An issue with your computer’s DNS cache might cause problems connecting to the internet. If you’ve tried the standard fixes, such as cleaning your browser cache and cookies, flushing Windows 10’s DNS may help.
What Does the DNS Cache Do?
A Domain Name System (DNS) server is responsible for converting well-known domain names into the IP addresses that computers use to communicate with one another. When a software attempts to connect to a domain name such as google.com or facebook.com, your computer requests an internet DNS server to obtain the matching numerical IP address. Windows 10 saves a copy of the information it receives from DNS servers locally on your PC to save time. This is referred to as the DNS cache.
The DNS cache on your PC might save you time, but if something goes wrong with it, it can create connection issues. The DNS cache can get damaged, resulting in the loss of information associating IP addresses to domain names owing to a bug. The cache can also become out of date, which means that the domain name or IP address of the site you’re attempting to access has changed since the cache was last updated. The DNS cache can potentially be poisoned if DNS servers provide inaccurate information to it. DNS cache poisoning can be unintentional, but it can also be deliberately utilized to steal login passwords or other sensitive data.
Because the DNS cache impacts all internet traffic on your PC, if you’re having problems with only one software or a single website, the issue isn’t likely to be with your DNS cache. If you are unable to access a certain website, you may use a tool like IsItDownRightNow to determine its status. Check your firewall settings if a single program is unable to connect to the internet.
Flushing Your DNS Cache
The DNS cache is not saved as a file on your computer; instead, it is kept in system memory. Every time your computer shuts down, system memory is emptied, which is one of the reasons why restarting your computer solves so many problems. It also implies that restarting your computer is the simplest approach to clearing your DNS cache.
You may use Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell to manually clear your DNS cache on Windows 10. Some instructions must be “Run as administrator,” however this isn’t the case.
If the DNS cache was successfully flushed, you should see the message “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.” You are now free to close the window.
You can now test the websites or applications that were giving you trouble. Is it functional? If you’re still having issues, you’ll need to attempt further internet connection troubleshooting methods.