The proxy server is refusing connections: what it means

What usually sits behind the message

• Firefox points at a local proxy that is closed. Network debugging tools and proxy apps often listen on 127.0.0.1. Quit the app while Firefox keeps the setting and every page is refused.
• Firefox follows the system proxy. In system-settings mode, a stale proxy left in Windows or macOS breaks Firefox too.
• Wrong port or a stopped order. The port does not match the order, or the proxy no longer serves on it.
• Wrong field. An HTTP proxy typed into the SOCKS Host field or the other way round. Use the field that matches your order's protocol.

Ask the port directly with curl

Firefox gives no further detail, so query the port yourself. With the documentation address 203.0.113.10:8080 pointed at a port with no service, we got curl: (7) Failed to connect to 203.0.113.10 port 8080 after 0 ms: Couldn't connect to server. The after 0 ms matters: a refusal comes back almost instantly, unlike a proxy timeout where nobody answers at all.

If you would rather skip the terminal, the proxy checker reports the same case as connect failed, and the port checker shows whether the port is reachable from the internet. Chrome and Edge report this exact failure as ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED.

Fix the proxy settings in Firefox

• Open Firefox Settings, scroll to Network Settings and click the Settings button next to it.
• If you need no proxy, choose No proxy and click OK. If the error disappears, the old configuration was the cause.
• If Use system proxy settings is selected, fix the operating-system proxy instead; see the turn off proxy guide.
• With Manual proxy configuration, compare each field with your dashboard order: HTTP(S) proxies go in HTTP Proxy, SOCKS5 proxies go in SOCKS Host with SOCKS v5 selected.
• For password-protected proxies Firefox asks for the username and password on the first page load. Details in Firefox proxy setup.

The same failure outside Firefox

Antidetect browsers usually show a refused port as a proxy check that fails instantly. Python requests raises a connection problem with the proxy as requests.exceptions.ProxyError; print the full message to see the underlying reason. The fix is the same everywhere: confirm the IP and port, then confirm the port is open.

Step by step

1. 1

   Open Firefox Network Settings

   Settings > Network Settings > Settings shows which proxy mode Firefox is using.

2. 2

   Try No proxy

   Select No proxy, click OK and reload to learn whether the proxy is the cause.

3. 3

   Test the proxy port

   If you need the proxy, paste the line into the proxy checker or run curl -x and look for error (7).

4. 4

   Re-enter it in the right field

   Place IP and port in HTTP Proxy or SOCKS Host according to your order, save and load a test page.

Frequently asked questions