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Jun 18, 2020

7 min read

How to Flush DNS Cache on Windows, Linux, and macOS

Written by

Vippy The VPS

If you're having issues connecting to certain websites, it's probably time to clear your DNS cache. In this post, we'll cover exactly how to flush your DNS cache and why it actually matters...

What is the Domain Name System (DNS)?

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a naming system for devices or services connected to the internet which converts domain names into IP addresses.

The DNS cache present in your device contains all the domain names converted into IP addresses, which makes accessing them faster because it is no longer necessary to process the conversion every single time a request to websites you've already visited is made. However, sometimes it can be useful to flush this cache – keep reading to find out how...

The Benefits of Periodically Flushing Your DNS Cache

The answer to some common problems you might face when building and setting up new sites and changing domain names can be flushing the DNS cache on your device locally.

Here's why regularly clearing your DNS cache is important:

  • For Security

Your DNS cache files are the main target of DNS Spoofing, which is a type of attack that alters DNS records in order to redirect online traffic to a fraudulent website that resembles its intended destination. This is dangerous because you may unknowingly be passing on your personal information (such as login credentials or even payment information) to this fake website.

Flushing your DNS cache empties it of most files (except those related to automatic updates), which significantly reduces the chances of this happening...

  • To Resolve Bad Connections

If your website doesn’t load on a particular device but loads on other devices, it’s most likely due to DNS caching issue.

By flushing your DNS cache, the wrong IP address entry will be removed and the

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