Localhost not working in Chrome, 127.0.0.1 does work

google-chrome localhost

Here are the steps I took to make this work correctly:

Edited my hosts file so 127.0.0.1 localhost. was present, and saved the file
Cleared my Chrome cache, specifically cookies and cached files
Cleared host cache in chrome://net-internals/#dns
Restarted chrome

Alternatively, this also works:

Navigate to chrome://net-internals/#hsts
Under "Delete domain", type localhost and delete

Unbeknownst to me, my project had an HSTS middleware that set an HSTS cookie

google-chrome localhost

For me (I had HTTP and HTTPs dev server on same port)

Chrome Dev tools F12
Application tab
Clear storage sub-tab
"Clear site data" button

google-chrome localhost

I solved my problem by:

opening the developer console F12
Going to network tab
Check Disable Cache
Browse locahost