How to Flush DNS Cache on Your Mac in 3 Easy Steps

DNS cache is a temporary storage of information that helps your Mac connect to websites faster. It stores the IP addresses of the websites that you have visited recently, so that your Mac does not have to look them up every time you want to access them.

However, sometimes DNS cache can cause problems, such as:

• Preventing you from accessing a website that has changed its IP address
• Showing you outdated or incorrect information from a website
• Slowing down your internet connection or browsing speed

If you are experiencing any of these issues, you might want to flush DNS cache on your Mac. Flushing DNS cache means clearing out the old information and forcing your Mac to update it with the new one. This can help you resolve any connectivity or performance issues that you might have.

In this article, we will show you how to flush DNS cache on your Mac in 3 easy steps. You will need to:

Find Out Your Mac OS Version

The first thing you need to do is to find out what version of Mac OS you are running on your device. This is because different versions of Mac OS have different commands to flush DNS cache.

To check your Mac OS version, follow these steps:

• Click on the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen
• Select “About This Mac” from the drop-down menu
• A window will pop up showing you the name and version of your Mac OS

Here is a table of different Mac OS versions and their corresponding commands to flush DNS cache:

Make a note of the command that matches your Mac OS version, as you will need it in the next step.

Open the Terminal Application

The next thing you need to do is to open the Terminal application on your Mac. Terminal is a program that allows you to interact with your Mac using text commands. You can use it to perform various tasks, such as flushing DNS cache.

To open the Terminal application, follow these steps:

• Click on the Finder icon in the Dock (the row of icons at the bottom of your screen)
• Select “Applications” from the sidebar
• Double-click on the “Utilities” folder
• Double-click on the “Terminal” icon

Alternatively, you can use Spotlight to open the Terminal application. Spotlight is a feature that allows you to search for anything on your Mac. To use Spotlight, follow these steps:

• Press the Command and Space keys on your keyboard
• A small window will appear in the top right corner of your screen
• Type “Terminal” in the search box and press the Enter key
• Click on the Terminal.app that appears in the results

Here is a screenshot of the Terminal window and its features:

As you can see, the Terminal window has a prompt that shows your username, your computer name, and a symbol (~) that indicates your current directory. You can type commands after the prompt and press the Enter key to execute them.

Enter the Command to Flush DNS Cache

The final thing you need to do is to enter the command to flush DNS cache in the Terminal window. The command will depend on your Mac OS version, as we have seen in the previous step.

To enter the command to flush DNS cache, follow these steps:

• Type or copy and paste the command that matches your Mac OS version from the table in step 1
• Press the Enter key to execute the command
• You might be asked to enter your administrator password, if you have one. Type it and press the Enter key again
• Wait for a few seconds until you see a new prompt

Here is an example of a command for Mac OS Ventura (13.x):

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Here is a screenshot of the Terminal window after entering the command and its output:

As you can see, there is no confirmation message or feedback after entering the command. This is normal and it means that the command has been executed successfully.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully flushed DNS cache on your Mac in 3 easy steps. You have learned what is DNS cache, why you might need to flush it, and how to do it using the Terminal application and a simple command.

Flushing DNS cache can help you solve various problems related to accessing websites or browsing the internet. It can also improve your internet speed and performance by clearing out old and outdated information.

However, there are some things you should keep in mind when flushing DNS cache on your Mac, such as:

• Flushing DNS cache will not delete your browsing history or cookies. If you want to do that, you will need to use your web browser settings
• Flushing DNS cache will not affect your network settings or preferences. If you want to change them, you will need to use the System Preferences application
• Flushing DNS cache will not harm your Mac or your data. However, you should be careful when using the Terminal application and entering commands, as they can have powerful effects on your system

We hope you found this article helpful and informative. If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below. We would love to hear from you!

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions related to flushing DNS cache on Mac: