How to Clear DNS Cache in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera & Safari

Clearing the DNS cache in web browsers is an essential troubleshooting step to resolve various connectivity issues. The DNS (Domain Name System) cache stores information about previously visited websites, allowing quicker access to these sites by translating domain names into IP addresses. However, over time, this cache can become outdated or corrupted, leading to problems such as failed connections, or delays in accessing fresh content. In this tutorial, we would check out the ways to clear the DNS cache in Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Safari web browsers.

The first thing that comes to our mind to solve browser errors and webpage loading issues is to clear the browser data and cookies. In most cases, flushing the DNS cache on your Windows PC can resolve problems related to website loading. However, sometimes we simply need to clear the DNS cache in Chrome to get rid of such issues.

Below, we’ll see how we can clear the DNS cache in major web browsers like Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Safari.

How to Clear DNS Cache in Chrome

While you can easily clear browsing data and cache from Google Chrome’s Settings page, there’s no way to do the same when it comes to clearing the DNS cache. You need to use a command in the URL bar to access the option to clear the DNS host cache. Let’s see how to do it.

1. In the Chrome address bar, type chrome://net-internals/#dns and press Enter. This will take you to the DNS page on the Net Internals site.
2. Click on the Clear host cache button.
3. Close all tabs in Chrome and restart the browser. This will force all DNS lookups to be performed afresh, which may take a few seconds longer than usual but it will clear any cached DNS entries.

To use this browser more efficiently, you should check out these Google Chrome keyboard shortcuts.

How to Clear DNS Cache in Edge

You must have noticed that there is a great similarity between Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. It’s because Microsoft switched to the Chromium open-source web browser project for Edge back in 2020. Thus, both browsers share their settings, extensions, flags, etc. This means that the method to clear the DNS cache in Edge is the same as in Chrome.

Clearing your DNS cache can help resolve these issues and is a relatively easy process. Here’s how to clear the DNS cache in Edge:

1. Open the Edge browser and type edge://net-internals/#dns into the address bar.
2. On the Network Internals tool page, click on the Clear host cache button.
3. Doing so will clear the DNS cache in Edge.
4. Close the Network Internals tool page and restart Edge for the changes to take effect.

How to Clear DNS Cache in Opera

Just like Google Chrome and Edge, Opera is a Chromium-based web browser. You can clear the DNS cache in the Opera browser the same way. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Opera and type or paste opera://net-internals/#dns into the address bar and press the Enter key.
2. It’ll open the DNS options page.
3. Click on the Clear host cache button next to the Host resolver cache.
4. That’s it! Now, restart the browser.

How to Clear DNS Cache in Mozilla Firefox

The method to clear the DNS cache in Mozilla Firefox is different than the Chromium-based browsers mentioned above. However, it’s a relatively simple process that can help resolve various browsing issues and enhance internet connectivity. Here’s how to flush the DNS cache in Firefox:

1. Type about:networking#dns in the address bar of the Firefox browser. Press the Enter key.
2. Click on the Clear DNS Cache button.
3. The DNS cache will be flushed instantly.

There’s yet another way to flush the DNS cache in Firefox.

1. Type about:config into the Firefox address bar and press Enter.
2. Search for “network.dnsCacheExpiration“.
3. Click on the edit button and change the DNS expiration value from ‘60‘ to ‘0‘. Save the changes.
4. Close the about:config tab and restart Firefox for the changes to take effect.

Your DNS cache should now be cleared.

How to Clear DNS Cache in Safari

The option to clear the DNS cache in Safari remains hidden in Safari by default. It’s pretty much like Android’s hidden Developer options. You must enable Safari’s Develop menu to access the Empty Caches option. Let’s see how to do it.

1. Launch Safari on your Mac.
2. Go to the Safari menu bar located at the top of the screen and click on Safari > Preferences.
3. In the Safari settings or preferences window, click on the Advanced tab.
4. Now, click on the check box next to the Show Develop menu in menu bar option to enable the Develop menu.
5. Close the Advanced preferences window.
6. You’ll have a new item in the Safari menu bar called “Develop“.
7. Click on it and select the Empty Caches option from the drop-down menu.

You may also need to force quit Safari using the Command + Option + Esc Mac keyboard shortcut and then relaunch it for the changes to take effect.

Clearing the DNS cache in your web browser is a straightforward process. All you have to do is enter a few commands or open a few menus and you can quickly clear your browser’s DNS cache without any problems. While clearing the DNS cache won’t necessarily speed up browsing significantly, it can help resolve certain issues that may be caused by incorrect or outdated data stored in the system. Next time you run into an issue with your browser, consider trying to clear out its DNS caches before doing anything else.

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