[How to] Flush DNS in Windows, Mac & Linux

Before I tell how to Flush DNS, you need to understand the need to Flush DNS. Many a times you must have encountered “time out” errors while browsing some websites. If you try accessing these websites through a proxy or VPN, they would work. When a computer browser visits a website for the first time, it stores the website’s DNS information in cache. The next time the computer visits the same website, it looks in the cache to see if the website’s information is present to use. In case the website’s DNS information has changed or if the cache is corrupted, then it can cause problems.

Flushing the cache removes all the information stored in cache, thereby forcing the computer to find the new DNS information for the website.

Flush DNS in Windows

In order to flush DNS in Windows (Win XP, Win ME, Win 2000, Win Vista and Win 7), follow these simple steps

• Start -> Run -> type cmd
• in command prompt, type ipconfig /flushdns

• Voila! Your Window DNS cache has just been flushed. It will delete any incorrect entries too. You can also use the command ipconfig /displaydns to view the DNS resolver cache.

Also Read: DNS Resolvers [Guide]

Flush DNS in Mac

In Mac OS X Leopard, you can use the command dscacheutil -flushcache to flush the DNS resolver cache

• type lookupd -flushcache in your terminal to flush the DNS resolver cache.

• Done! DNS resolver cache is now flushed!

In Mac OS X, you can use the command dscacheutil -flushcache to flush DNS resolver cache.

• type dscacheutil -flushcache in your terminal to flush the DNS resolver cache.

• Done! DNS resolver cache is now flushed!

Flush DNS in Linux

In Linux, the nscd daemon (Name Service Cache Daemon) manages the DNS cache

• Open up a command terminal (either as root or run step 2 with sudo)
• Run the command /etc/init.d/nscd restart

I hope you have found this tutorial useful. If you have any suggestion, do let me know with your comments below.