You may hear that to clear the DNS cache many times.
Clearing the DNS cache is a troubleshooting tip that helps you get the latest version of a website. Especially after DNS changes made to the domain name.
DNS information answers your browser where to locate a website. Your computer stores this data in its local cache to quickly point to browsers accurately.
In this tutorial, I will explain how to free your DNS cache on your Windows computer and Chrome browser.
This tutorial will let you quickly refresh DNS records cached on your device and help you troubleshoot website issues.
What is DNS Cache?
DNS cache is the same as an address book. Your computer caches the Domain Name System (DNS) information on every website you access.
DNS is a technology that reports to your computer about the associated IP address of a domain name.
Preserving the DNS data in a local DNS cache helps your browser quickly connect to a website.
At first, your browser will look for DNS information in the local cache once you enter a domain name in the browser’s address bar. If the browser gets the details, then the browser uses the DNS cache to visit the website.
Suppose your local computer had not cached the DNS information. In that case, the browser will obtain it from other DNS servers across the internet.
Having a DNS cache helps the browser take the fastest route to get the DNS information of the website you visit.
However, a local DNS cache may sometimes cause a problem. For example, when you are moving your website to a new host or a new domain name.
When a domain owner makes a DNS change, the DNS data may not get refreshed instantly on your computer. Due to this delay, you may end up visiting the old website or see a not found error.
Updated DNS records will eventually get refreshed, but you don’t need to wait, and you can clear the DNS cache manually.
Let’s take a look at how to clear DNS cache on your Windows computer and Google Chrome browser.
How to Clear DNS Cache in Windows?
Here is how you would clear the DNS cache on your Windows machine.
Open the Command Prompt (CMD) tool in your Windows.
Once the CMD is opened, you need to enter the following text.
ipconfig /flushdns
Press the Enter key to execute the command, and Windows will flush the saved DNS cache.
That’s all. You can now return to visiting your website to fetch the refreshed DNS values.
Clear DNS Cache in Chrome
Are you using Google Chrome as your primary browser? If yes, you will need to clean Chrome’s DNS cache as well.
Because Google Chrome also keeps a DNS cache of its own. This cache is separate from the cache saved by your Operating System.
Enter the following address in Chrome’s address bar. And press the Enter key.
chrome://net-internals/#dns
Chrome’s Net Internal settings page will load now.
Click on the Clear host cache button. Chrome removes its DNS cache now.
Please keep in mind that the DNS cache and the browser cache are different.
Your browser saves many website data in a temporary cache. This will helps to gain a faster page loading time on subsequent visits.
Sometimes, the changes you made to a web page may not view in the browser instantly. Clearing the browser cache will resolve this issue.
How to Check for DNS Updates?
Are you migrating your website to a different host or transferring your domain to a new domain registrar. Then you have to change your DNS settings and point them to the new location.
It takes some time for changes to propagate across the internet after applying the changes to your domain settings.
These changes could take anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours, sometimes more than a day.
During this period, your domain may point to the old and new locations interchangeably. These differences will depend on your geographic location and the DNS servers your browser asks for DNS details.
Online tools like whatsmydns.net will help you check the current DNS propagation status after the changes made to your domain’s records.
Enter your domain name, and whatsmydns.net will fetch DNS values from various geographic locations spread worldwide.
Do you see all locations lists the same IP address with a green checkmark? It means the DNS settings you updated are now propagated all over the internet.
I hope this article helped you learn how to clear your DNS cache on different devices quickly.
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