How to Clear DNS Cache in Windows 7/8/10

DNS refers to Domain Name System. During the early days, when the internet was establishing itself Domain Name System (DNS) was implemented to make it user-friendly. The internet has many servers each of which is interlinked by an IP address. Now it was hard to us humans, to remember a string of digits (IP Addresses) so DNS were introduced and they replaced IP addresses with domain names.

The basic difference between IP address and domain names is IP addresses are static and absolute which you need to remember with precision. They are random, unique and lead to a single destination whereas domain names can be duplicated, changed and are easy to remember. Domain Name System (DNS) interconnect IP address with domain names and solves the issue of remembering different IP addresses.

Now the question arises what DNS Cache is? Before answering this let us first know what is a cache. In computing terms, a cache is a place to store things temporarily. A DNS Cache contains different types of entries which are used to convert IP addresses into domain names. When you search for an IP address using its domain name, the IP address is stored (cached) on your computer. This way you do not need to search for your IP address again and again. This new IP address is also shared and cached with DNS servers. There is a DNS Cache software on your computer and your local DNS server and they share the data with each other which results in huge amount of data being cached.

Why do we need to Clear DNS Cache?

Well, there can be many answers to this questions but the most common reasons to clear DNS Cache are:

1. The cache becomes corrupt or out of date or messed up which leads to the unloading of many websites on the internet.
2. If any website has moved servers and you can’t view the new content on the website, then clearing DNS Cache may be the solution.
3. When you receive “HTML 404 Errors” or “Page Not Found” error then the solution is to clear DNS Cache.

Now, you may be thinking what happens when you Clear DNS Cache? Clearing your DNS Cache forces your computer to forget all the DNS entries it has saved and look up for new and up-to-date domains.

How to Clear DNS Cache in Windows 7/8/10

• Clear DNS Cache in Windows 7

If you want to clear DNS Cache in Windows 7, then follow the below steps:

1. Click “Start” button.
2. In the search box, enter “cmd”.
3. Right-click on the command prompt program and select “Run as administrator”.
4. In the command prompt window, type the following command:

ipconfig /flushdns

This will give you a success message as:

Windows IP configuration successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

• Clear DNS Cache in Windows 8/8.1

To clear DNS Cache in Windows 8/8.1, perform the following steps:

1. Press Win+X together.
2. Select Command Prompt (Admin).
3. Run the following command:

ipconfig /flushdns

You will get a success message as:

Windows IP configuration successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

• Clear DNS Cache in Windows 10

To clear DNS Cache in Windows 10, perform the following steps:

1. Press Windows key+R.
2. This will open the “Run” dialog box.
3. Type the following command:

ipconfig /flushdns

and press “Enter”. You will get a success message as:

Windows IP configuration successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

This was our ultimate guide to clear DNS Cache in Windows 7/8/10. If you like this article, share it on twitter and facebook.