How to clear the DNS cache on Mac or Windows

Table of Contents

In this article, you will learn how to clear the DNS cache on Mac or Windows operating systems. It is important to clear your DNS cache as it may contain outdated information such as the website displaying differently.

Microsoft Windows

To clear the DNS cache on Microsoft Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Press the Windows icon located in the bottom left
  2. Type CMD then click on the application command prompt
    The CMD window will open
  3. Type the following into the window
    ipconfig /flushdns
  4. Press enter
    The DNS cache has now been cleared

Apple Mac OS X

To clear the DNS cache on Apple Mac OS X, follow these steps:

  1. Open a Finder window and navigate to the following
    Applications > Utilities then click Terminal. A terminal window will now open.
  2. Type the following into the terminal window:
    macOS Catalina & Higher sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
    macOS Mojave
    macOS High Sierra
    macOS Sierra
    OS X Mountain Lion
    Mac OS X Lion    		 sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
    Mac OS X El Capitan
    OS X Mavericks    		 sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
    OS X Yosemite sudo discoveryutil mdnsflushcache; sudo discoveryutil udnsflushcaches
    Mac OS X Snow Leopard
    Mac OS X Leopard    		 sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
    Mac OS X Tiger lookupd -flushcache
  3. Press Enter
  4. Enter your password then press enter again.
    When you type your password it will be invisible.
  5. The DNS cache is now clear.

 

Google Chrome Browser

If you are using the google chrome browser you will also need to clear it as it uses an internal DNS cache. To clear it, follow these steps:

  1. Open Google Chrome.
  2. In the address bar, type the following:
    chrome://net-internals/#dns
  3. Press Clear host cache.
  4. In the left menu press Sockets.
  5. Press Close idle sockets.
  6. Press Flush socket pools.
    You have now reset the DNS in chrome

 

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