Socket Error 10060: How to Quickly Fix It

The internet has become one of our most invaluable tools, but problems like the socket error 10060 take away from its importance.

You may get the message Socket error # 10060 connection timed out or Unable to connect to the server Socket error 10060. It cuts across services, as some readers have reported the error on MDaemon, Bitvise, and Gmail, among others.

What is socket error 10060?

This is one of the more common errors you may face in TCP/IP sockets if you use a proxy server to connect to the internet. The error is often associated with a timeout showing that a remote service is not responding. Any of the following may lead to the error:

• Network connectivity issues – A slow or bad internet connection is one of the leading triggers.
• Firewall or antivirus restrictions – Excessive restrictions by your firewall may make it challenging to access some internet resources.
• Server issues – Users have encountered the error when accessing an unresponsive remote server.
• Poor network configuration – The connection error is often triggered in cases where you have incorrectly configured your network.

You may try the solutions below to resolve it.

How do I fix socket error 10060?

Before going into our main solutions, you may try these quick fixes:

• Check your internet connection – If you use a slow internet connection, it is the likely trigger, and we recommend changing to a wired or faster connection.
• Restart your computer – It is not uncommon for minor bugs to be fixed after a reboot, so it will be wise to attempt this.
• Disable the antivirus – You may want to lead with this because a very restrictive antivirus or firewall may block out important internet resources.

After trying these pre-fixes, you may proceed to elaborate solutions below.

1. Disable proxy connections

1. Press Windows + R, type inetcpl.cpl, and hit Enter.
   
2. Click the Connections tab, then select LAN Settings.
   
3. Deselect Use a proxy server for your LAN and hit OK.
   
4. Try accessing the resources that triggered the error in the first place.

2. Edit the Tcpip registry value

1. Press Windows + R, type Regedit, and hit Enter.
   
2. Navigate to the path below:
   Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
3. Right-click on the right pane, select New, then Multi-String Value.
   
4. Copy the value below, paste it into the text field, and click OK.
   Value Name: TcpMaxDataRetransmissions
Value Type: REG_DWORD - Number
Valid Range: 0 - 0xFFFFFFFF
Default Value: 5 Decimal
New Value: 10 Decimal
   
5. Restart your computer.

Modifying your registry is risky, so we recommend creating a registry backup before starting the process.

If you have read this far, we are confident you should have resolved error 10060. So, please tell us which of the solutions was most effective.

Socket errors can affect web browsers and wrote about ERR_SOCKET_NOT_CONNECTED in one of our previous guides, so don’t miss it.

Lastly, note that we have not written these fixes in any particular order, and we encourage you to try what seems most applicable.