How To Flush Dns In Windows 10

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Occasionally, you may experience issues with accessing certain websites or servers, and this can often be attributed to a corrupt or outdated DNS cache. In such cases, flushing your DNS cache might help resolve the issue. In this blog post, we will walk you through the process of flushing the DNS cache in Windows 10.

What is DNS Cache?

The Domain Name System (DNS) is responsible for translating domain names (like www.example.com) into IP addresses that your computer can understand. To speed up this process, your computer stores a local copy of DNS entries in its cache. However, sometimes the cache can become outdated or corrupt, causing connection issues. Flushing the DNS cache will clear this local copy and force your computer to fetch the latest DNS entries from your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

How to Flush DNS Cache in Windows 10

Flushing the DNS cache in Windows 10 is quite simple and can be done using Command Prompt or PowerShell. Here’s how:

Method 1: Using Command Prompt

  1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.
  2. Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt with administrative privileges.
  3. Click Yes if prompted by the User Account Control.
  4. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter:

ipconfig /flushdns

You should see a message saying “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.”

Method 2: Using PowerShell

  1. Press Win + X and select Windows PowerShell (Admin) from the menu.
  2. Click Yes if prompted by the User Account Control.
  3. In the PowerShell window, type the following command and press Enter:

Clear-DnsClientCache

This will flush the DNS cache without displaying any confirmation message.

Conclusion

Flushing the DNS cache is a simple troubleshooting step that can help resolve many network-related issues. Now that you know how to flush the DNS cache in Windows 10, you can easily tackle any connectivity issues that may arise due to an outdated or corrupt cache. Remember to restart your browser or any applications that rely on DNS after performing this action to ensure that they use the updated DNS entries.