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DNS • 4 min read

How to Flush DNS Cache

Website not loading or showing old content? Clearing your DNS cache might fix it. Here's how to do it on every platform.

Quick Commands

Windows: ipconfig /flushdns

Mac: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Linux: sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches

Chrome: chrome://net-internals/#dns → Clear host cache

In this article

What is DNS Cache?

DNS cache is a temporary storage on your computer that saves DNS lookup results. When you visit a website, your computer remembers the IP address so it doesn't have to look it up again next time.

This makes browsing faster, but sometimes the cache holds outdated information. If a website changed its IP address but your computer still has the old one cached, you might not be able to access the site.

Flushing (clearing) the DNS cache forces your computer to get fresh DNS information the next time you visit any website.

When to Flush DNS Cache

You should flush your DNS cache when:

  • A website isn't loading but works for others
  • You're seeing an old version of a website
  • You just changed your DNS server settings
  • You updated DNS records for your own website
  • You're getting DNS-related errors

From my hosting support days, I'd estimate 30% of "my website isn't working" tickets were solved by simply flushing the customer's DNS cache.

Flush DNS on Windows

Works on Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7.

1

Open Command Prompt as Administrator

Press Win + S, type cmd, right-click "Command Prompt" and select "Run as administrator"

2

Run the flush command

Type the following and press Enter:

ipconfig /flushdns
3

Confirm success

You should see: "Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache."

Optional: You can also release and renew your IP address with these commands:

ipconfig /release ipconfig /renew

Flush DNS on Mac

The command varies slightly by macOS version, but this works for most modern Macs (Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma):

1

Open Terminal

Press Cmd + Space, type "Terminal", press Enter

2

Run the flush command

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
3

Enter your password

Type your Mac login password when prompted (you won't see characters as you type).

Commands for older macOS versions:

Yosemite (10.10): sudo discoveryutil mdnsflushcache

Lion to Mavericks: sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Snow Leopard: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

Flush DNS on Linux

Linux commands vary by distribution and DNS service. Here are the most common:

Ubuntu / Debian (systemd-resolved)

sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches

Or on newer systems: sudo resolvectl flush-caches

Using dnsmasq

sudo systemctl restart dnsmasq

Using nscd

sudo systemctl restart nscd

Or: sudo /etc/init.d/nscd restart

Note: Many Linux distros don't cache DNS by default. If you get "service not found" errors, your system might not need flushing.

Flush DNS in Browsers

Browsers maintain their own DNS cache separate from your operating system. You may need to clear both.

Google Chrome

1. Type in the address bar:

chrome://net-internals/#dns

2. Click "Clear host cache"

3. Also clear sockets at: chrome://net-internals/#sockets → "Flush socket pools"

Mozilla Firefox

1. Type in the address bar:

about:networking#dns

2. Click "Clear DNS Cache"

Microsoft Edge

1. Type in the address bar:

edge://net-internals/#dns

2. Click "Clear host cache"

Safari

Safari uses the system DNS cache. Flushing macOS DNS (see above) will also clear Safari's DNS.

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