When a website won't load — or shows an old, broken version — a stale DNS cache is one of the most common culprits. Your device remembers the IP address of every site you visit, and when that record changes on the server side, your cached copy can keep pointing you at a dead address. Flushing the DNS cache forces your device to fetch fresh records. Here's how on every platform.

What is a DNS cache?

The Domain Name System (DNS) translates human names like youtube.com into IP addresses. To speed things up, Windows, macOS, Android and iOS all store recent lookups locally. That cache is great — until a website changes servers or its records expire, and your device keeps using the old, broken address.

How to flush DNS on Windows 10 & 11

  1. Press Win + R, type cmd and press Enter.
  2. Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.
  3. You should see “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.”

Optional: run ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew to fully refresh your network configuration.

How to flush DNS on macOS

  1. Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities).
  2. Run: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
  3. Enter your password. There is no confirmation message — it just works.

How to flush DNS on Android

  1. Toggle Airplane mode on for 10 seconds, then off — this clears most network caches.
  2. In Chrome: Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data.
  3. If you use a custom Private DNS, switch it back to Automatic or to 1.1.1.1.

How to flush DNS on iPhone & iPad

  1. Toggle Airplane mode on/off, or restart the device — iOS has no manual flush button.
  2. In Safari: Settings → Safari → Clear History and Website Data.
  3. If you set a custom DNS in Settings → Wi-Fi → (i) → Configure DNS, reset it to Automatic.

After flushing: verify the site really works

Once the cache is clear, test the domain again. If it still won't load, run it through our website down checker to see whether the problem is on the website's side, and use the DNS records tool to confirm which IP the domain currently resolves to.