from the scanning process. You should also select the Both option before you add an exception
  • Click Add and save changes.
  • You can also add the game executable file in the exceptions list by clicking on “List of processes excluded from scanning”. When the window pops up, you can navigate to the Chrome  .exe file which is present in your main Chrome  directory. Select both and save changes.

Avast Antivirus

  • Open the Avast interface.
  • Click on Settings found at the bottom left corner of the screen.
  • From Settings, browse to General and scroll down the options until you find Exclusions.
  • Expand the section and you will see a dialogue where you can add global exceptions. Navigate to your Chrome  directory using the option of Browse.
  • Once you have selected the Chrome  folder, click on ADD found at the bottom left side of the screen. Press OK and it is now added to global exceptions of Avast antivirus.

McAfee Antivirus

  • Open McAfee Antivirus by clicking on its icon present on the toolbar on the bottom right side of your Windows.
  • Click on Manage Security.
  • Select the option of Schedule and run scans option present in the box of Virus and Spyware Protection.
  • Select the option of Schedules scans from the list of options that follow. A new window will open and from there you will see the Add button present under the tab of Excluded Files and Folders. Select the Chrome  directory after clicking Add through the file explorer.
  • Once you reach the location select the folder and save changes.

Kaspersky AV

  • Open Kaspersky AV from the icon present in your taskbar at the bottom right of the screen.
  • Navigate to the Settings menu.
  • Select the tab of Additional and select the tab of Threats and Exclusions from the list of options given.
  • Click on the Configure Exclusions present in the middle of the screen.
  • Select the option of Add present in the bottom right of the screen.
  • Now navigate to the Chrome  directory using the Browse button. Once you reach the location select the folder and save changes.

Malwarebytes

  • Open your Malwarebytes window by either clicking on the icon in the taskbar located at the bottom right side of the screen, or by clicking the program’s launch file.
  • Once the program is opened, click on the Malware Exclusions tab located on the left side of the window.
  • In this tab, you find an option which says “Add folder”. Click it and you will be navigated to File Explorer from where you can select your Chrome directory easily. The default location for your Chrome folder should be “C:\Program Files (x86)\Google”. Once you reach the location select the folder and save changes.

Check if the allow Chrome to access the network in your firewall or antivirus settings  error still occurs.

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