Network and Internet Flush DNS Resolver Cache in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to flush your DNS resolver cache in Windows 11, Windows10, Microsoft Edge, and Google Chrome.

A DNS (Domain Name System) resolver cache is a temporary database, maintained by Windows, that contains records of all your recent visits and attempted visits to websites and other Internet domains.

The Internet relies on the Domain Name System (DNS) to maintain an index of all public websites and their corresponding IP addresses. Every time a user visits a website by its name (such as "tenforums.com"), the user's web browser initiates a request out to the Internet, but this request cannot be completed until the website name is converted into an IP address.

This conversion process is called name resolution and is the job of DNS, but it takes time. A DNS cache attempts to speed up the process by handling the name resolution before the request is sent out to the Internet.

If the IP address of a website changes before your DNS cache updates, you may not be able to load the webpage. If you are running into a lot of Page Not Found errors and you know you are connected to the Internet, you could try flushing your DNS cache to have your computer request new information.

You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.

1 Open Windows Terminal (Admin), and select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

2 Copy and paste the ipconfig /flushdns command into Windows Terminal (Admin), and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3 When it has Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache, you can close Windows Terminal (Admin) if you like.

If you get a Could not flush the DNS Resolver Cache: Function failed during execution. error message, then make sure that the DNS Client service is enabled and running, and try again.

1 Open Windows Terminal, and select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

2 Copy and paste the Clear-DnsClientCache command into Windows Terminal, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3 When it has Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache, you can close Windows Terminal if you like.

If you get a Could not flush the DNS Resolver Cache: Function failed during execution. error message, then make sure that the DNS Client service is enabled and running, and try again.

1 Open Microsoft Edge.

2 Copy and paste edge://net-internals/#dns into the address bar, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3 Click/tap on the Clear host cache button.







1 Open Google Chrome.

2 Copy and paste chrome://net-internals/#dns into the address bar, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3 Click/tap on the Clear host cache button.







1 Open Firefox.

2 Copy and paste about:networking#dns into the address bar, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3 Click/tap on the Clear DNS Cache button.


That's it,
Shawn Brink