How to Flush DNS

Flushing DNS clears saved domain-name lookups so your device or browser can ask for a fresh address. It is useful when one or a few websites fail after a domain change, show a DNS error, or open on one device but not another.

What a DNS flush does—and does not do

DNS translates a name such as networkcheck.net into an IP address. To speed up repeat visits, the answer can be cached by your operating system, browser, router, or DNS provider. A stale or incorrect cached answer can send you to an old address or return an error even after the authoritative DNS record has changed.

Flush DNS on Windows 10 or Windows 11

Command Prompt method

1. Open the Start menu and type Command Prompt.
2. Open Command Prompt. If Windows denies the command, right-click it and choose Run as administrator.
3. Enter:

ipconfig /flushdns

A successful result normally says that the DNS Resolver Cache was flushed. Close and reopen the browser before retesting.

PowerShell method

Clear-DnsClientCache

Microsoft documents this PowerShell command as equivalent to ipconfig /flushdns.

Inspect the Windows cache

ipconfig /displaydns

This displays current resolver-cache entries. The list can be long, and some applications may repopulate entries immediately after a flush.

Refresh DNS on macOS

Apple does not provide one universal consumer-facing flush command for every macOS release. The safest version-independent sequence is:

1. Quit the browser completely.
2. Turn Wi-Fi off, wait 10 seconds, and turn it back on.
3. Reopen the browser and test.
4. If the problem remains, restart the Mac.

On many current macOS releases, administrators also use the following Terminal command:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Enter the Mac administrator password when prompted. Terminal may show no success message. Because Apple can change internal services between releases, restarting remains the most reliable non-version-specific fallback.

Clear Chrome or Edge host cache

Chromium-based browsers can maintain their own host information in addition to the operating-system cache.

1. Open a new browser tab.
2. Enter chrome://net-internals/#dns in Chrome or edge://net-internals/#dns in Edge.
3. Select Clear host cache.
4. Then open chrome://net-internals/#sockets or edge://net-internals/#sockets and choose Flush socket pools.
5. Close every browser window and reopen the browser.

These internal pages can change between browser versions. If the options are unavailable, fully quit and reopen the browser or restart the device.

Refresh DNS on iPhone, iPad, and Android

iPhone or iPad

1. Turn Airplane Mode on for about 10 seconds, then turn it off.
2. If that fails, disconnect and reconnect Wi-Fi.
3. Restart the device.
4. As a last resort, use Reset Network Settings—but understand that this removes saved Wi-Fi networks and related network settings.

Android

1. Turn Airplane Mode on briefly, then off.
2. Forget and reconnect to the Wi-Fi network if only that network is affected.
3. Restart the phone.
4. If Chrome alone is affected, clear the browser host cache if the internal page is available, or clear Chrome’s cached data carefully.

What about the router?

Some routers cache DNS or forward all home-device queries. If several devices on one Wi-Fi network have the same DNS problem but cellular data works, restart the router. Turn it off, wait about 30 seconds, then power it back on and allow several minutes for a full reconnection.

How to verify whether the flush worked

1. Open the problem site in a private/incognito window.
2. Try another browser on the same device.
3. Try the site on another device connected to the same network.
4. Try cellular data or another Wi-Fi network.
5. Use the NetworkCheck site checker to see whether the domain resolves.

If the site works on cellular data but not home Wi-Fi after device-level flushing, the remaining cache or problem may be in the router, provider DNS, secure-DNS setting, or local filtering service.

When flushing DNS does not solve it