How to fix Error response from daemon: Get https://registry-1.docker.io/v2/: proxyconnect tcp: dial tcp connection refused in Docker

First, examine the error message to understand which proxy Docker is trying to use:

Error response from daemon: Get https://registry-1.docker.io/v2/: proxyconnect tcp: dial tcp 127.0.0.1:8080: connect: connection refused

The IP address and port (e.g., 127.0.0.1:8080) tells you:
- 127.0.0.1 or localhost: A local proxy (like a corporate proxy client or development tool)
- 192.168.65.1: Docker Desktop's internal gateway (common on Windows/macOS)
- 10.x.x.x or 192.168.x.x: A network proxy on your local network
- Corporate IP ranges: Your organization's proxy server

Knowing the source helps determine which configuration to fix.

Proxy settings in environment variables override other configurations. Check and remove them if you don't need a proxy:

Check current proxy settings:

# Linux/macOS
echo "HTTP_PROXY: $HTTP_PROXY"
echo "HTTPS_PROXY: $HTTPS_PROXY"
echo "http_proxy: $http_proxy"
echo "https_proxy: $https_proxy"
echo "NO_PROXY: $NO_PROXY"

# Windows PowerShell
echo $env:HTTP_PROXY
echo $env:HTTPS_PROXY

Unset proxy variables temporarily:

# Linux/macOS
unset HTTP_PROXY HTTPS_PROXY http_proxy https_proxy NO_PROXY no_proxy

# Windows PowerShell
$env:HTTP_PROXY = ""
$env:HTTPS_PROXY = ""

Test if Docker works now:

docker pull hello-world

If this works, remove the proxy settings from your shell configuration files (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, ~/.profile) or Windows environment variables.

Docker Desktop can have its own proxy configuration that persists across sessions:

Docker Desktop on Windows/macOS:
1. Open Docker Desktop
2. Click the gear icon (Settings)
3. Go to Resources > Proxies
4. Check if Manual proxy configuration is enabled
5. Either:
- Disable it if you don't need a proxy
- Update the proxy address if your proxy has changed
- Switch to "Use system proxy" if your OS handles proxies correctly
6. Click Apply & Restart

Alternative: Edit Docker Desktop settings file directly

On Windows:

# Settings file location
notepad "$env:APPDATA\Docker\settings.json"

On macOS:

# Settings file location
open ~/Library/Group\ Containers/group.com.docker/settings.json

Look for and remove or correct proxy settings in the JSON file.

On Linux, Docker daemon proxy settings are often configured via systemd. Remove or update them:

Check for systemd proxy configuration:

# List Docker service drop-in files
ls -la /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/

# View proxy configuration if it exists
cat /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/http-proxy.conf 2>/dev/null
cat /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/https-proxy.conf 2>/dev/null

Remove proxy configuration:

# Remove proxy drop-in files
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/http-proxy.conf
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/https-proxy.conf

# Or move them for backup
sudo mv /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/http-proxy.conf ~/http-proxy.conf.bak

Reload and restart Docker:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart docker

Verify proxy settings are removed:

sudo systemctl show --property=Environment docker
# Should not show HTTP_PROXY or HTTPS_PROXY

Docker Engine 23.0+ supports proxy configuration in daemon.json:

Check daemon.json:

# Linux
cat /etc/docker/daemon.json

# Windows
type "%PROGRAMDATA%\docker\config\daemon.json"

# macOS (Docker Desktop stores this internally)
cat ~/Library/Group\ Containers/group.com.docker/settings.json

Remove proxy settings from daemon.json:

If you see a "proxies" section, remove it or update it:

{
  "proxies": {
    "http-proxy": "",
    "https-proxy": "",
    "no-proxy": ""
  }
}

Or remove the entire "proxies" block.

Restart Docker:

# Linux
sudo systemctl restart docker

# Windows/macOS
# Restart Docker Desktop

If you're behind a corporate proxy and need to configure Docker properly:

Method 1: Docker Desktop (Windows/macOS)
1. Open Docker Desktop Settings
2. Go to Resources > Proxies
3. Enable "Manual proxy configuration"
4. Enter your proxy details:
- HTTP Proxy: http://proxy.company.com:8080
- HTTPS Proxy: http://proxy.company.com:8080
- No Proxy: localhost,127.0.0.1,.company.com
5. Apply & Restart

Method 2: systemd drop-in (Linux)

sudo mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/http-proxy.conf << EOF
[Service]
Environment="HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.company.com:8080"
Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.company.com:8080"
Environment="NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,.company.com,docker-registry.local"
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart docker

Method 3: daemon.json (Docker 23.0+)

{
  "proxies": {
    "http-proxy": "http://proxy.company.com:8080",
    "https-proxy": "http://proxy.company.com:8080",
    "no-proxy": "localhost,127.0.0.1,.company.com"
  }
}

If your corporate proxy requires authentication:

Include credentials in the proxy URL:

# Format: http://username:password@proxy:port
HTTP_PROXY=http://myuser:[email protected]:8080

For systemd:

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/http-proxy.conf << EOF
[Service]
Environment="HTTP_PROXY=http://myuser:[email protected]:8080"
Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=http://myuser:[email protected]:8080"
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart docker

Special characters in passwords:
If your password contains special characters, URL-encode them:
- @ becomes %40
- : becomes %3A
- # becomes %23
- ! becomes %21

Example: Password p@ss:word! becomes p%40ss%3Aword%21

Security note: Storing credentials in environment variables or config files has security implications. Consider using a credential helper or secrets management for production environments.

Before configuring Docker, verify you can reach the proxy and Docker Hub through it:

Test if the proxy is reachable:

# Check if proxy port is open
nc -zv proxy.company.com 8080
# or
telnet proxy.company.com 8080

Test proxy with curl:

# Without proxy (direct connection)
curl -v https://registry-1.docker.io/v2/

# With proxy
curl -v --proxy http://proxy.company.com:8080 https://registry-1.docker.io/v2/

# With authenticated proxy
curl -v --proxy http://user:[email protected]:8080 https://registry-1.docker.io/v2/

Expected responses:
- Without proxy on corporate network: Connection timeout or refused
- With correct proxy: HTTP 401 Unauthorized (this is good - means Docker Hub is reachable)
- With wrong proxy address: Connection refused (the error you're fixing)

Check DNS resolution:

nslookup registry-1.docker.io
# Should return valid IP addresses

If proxy settings are deeply embedded and hard to find, resetting Docker Desktop can clear them:

Warning: This will remove all containers, images, volumes, and configurations. Back up important data first.

Docker Desktop on Windows:
1. Open Docker Desktop
2. Click the bug icon (Troubleshoot)
3. Click Reset to factory defaults
4. Confirm the reset
5. Reconfigure Docker as needed

Docker Desktop on macOS:
1. Open Docker Desktop
2. Click the bug icon (Troubleshoot)
3. Click Reset to factory defaults
4. Or from menu: Troubleshoot > Reset to factory defaults

Alternative: Clean uninstall and reinstall

# macOS - remove all Docker Desktop data
rm -rf ~/Library/Group\ Containers/group.com.docker
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker
rm -rf ~/.docker

# Then reinstall Docker Desktop

After reset, Docker should start with no proxy configuration, using direct connections.