Connection failures

The Server messages window says what happened. These are the messages you may see and what they mean.

Message	Meaning and what to do
Looking up <host> timed out.	The name lookup did not finish. Check your internet connection and the host name
Could not resolve <host>: …	The host name does not exist or DNS is unavailable. Check the spelling in Edit server
Could not connect to <host> (…).	No address accepted the connection. The text in brackets gives the reason for the last address tried. Check the port and that the server is reachable from your network
The TLS handshake with <host> timed out.	The server accepted the connection but did not complete the secure handshake. Check that the port is a TLS port
Timed out during …	The server stopped responding while connecting. SwizzinIRC will retry
Nickname '<nick>' is not available: …	The nickname is taken or reserved. Choose another with /nick, or add alternatives in Edit server
nickname '<nick>' is not valid on this server	The server rejected the nickname’s characters or length
banned: …	The server refused your connection. The message carries the server’s reason

Reconnecting

If an established connection drops, SwizzinIRC reconnects by itself with growing delays and rejoins your channels. The network shows as reconnecting, and the server window explains why. Use Servers → Disconnect to stop it.

Slow first connection

If a server has IPv6 addresses but your network blocks IPv6, the first connection can take a few extra seconds while other addresses are tried.

If you are not connected

Commands that need a connection tell you so in the window you typed in, and nothing is sent. Connect first, then repeat the command.

Reporting a problem

Include what you did, what you expected, what happened, the version number (shown at the bottom right of the window), and the text of the Server messages window around the problem. Remove anything private. Never include passwords.