Clearing DNS сache on Windows, Linux, and macOS

DNS cache is a local store on your computer that remembers DNS query results (e.g., which IP belongs to google.com). It speeds up repeated visits to websites, but it can cause issues: after a domain's IP changes or DNS records are updated, you might still see the old site, get connection errors, or fail to load the page.

Flushing the DNS cache forces your computer to request fresh data from DNS servers. Here are simple instructions for the most common operating systems.

Windows

1. Press Win + R (or go to Start → Run).
2. Type cmd and press Enter to open Command Prompt.
3. Run the following command:

ipconfig /flushdns

Press Enter.

You should see a message like:
"Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache."
If you get "The requested operation requires elevation" — right-click Command Prompt → Run as administrator, then try again.

Linux

Most Linux distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, etc.) do not use a local DNS cache unless you have a caching service like systemd-resolved, nscd, or dnsmasq installed. Check if any caching service is running:

systemctl status systemd-resolved

or

systemctl status nscd

If active, flush the cache: For systemd-resolved (Ubuntu 18.04+ and many modern distros):

sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches

For nscd:

sudo systemctl restart nscd

or

sudo /etc/init.d/nscd restart

For named/BIND:

sudo systemctl restart named

or

sudo rndc flush

macOS

1. Open Terminal (Finder → Applications → Utilities → Terminal)
2. Run the following command:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Enter your admin password if prompted.

For older macOS versions (pre-10.11):

sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

or

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

Useful Tips

• After flushing the cache, restart your browser or clear its cache for full effect.
• If the problem persists, check your network DNS settings or switch to public DNS servers like 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 8.8.8.8 (Google).