What are Capchtas? Captchas were introduced as a method to stop spambots and other bad robots from overloading, infiltrating and damaging a server. Once these little buttons and puzzles were so easy to solve, but these are becoming extremely difficult to solve these days. Sometimes they don’t seem to work. So I”l talk about why you may see captcha not working, and how to fix captcha error in your browser.
Why Is The Frickin’ Captcha Not Working?
Fun fact: The acronym ‘CAPTCHA’ stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) too funny RIGHT? And these tools were created as a way of preventing spambots from visiting a web space. Once upon a time, these were actually very easy to solve, and even the simplest captchas were enough to deal with complex spambots.
As it was pointed out in this article from The Verge, machine learning is developing very quickly as artificial intelligence improves over time. This means that the captcha (and now reCAPTCHA) needs to be trained to be more difficult, so that it can combat more difficult threats.
Here’s the thing also, there are certain triggers which do not sit well with the new API that Google has developed. These will lead to false positives being recorded, meaning that your request will be classified as one from a bot. These triggers vary in nature, but we have collected some of these from our readers, which are listed as below:
- One of the most common reasons is issues with the browser compatibility, when the captcha fails to register the input if you are not on the latest version of the browser.
- Browser cache is another reason why captcha won’t load on your browser, as a broken or corrupted Chrome browser profile may be interfering with the requests you send.
- If your IP is banned, the captcha will not load however hard you try. Check out solution X for a quick workaround.
- Network interference from proxy connections may be causing the error, as captcha don’t work properly when you have an active VPN connection.
- Certain malware have been known to corrupt the requests you send, therefore leading to this error.
How To Fix Captcha Error?
Now that you have a brief idea about why you may be facing this error, it is time to look at the solutions that you can try in order to fix captcha error on your computer.
Solution 1: Reload
One of the first things that you need to try is reload the capture in order to get a new security code. Many times the page just may not have loaded correctly, and this leads to the thing thinking that what you entered is incorrect.
So just reload the page to get a new verification captcha. This simple thing will, in most cases, solve you problem.
Solution 2: Update Your Browser To The Latest Version
So, if reloading the page did not load the captcha, check if you are on the latest version of the browser that you’re using. It IS possible that the captcha won’t load due to compatibility issues with your browser version. This can be narrowed down to security issues, as eat new version update contains a tonne of security patches.
Visit the about section of your browser from the hamburger menu, there you should find the browser update automatically running. once your browser is up to date, Try reloading the page. your captcha error should now be resolved.
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Solution 3: Clear Browser Cache
As mentioned above, corrupt or missing browser cache may interfere with the captcha loading, therefore preventing you from loading the reCatcha. So, just clear the browser cache and reload the page to check if the error persists.
Solution 4: Turn Off Proxy Network
If you are using a proxy connection to visit the page and updating the browser did not solve captcha not working error, you need to turn off the proxy service. Many free VPN services cause this particular issue, where the tunneling protocols are not very secure.
If you get this error while using a premium service, contact the developers or hosts of that VPN. Premium VPN services use advanced protocols, which helps flagging the request as genuine. Notify the developers about how to connect to the website without getting flagged as robot.
The same instruction applies if you are using a proxy service, and you will require to turn off the proxy service in order to bypass the captcha.
Solution 5: Reset IP Address Manually
There is a possibility that too many requests to a website may lead to The IP address being blocked. There are many services available now which keep a record of suspicious IP addresses. So much so that, if you are using shared hosting and your ‘neighbor’ has such suspicious addresses, you can even be flagged as a spam bot and denied access to the website. Sucks RIGHT?
Luckily, getting a new IP address is not a big deal nowadays do too many Internet service providers using dynamic IP addresses. A simple disconnect should a reset your IP address, if not, contact your service provider and ask them to register a new IP address for you.
If you are already using a DHCP client, you can manually reset your IP address by clearing the winsock data. follow these steps for the same:
- open an elevated command prompt from the start menu, or the WinX menu if you have replaced PowerShell with CMD.
- in the command line interpreter, enter the following commands in order and press enter after each one:
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew
After the reset, new IP and DNS data will be registered for your device, and you should see the captcha service working normally again.
Solution 6: Check For Malware
If none of the solutions above helped you, there is a chance that your computer is infected with a malware that is sending fraudulent requests. A hidden malware is a risk to your data and your privacy, so you should immediately check if there is a hidden virus or malware on your computer.
If you do not own a premium antivirus service, you can use a host of free antivirus services such as Avast and Malwarebytes. Scan your computer for malwares and remove any potentially unwanted programs from your computer.
Once you have removed the risky files and programs from your device, reload the page and check if the error persists. your error should now be resolved.
Solution 7: Reinstall Browser
If you do not have malware on your computer and still see captcha not working, you will have to reinstall Google Chrome, FireFox, Edge or whatever browser you are using, after deleting the residual data. You can use a third party cleaning software such as CCleaner, or use batch uninstallers to remove the residual data while uninstalling the browser. Here’s a list of FREE FOR LIFE web tools, HERE.
Next, visit the browser’s website and download a fresh copy of the browser. Install the browser, and check if the error persists. Your error should now be resolved.
Wrapping Up
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So there you have it. Now you know how you can troubleshoot if you see captcha not working on your browser, using one or a combination of the solutions provided above. Comment below if you found this useful, and to discuss further the same.
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