Why Is CAPTCHA Not Working? Common Causes and How to Fix It

What Counts as a "Broken" CAPTCHA

Before jumping to fixes, it helps to name the exact failure you're seeing. The most common symptoms include:

CAPTCHA not loading — the widget area is blank or shows a spinner indefinitely
CAPTCHA not showing — the widget never appears at all, even after a full page load
Endless loop — the CAPTCHA reloads or resets every time you complete it
"Invalid CAPTCHA" or "captcha validation failed" error — the form refuses your answer even when it looks correct
Form submission blocked — the CAPTCHA appears to pass, but the form still won't submit

Each symptom points to a different layer of the stack — browser, network, server, or integration — so identifying which one you have narrows the fix considerably.

Common Causes of Non-Working CAPTCHA

Understanding why is CAPTCHA not working starts with knowing what can go wrong on either side of the equation — the user's browser or the website itself.

Client-Side Causes (User's Device or Browser)

JavaScript disabled or blocked — CAPTCHA widgets rely mostly on JavaScript to render and communicate with verification servers. If JS is off, the widget simply won't appear.
Browser extensions interfering — Ad blockers, script blockers, and privacy extensions often block third-party scripts, including external CAPTCHA loaders.
VPN or proxy flagging your IP — Many CAPTCHA systems assign a risk score based on IP reputation. VPN exit nodes and shared proxies can carry a high-risk score, causing captcha keeps failing loops or invisible CAPTCHAs that never resolve.
Slow or unstable connection — CAPTCHA scripts are typically loaded from external CDNs. A timeout mid-load results in a blank widget or a captcha not loading state.
Outdated browser or OS — Older browsers may lack support for the APIs that modern CAPTCHA widgets use, leading to silent failures.
Overly strict antivirus or firewall — Some endpoint security tools block outbound requests to CAPTCHA provider domains, preventing the widget from loading or submitting its token.
Corrupted cache or cookies — A stale or corrupted browser cache can serve broken assets or outdated session tokens, which leads directly to captcha validation failed errors.

Server/Developer-Side Causes

Mismatched site key and domain — CAPTCHA site keys are mostly registered for specific domains. If the widget is embedded on a different domain (e.g., a staging subdomain), it can fail often silently.
Wrong secret key in server-side verification — The token your users generate is valid, but your server sends the wrong secret key to the CAPTCHA provider's API, so every verification returns a failure.
Caching serving stale tokens — Aggressive page caching can serve a CAPTCHA token that has already expired by the time the user submits the form.
WAF or CDN blocking verification requests — A Web Application Firewall may flag and drop the outbound POST request your server makes to the CAPTCHA verification endpoint, making every submission fail on the back end.

Step-by-Step Solutions for Client-Side Causes

1. Enable JavaScript

Go to your browser settings → Privacy & Security → Site Settings → JavaScript (the actual path depends on your browser), and ensure it is set to "Allowed." Then hard-reload the page (Ctrl+Shift+R / Cmd+Shift+R).

2. Disable Extensions Temporarily

Open your browser in Incognito/Private mode (which disables most extensions by default) and retry. If CAPTCHA works there, re-enable your extensions one by one to identify the culprit. Whitelisting a site in your ad blocker is often the solution to a captcha issue.

3. Disconnect Your VPN or Proxy

Turn off your VPN and reload the page. If the CAPTCHA now works, your VPN exit node's IP has a poor reputation score. Try switching to a different VPN server, or for development work, consider a dedicated IP solution.

4. Fix DNS or Network Issues

You can try to flush your DNS cache with the following examples of shell commands:

Windows: ipconfig /flushdns (in Command Prompt)
macOS: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Then try switching your DNS to a public resolver (e.g., 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4) to rule out ISP-level blocking of CAPTCHA provider domains.

5. Clear Cache and Cookies

In your browser settings, clear all cached images, files, and cookies for the affected site, then reload. This resolves most captcha invalid error cases caused by stale tokens.

6. Update Your Browser

Ensure you're running the latest version of your browser. For Google reCaptcha not working issues in particular, modern browsers receive frequent updates that patch compatibility issues with the risk-scoring engines used by today's CAPTCHA systems.

7. Check Antivirus/Firewall Settings

Temporarily disable your antivirus's web-filtering module and retry. If that fixes it, add your CAPTCHA provider's domain to your allowlist rather than leaving the filter off permanently.

Developer & Server-Side Fixes

If users are consistently reporting CAPTCHA not displaying on website or captcha validation failed errors, the problem is almost certainly in your integration:

Verify your site key's registered domains — Log in to your CAPTCHA provider's admin console and confirm the domain list includes every domain and subdomain where the widget appears.
Confirm secret key usage — Your secret key must never appear in front-end code. Double-check that your server-side verification request uses the correct secret key and is POSTing to the correct HTTPS verification endpoint provided by your CAPTCHA vendor.
Disable page caching on forms — Exclude form pages from your CDN or server cache to prevent expired tokens from being served. Many caching plugins offer a "never cache pages with these URLs" option.
Audit your WAF rules — Check your WAF logs for blocked outbound requests to your CAPTCHA provider's verification API. Add a rule exception for those specific calls.

How CapMonster Cloud Can Help

For developers, QA engineers, and automation specialists, there's a separate but related challenge: automated workflows regularly hit CAPTCHAs that block scripts from completing their tasks. This is where CapMonster Cloud becomes a practical solution.

CapMonster Cloud is an automatic, cloud-based CAPTCHA recognition service designed to integrate with automated pipelines. It supports a wide range of CAPTCHA types, including:

reCAPTCHA v2 and v3 (including Enterprise)
FunCaptcha (Arkose Labs)
GeeTest
Image and text CAPTCHAs
And many more — see the full list on the CapMonster Cloud website

Rather than manually solving CAPTCHAs during testing or scraping runs, you send the CAPTCHA task to CapMonster Cloud via API, receive a solved token, and inject it into your workflow — all programmatically. The service also offers a browser extension for passive, in-browser solving without any code changes, making it accessible even to non-developers.

If you're a developer troubleshooting why CAPTCHA responses keep failing in your test environment, CapMonster Cloud's detailed API error codes can also help pinpoint whether the problem is with the token itself, your site key configuration, or the submission pipeline.

Self-Diagnosis Checklist

For End Users

JavaScript is enabled in my browser
I tested the page in Incognito/Private mode (extensions disabled)
I cleared my browser cache and cookies
My VPN or proxy is disconnected
My browser is up to date
My antivirus/firewall is not blocking external scripts
My internet connection is stable

For Developers & Site Owners

Site key is registered for the correct domain(s) in the CAPTCHA provider's admin console
Secret key is stored server-side only and is correct
Form pages are excluded from caching
Server-side verification request uses HTTPS and the correct endpoint
WAF/CDN logs show no blocked requests to the CAPTCHA verification API
Browser console shows no JavaScript errors related to CAPTCHA scripts
CAPTCHA provider's status page shows no active incidents

When to Contact Support

Sometimes the issue isn't on your end at all. Here's how to know when to escalate:

Check the CAPTCHA provider's status page first — CAPTCHA services (e.g., reCAPTCHA and others) occasionally experience outages. Search for your provider's status page or monitor community forums for reports of widespread captcha not loading issues.
Contact your hosting provider if WAF rules, server firewall settings, or outbound request filtering are beyond your access level.
Contact the CAPTCHA provider if you've verified your keys and domains are correct but captcha validation failed errors persist at scale. Have your site key, error codes, and example request/response logs ready.
Contact CapMonster Cloud support if you're using our service and encountering specific API error codes or recognition failures.

Before any support contact, collect:

Browser console errors (F12 → Console tab)
Network tab entries showing failed requests
Exact error message or code
Browser version, OS, and whether the issue is reproducible in other browsers

FAQ

Why does CAPTCHA keep asking me to try again? This usually means your IP address has a low trust score — common with VPNs, shared networks, or if your device has recently been associated with automated activity. Disconnect your VPN, clear cookies, and try from a different network.

Does a VPN break CAPTCHA? It can. CAPTCHA risk engines factor in IP reputation. Many VPN exit nodes are flagged as high-risk because they're shared by a large number of users. Switching to a different VPN server location often resolves the issue.

Why is CAPTCHA not showing on my website? The most common developer-side causes are a domain mismatch in the provider's admin console, a JavaScript load failure, or a Content Security Policy (CSP) header blocking the CAPTCHA script. Check your browser console for errors first.

What does "invalid CAPTCHA" mean? A captcha invalid error typically means the token submitted to your server has expired (tokens are typically valid only for a limited time window), was already used, or was generated for a different site key. Ensure your form pages are not cached and that submission happens promptly after the CAPTCHA is solved.

Conclusion

Most CAPTCHA problems follow a short list of predictable patterns — a blocked script, a flagged IP, a misconfigured key. Working through the checklist above resolves the vast majority of captcha troubleshooting cases without needing to contact anyone.

For teams running automated workflows, testing pipelines, or data collection tasks where CAPTCHA errors are a recurring obstacle, CapMonster Cloud offers a reliable, API-driven solution that integrates directly into your stack — turning a blocker into a solved step.

👉 Ready to stop CAPTCHA from slowing down your automation? Try CapMonster Cloud today and get your first tasks solved in minutes.