Documentation

Overview

Your DNS cache stores the locations (IP addresses) of web servers that contain web pages which you have recently viewed. If the location of the web server changes before the entry in your DNS cache updates, you can no longer access the site.

If you encounter a large number of HTML 404 error codes, you may need to clear your DNS cache. After you clear your DNS cache, your computer will query nameservers for the new DNS information.

How to clear your DNS cache in Windows

The following methods allow you to remove old and inaccurate DNS information that may result in 404 errors.

Windows® 8 & 10

To clear your DNS cache if you use Windows 8 or 10, perform the following steps:

1. On your keyboard, press Win+X to open the WinX Menu.
2. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
3. Run the following command:

   ipconfig /flushdns

4. If the command succeeds, the system returns the following message:

   Windows IP configuration successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

Windows 7

To clear your DNS cache if you use Windows 7, perform the following steps:

1. Click Start.
2. Enter cmd in the Start menu search text box.
3. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
4. Run the following command:

   ipconfig /flushdns

5. If the command succeeds, the system returns the following message:

   Windows IP configuration successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

Windows XP or 2000

To clear your DNS cache if you use Windows XP or 2000, perform the following steps:

1. Click Start.
2. On the Start menu, click Run
3. If you do not see the Run command in Vista, enter

   run

   in the Search bar.
4. Run the following command in the Run text box:

   ipconfig /flushdns

5. If the command succeeds, the system returns the following message:

   Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

Windows Vista®

To clear your DNS cache if you use Windows Vista, perform the following steps:

1. Click Start.
2. On the Start menu, select All Programs
3. Click Accessories
4. Right click on Command Prompt
5. Select the option Run As Administrator.
6. Run the following command in the window that opens:

   ipconfig /flushdns

7. If the command succeeds, the system returns the following message:

   Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

8. Then just type 'Exit' and press 'Enter'

If you wish to instead verify what domains and IPs your computer currently has cached, you may use the command

ipconfig /displaydns

in the steps described above.

When exiting the Windows command prompt, you may see a pop-up box claiming that Windows "...cannot end the program as it may still be running..." – it's completely safe (and required) to click the End Now button to exit.

How to clear your DNS cache in MacOS

MacOS® 10.10

To clear your DNS cache if you use MacOS X version 10.10, perform the following steps:

1. Click Applications
2. Click Utilities
3. Click Terminal
4. Run the following command:

   sudo discoveryutil mdnsflushcache

5. If the command succeeds, the system does not return any output.
   • Warning: To run this command, you must know the computer's Admin account password.

MacOS 10.7, 10.8, and 10.9

To clear your DNS cache if you use MacOS X version 10.7, 10.8, or 10.9, perform the following steps:

1. Click Applications
2. Click Utilities
3. Double-click Terminal
4. Run the following command:

   sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

5. If the command succeeds, the system does not return any output.
   • Warning: To run this command, you must know the computer's administrator account password.

MacOS 10.5 and 10.6

To clear your DNS cache if you use MacOS X version 10.5 or 10.6, perform the following steps:

1. Click Applications
2. Click Utilities
3. Double-click Terminal
4. Run the following command:

   sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

5. If the command succeeds, the system does not return any output.
   • Warning: To run this command, you must know the computer's administrator account password.

Flushing your DNS cache in Linux

Most current Linux distributions do not use a DNS resolver cache in the same way that Windows and Mac OS X use. To confirm which particular daemon is installed for your Linux distribution, check the website or its forum pages.

However, a common DNS caching application sometimes used is the Name Service Caching Daemon (nscd). It’s most likely not installed by default so there is no need to flush the cache. But, if you’ve already installed it you can flush the cache by running the following command in a terminal:

[local]$ sudo service nscd restart 

Alternatively, you can try these commands:

[local]$ /etc/rc.d/init.d/nscd stop
[local]$ /etc/rc.d/init.d/nscd start

If you still have questions about your DNS cache, feel free to contact us by opening a support ticket or by using our live chat feature.