You might have seen the following error sometime while working on your computer: “Unusual traffic from your computer network,” or something like “Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network.”
This could alarm you as you might not know why a high amount of traffic would be sent from your system. There are many reasons why you might have received that captcha error. Generally, Google suspects that a lot of requests are being sent out from your system automatically by a bot or a virus.
Usually, when you put a search query via the Google search engine, what you’re doing is sending out a request to the server that might respond to your specific query. But, if Google receives these search requests way too fast, this captcha can get triggered.
Why the “Systems Have Detected Unusual Traffic From Your Computer” Error Occurs?
- Making Search Queries Too Fast And Too Much
It is often seen that if you search too many items one after the other in a small period of time, Google flags them as automated searches. Try not searching anything on Google for a couple of minutes and see if that helps out.
- Network Issues
This message could also get triggered when your network runs on a shared public IP address, like a public proxy server. Google may send this message from other network users’ devices. Also, it might be that several people on the same network that you were on were searching on Google at once.
- VPN Connection
A lot of users receive this message when they use a VPN while accessing the internet.
- Automated Search
In case you have been using an automated search engine on purpose, Google might take up the cue and flag you as a suspect.
- Extensions
Third-party extensions installed on your chrome browser could also trigger the Google unusual traffic message.
- Malicious Things
It’s rare but possible that someone took over your network and is using it for suspicious purposes. Or maybe a virus has infected the system. Some background processes might also be running and exchanging unwanted data through the internet. This too could result in a lot of traffic coming from your system.
What to Do to Stop the “Unusual Traffic” Google Error: 7 Fixes
- Antivirus Scan
If you are suspecting the reason behind this unusual traffic to be a virus infection, then perform a malware scan immediately. Even if you don’t suspect it, open your antivirus and do a full system scan. You never know if there is a virus hiding in your computer in plain sight. Also, make sure to execute the following cleanup tasks using a trustworthy adware cleaning application:
- Reset firewall
- Reset proxy
- Reset Hosts file
- Reset the TCP/IP
- Reset the Winsock
The above steps will ensure that your system is now completely protected from virus attacks.
2. Reboot The Network Router
You can simply turn your router off and then on again after 10 seconds. Or reboot the network router from the admin panel.
3. Disable the VPN Connection or Proxy
If you were connected to a VPN service while you got the ‘unusual traffic from your computer network’ notification, try disconnecting the VPN and check if that fixes the issue. Virtual Private Networks are known for giving rise to problems while you use the Google search engine. Here are the steps to follow to disable your Proxy or VPN.
Step 1. Go to Settings from the Start menu or by pressing the Windows key + I.
Step 2. Click on “Network and Internet” and then on Proxy.
Step 3. Go to the right side of the window and navigate to “Manual proxy setup,” ensure that “Use a proxy server” is disabled.
Step 4. Now, toggle on the “Automatically detect settings.”
Now, close this window and see if the “unusual traffic” issue has been solved or not. Moreover, you could also be getting this error for using a VPN service. Here’s how you turn it off:
- Disable your VPN and check if you can access the website now or not.
- Now, change your internet server. Check if the problem has been sorted.
4. Disabling the Proxy Server of your LAN
You can also face issues due to malware attacks or viruses. These can mess with your network settings and allow advertisements from spam sites. This, in turn, can give rise to unusual traffic being generated from your system. If that’s the case, then, you can fix the situation in the following ways:
Step 1. Go to the Windows search bar located at the bottom of the screen and type in “Internet Options.” Now, when your desired result comes up, click on it.
Step 2. Switch to the “Connections” tab.
Step 3. Click on the LAN settings button
Step 4. Disable the “Use a proxy server for your LAN” option by unchecking the box next to it.
Step 5. Click on “Save” to save the modifications and exit from the window. Now, check if the unusual traffic issue has been fixed.
5. Getting Rid Of Troublesome Browser Extensions
One of the reasons why you might be getting this error is when certain browser extensions interfere with the proper loading of websites. Don’t worry, they can be disabled on all the browsers that you use. Here’s how to disable them:
On Chrome browser:
Step 1. Double click on the Chrome icon on your desktop.
Step 2. Copy and paste this site in the URL bar: chrome://extensions and hit on Enter. Or else you could click on the three dots towards the top right and click on “More tools” and then on “Extensions.”
Step 3. Either way, a page will open up that contains all the extensions present on your Chrome browser. Now, you can remove or disable all the extensions that could be troubling you.
On Mozilla Firefox:
Step 1. Launch the browser
Step 2. Click on the menu button and then on Add-ons.
Step 3. Now, a page will open, here you need to click on “Extensions.” Remove all those extensions that might be responsible for the traffic issue.
On Microsoft Explorer:
Step 1. Open your browser
Step 2. Copy this URL: edge://extensions and hit on Enter.
Step 3. Now, a page opens up and you can disable all the extensions that could have caused the error.
6. Uninstall Suspicious Files And Programs
The ‘unusual traffic from your computer network’ might also have started due to certain strange programs on your computer. If you have installed any software or app before the issue started, you could try uninstalling them to check if the problem subsides:
Step 1. Go to Settings via the Windows start button or by pressing the Windows key + I on your keyboard.
Step 2. Click on ‘Apps’ and then on ‘Apps and features.’
Step 3. Navigate to the right side of the window and click on the program you want to uninstall. Then, click on the ‘Uninstall’ button.
Step 4. Restart your system and check if the issue is resolved.
Google Chrome offers a built-in utility that looks for suspicious programs and gets rid of them. Here’s how:
Step 1. Open your Chrome browser.
Step 2. Click on the Menu button in the window’s top-right corner.
Step 3. Click “Settings”
Step 4. A page will come up, scroll down to the bottom and click on ‘Advanced’ to expand it.
Step 5. Navigate to the ‘Reset and Cleanup’ category and click ‘Clean up computer.’
Step 6. Hit on ‘Find’ beside the ‘Find harmful software’ option.
Step 7. Wait until the procedure is completed and follow along with the on-screen instructions.
Step 8. Reboot your system and check if the problem has been resolved.
7. Resetting Your Browser
Over time, your browser could have stored some pretty suspicious files, and resetting it will fix it. Keep in mind that it will also disable all the extensions on your Chrome browser. Other than that, it will erase all themes, search engines, etc. Given below are the steps you need to follow to reset your Google browser:
Step 1. Open your Chrome browser.
Step 2. Copy-paste ‘chrome://setting/’ in the address bar (without quotes) and hit on Enter.
Step 3. Now, a page will open up. Scroll down and click on ‘Advanced.’
Step 4. Navigate to ‘Reset and clean up’ and select the ‘Restore settings to their original defaults’ option.
Step 5. Now, you will receive a confirmation prompt. Hit the ‘Reset settings’ button.
Conclusion
By now, you must have clearly understood how to get rid of the ‘our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer’ error. Getting past this problem is pretty simple and if you try the solutions mentioned in this article one by one, you’ll surely have the error removed. We hope one of the above fixes helped you resolve the Google unusual traffic error.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean when Google says unusual traffic?
If Google sends you a prompt error message saying ‘Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer,’ it means Google has received a lot of search requests from your computer in a short amount of time. This makes it think that these might have been some computer program automated search requests or due to a virus. And so, it sends this message to stop the searches.
How do I get rid of unusual traffic on Google?
There are many solutions to try out and get rid of the ‘systems have detected unusual traffic’ on Google like a malware scan, resetting the browser, not making search queries for some time, etc. The above article discusses all of them in detail. So, take a look.
Why is Google asking me if I’m a robot?
Sometimes, when Google gets too many search queries from your system within a very small time frame, it thinks those might have been automated traffic. So, it triggers an error message to ensure no robot gets to proceed further.
How do you fix ‘our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network’?
The ‘systems have detected unusual traffic’ error could arise due to several reasons like using a VPN, a virus infection, a bot sending automated traffic to Google, or some suspicious software in your computer. To fix these errors, you can try out a couple of things like disabling the VPN, resetting your browser, etc. You can find all the fixes discussed in detail in this article.