How to flush your DNS cache on Windows, Mac and Linux

Your device remembers the addresses of websites it has visited, so it does not have to look them up every time. That is the DNS cache. If a site has moved to a new server, an old entry can stop it loading. Flushing the cache makes your device look the address up again.

Windows 10 and 11

1. Click Start, type cmd, and open Command Prompt.
2. Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.
3. You should see “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache”.

macOS

1. Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities).
2. Run: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
3. Enter your Mac password when asked. Nothing is printed when it works.

Linux

It depends on how your system handles DNS. On most modern distributions using systemd-resolved, run sudo resolvectl flush-caches. Older systems may use sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches. If you use dnsmasq or nscd, restart that service instead.

Chrome’s own cache

Chrome keeps its own list. Go to chrome://net-internals/#dns and press Clear host cache. Some newer versions of Chrome move or hide this page, in which case restarting the browser clears it.

Your phone

The simplest way is to turn on Airplane mode for ten seconds and turn it off again. That resets the connection and clears most stored lookups.

Still not working?

• Restart your router. It keeps a DNS cache too.
• Switch to a public DNS server such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8.
• If the site moved very recently, the change may not have reached every network yet. See what DNS propagation is.

Not sure the problem is yours? Check the site from twelve places first.

Related guides

• Website not loading? A step-by-step checklist
• What is DNS propagation, and why does a change take time?
• How to fix ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT

Last updated 2 November 2026. Written by the siteupdown.com team. Spotted a mistake?

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