Firefox can't connect to the server at accounts.google

I've have been getting "Firefox can’t connect to the server at accounts.google.com" for a few weeks now and can't find any solution elsewhere in the internet so I hope the assembled knowledge bank here can help.

It is happening on Firefox, Chrome and Edge so I don't think it is a browser problem.

I can access pages that do not require a sign-in like Google Maps or Google Earth but anything that requires a sign in like Google Mail or Drive brings up the can't connect message.

Has anyone seen this before and if so how did they solve it?

Thanks in advance for any help that people can give.

Mobile phone on the same WiFi connects with no problems. Mobile phone uses a Google account while the laptop is logged in on a Microsoft Account.

Edited by GonePostal (Thu 16-Apr-26 19:43:59)

try a new firefox profile and or chrome profile and see if the issue persists ......

You can also try a linux live usb to see if that resolves it

Both routes are suggested to root out any virus /highjack......... And its quicker than to scan your drives .

In reply to a post by Taras:

try a new firefox profile and or chrome profile and see if the issue persists ......

You can also try a linux live usb to see if that resolves it

Both routes are suggested to root out any virus /highjack......... And its quicker than to scan your drives .

No luck with new profiles.

Do you ge a reply if you enter:
"Ping accounts.google.com" at a Windows "Command prompt"

I'd try a live linux usb..

That way you will know if its your windows install.

For those who don't know, a new firefox or chrome profile, removes all plugins and cookies, its about x1000 times better than "clear your browser cookies"

Page opens and log-in successful from Linux USB so looks like Windows and Google are not talking. Ping from Windows does work OK.

The only data from my Google accounts is held in Thunderbird. If I try and access Gmail through the browser I get the access refused message.

Does anyone have any thoughts about how to get Windows to think I have a Google account?

Try booting Windows in "Safe Mode with Networking" to rule out any software problems ?

Not had a problem with Google but have had something similar accessing mail on other domains, using a mail client, which seemed to have one of two causes:

• One was resolved by rebooting my broadband router.
• The other was related to bot management; that probably wouldn't apply with Google.

In reply to a post by Adduxi:

Try booting Windows in "Safe Mode with Networking" to rule out any software problems ?

Sorry for the delay in replying; safe mode made no difference.

Just a thought, could Google have blocked that specific windows device from using your account? I know when I login to Google I sometimes get an email saying a new device has logged in and you can then either allow or block it. Is it worth trying to create a temporary google account to see if that works then you will know if its the device or the account.

I've not had the same issue as you and not using Firefox, but I've had problems getting logged in to GMail quite a lot in recent times, very often just extremely laggy at responding. But I've also had similar problems with Ymail and Hotmail from time to time.
Using W10x64. My suspicion is it's Windows Defender being somewhat "overactive". I've done nothing to actually prove that except I've noted it using a lot of resources in Task manager when I've had issues. HTH.

Is the system time and region correct in Windows?

Have you installed any security software in Windows which may have altered TLS/SSL settings and the like?

Do you have any VPN "stuff" installed?

Have you checked your Windows hosts file to ensure that it is free of entries?

In reply to a post by Pipexer:

Is the system time and region correct in Windows?

Have you installed any security software in Windows which may have altered TLS/SSL settings and the like?

Do you have any VPN "stuff" installed?

Have you checked your Windows hosts file to ensure that it is free of entries?

Thank you so much. As ever the combined expertise available through this Forum brings a massive range of talents and knowledge. No idea how it got there but the hosts file had a line inhibiting accounts.google.com. Took that line out and can now connect.

If you are ever in Northumberland, England I'll buy you a beer.

Edited by GonePostal (Wed 22-Apr-26 23:27:30)

Was the line in the host file something like

accounts.google.com [IP address]

Sometimes malicious websites or virus code alter the host file to redirect sites such as common bank sites or email accounts to fake web sites to steal credentials. This means even if you type the correct URL in the web browser you will go to the fake site. You might have been lucky if the fake sever had already been taken down or your ISP or anti virus software was blocking the site as a known phishing site.

I would change your email password (and possibly any other passwords used on that PC) and run a full virus scan.

Anthony

As you say that entry in the hosts file could not accidently have been added so a more thorough check of the PC is required. Would have been interesting to see the modified date of the hosts file before the entry was removed and where the entry was pointing.

In reply to a post by arendall667:

Was the line in the host file something like

accounts.google.com [IP address]

Sometimes malicious websites or virus code alter the host file to redirect sites such as common bank sites or email accounts to fake web sites to steal credentials. This means even if you type the correct URL in the web browser you will go to the fake site. You might have been lucky if the fake sever had already been taken down or your ISP or anti virus software was blocking the site as a known phishing site.

I would change your email password (and possibly any other passwords used on that PC) and run a full virus scan.

Anthony

Being overly addicted to keeping copies of everything I have hostsold.txt still on the system and that shows that the line I removed was the last line in the file; The last 4 lines were:

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
127.0.0.1 accounts.google.com

What are the implications of that text?

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

127.0.0.1 accounts.google.com

What are the implications of that text?

Hosts is saying to look for accounts.google.com on the local machine

The hosts file is basically an override for DNS.

Its purpose is primarily probably an assist tool for development/testing purposed, potentially useful if DNS is broken, and you force your way round it, but has security implications because ts use generates no notifications, warnings, browsers have no idea if it is used so cant warn you either.

It can however be made read only to prevent tampering, I think its also possible in the registry to make it lower priority than network DNS, which effectively disables it.

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

127.0.0.1 accounts.google.com

127.0.0.1 is known as the loopback address for your PC's network interface so thats better than your google login requests going to some unknown IP address on the internet. Just strange how the file got updated if it wasn't you.

If it's pointing at the local machine I'd suspect either it was an attempt to block all Google services, or some malware was trying to act as an HTTP proxy

In reply to a post by jpm:

If it's pointing at the local machine I'd suspect either it was an attempt to block all Google services

Most likely this. Some less-competent "anti-spyware" has at points modified the hosts file to block "spyware". DNS blocking is ok when done properly, e.g. Pi-hole, but editing hosts is crude.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

In reply to a post by jpm:

If it's pointing at the local machine I'd suspect either it was an attempt to block all Google services

Most likely this. Some less-competent "anti-spyware" has at points modified the hosts file to block "spyware". DNS blocking is ok when done properly, e.g. Pi-hole, but editing hosts is crude.

Thanks to all for the help. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that I edited the file myself to try and nail some other problem and forgot to revert but I have no recollection of doing so. It's an age thing.

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that I edited the file myself to try and nail some other problem and forgot to revert but I have no recollection of doing so. It's an age thing.

If you had done it yourself, I would think that you would know what the line does and would not have needed to ask?

In reply to a post by DFScale:

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that I edited the file myself to try and nail some other problem and forgot to revert but I have no recollection of doing so. It's an age thing.

If you had done it yourself, I would think that you would know what the line does and would not have needed to ask?

Not necessarily so. I am an enthusiastic dabbler with no great understanding of many of the core concepts that iT experts hold as part of their basic knowledge.

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

Being overly addicted to keeping copies of everything I have hostsold.txt still on the system and that shows that the line I removed was the last line in the file; The last 4 lines were:

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
127.0.0.1 accounts.google.com

What are the implications of that text?

that wouldn't have been a virus.

I guess you could craft it as a local direct and run a fake version of google on your machine via virus and that sent the creds to whoever wanted them.

Easier to create multiple routes on the net or just send a 100 million emails instead - that would yield better results