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How to Flush Your DNS Cache (Windows, Mac, and Chrome)

If a site keeps loading old or broken content, flushing your device's DNS cache is often the fastest fix -- here is how to do it on every major platform.

What a DNS cache actually is

A DNS cache is a temporary local record of domain names and the IP addresses they resolved to. Instead of asking a DNS server every single time you visit a site, your device reuses the stored answer, which makes repeat visits noticeably faster.

When you actually need to flush it

If a site recently moved to a new server, if you changed your DNS settings but keep seeing the old results, or if a site suddenly refuses to load on just one device, a stale cached entry is often the culprit.

Windows: ipconfig /flushdns

Open Command Prompt as an administrator and type ipconfig /flushdns. Windows confirms with a message that the DNS resolver cache has been successfully flushed, and the change takes effect immediately.

Mac: dscacheutil and mDNSResponder

Open Terminal and run sudo dscacheutil -flushcache, then sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder. The exact command can vary slightly between macOS versions, so search for your specific version if this does not work.

Chrome keeps its own separate DNS cache

Chrome maintains its own internal DNS cache independent of the operating system. Type chrome://net-internals/#dns into the address bar and click "Clear host cache" to reset just the browser-level cache.

Still not working after flushing?

Clearing your own cache does not force other DNS servers to update immediately -- your ISP's resolver and DNS servers worldwide can take up to 24-48 hours to catch up. If you need to check right away, try switching to a public DNS service like 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1 as a test.

Flushing fixes your device, not the whole internet

Your local flush only clears the copy stored on your own computer or phone. Every DNS resolver between you and the destination -- your internet provider's resolver, and countless caching servers worldwide -- keeps its own copy until that entry's time-to-live (TTL) expires on its own schedule, which is why a change can look "fixed" on one device and "still broken" on another for a while.

Mobile devices don't have a dedicated flush button

Most phones do not expose a menu specifically for clearing the DNS cache the way a desktop command line does. Turning airplane mode off and on, or simply restarting the device, forces it to re-establish its network connection from scratch, which has much the same practical effect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does flushing DNS slow down my internet afterward?

No noticeable slowdown. Only the very next visit to each site takes a few extra tens or hundreds of milliseconds while it looks up the address again -- after that it is cached and just as fast as before.

Can I flush the DNS cache on my phone?

There usually is not a dedicated menu option for it on smartphones. Toggling airplane mode off and on, or restarting the device, re-establishes the network connection and produces essentially the same result.