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How to Clear Windows DNS Cache

Windows provides several ways to clear the DNS cache. Here are the simplest ways to flush the DNS cache in Windows.

When you type a web address in the browser, it quires the DNS to get the website’s proper IP address. Without DNS, your system cannot connect to a website or internet service with a domain name.

To make the quires as fast as possible and streamline the internet experience, Windows caches all the DNS queries. Windows uses the cached entry to get the IP address when you open a previously accessed website. That way, Windows doesn’t have to query the DNS again. Put simply, the DNS caching reduces the overall latency and improves the speed a fair bit.

Though the cached DNS is helpful in day-to-day usage, it might get corrupted under certain circumstances. For example, my system recently turned off suddenly due to power issues. This corrupted the DNS cache, and I couldn’t connect to most websites and web services.

To deal with that and fix corrupted DNS, you need to clear the DNS cache in Windows manually. Thankfully, it is pretty easy to do. Use one of the methods shown below to flush the DNS cache in Windows quickly.

Table of contents:

Note: The steps shown below will work in Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11.

Clear Windows DNS cache command

You can reset or delete the DNS cache directly from Command Prompt. All you must do is execute the flush DNS command. It is pretty simple. Here’s how.

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Type “Command Prompt” and click on it.
  3. After opening the Command Prompt window, execute the “ipconfig /flushdns” command.
  4. Close the Command Prompt window.
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After executing the command, Windows will delete the DNS cache and shows the “Windows IP Configuration. Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache” message.

As you can see, it is pretty easy to clear the DNS cache.

PowerShell command to clear DNS cache in Windows

Windows DNS cache can be clear from the PowerShell command-line tool. You need to execute the clear DNS PowerShell command. Here’s how.

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Search for “Windows PowerShell” and click on it.
  3. In the PowerShell window, execute the “ipconfig /flushdns” command.
  4. Close the PowerShell window.
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That is all. After the command is successfully executed, the DNS cache is deleted from the Windows OS. As a confirmation, you will see the “Windows IP Configuration. Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.” message.

Run command to flush DNS cache

The run command allows you to delete the DNS cache without opening a command-line tool like the Command Prompt or PowerShell. Here’s how.

  1. Open the Run window with the “Win + R” keyboard shortcut.
  2. Type “ipconfig /flushdns” in the blank field.
  3. Click “Ok.”
  4. The DNS cache is cleared instantly.
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Unlike the Command Prompt or PowerShell method, the Run window will not show a confirmation message. That being said, you can rest assured that the command successfully cleared the Windows DNS cache.

Use DNSJumper to clear the DNS cache

If you don’t want to use commands, you can use a simple and free application called DNSJumper to delete and reset the DNS cache. The good thing is, with this tool, all you have to do is point and click. Here’s how.

  1. Open the DNSJumper application.
  2. Click the “Flush DNS” button on the main screen.
  3. The DNS cache is deleted immediately.
  4. Close the application.

Download link: https://www.sordum.org/7952/dns-jumper-v2-2/

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As soon as you click the button, DNSJumper will clear Windows DNS entries.

The best thing about the application is that it allows you to change the DNS service to anything you want. If you find that the ISP-provided DNS service is inadequate, use one of the services listed in DSNJumper for faster DNS resolution and better security. I recommend using Cloudflare DNS or Google Public DNS.

That’s all. When you want to flush the Windows DNS cache, use any above methods. The task will be done in no time.

I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.

If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.

Also, if you want to, you can change DNS in Windows for better and faster internet. Here are some of the best DNS changer programs for Windows.

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