This short guide will walk you through resetting or flushing DNS settings on Mac with macOS Mojave operating system. This information is useful and can be considered among other possible solutions to Internet connection problems on your Mac, including those associated with slow browsing or intermittent Internet connection. Read on to learn more.
What is DNS and how does it work?
DNS stands for Domain Name System, a database or directory or domain names. Each of these domain names are translated to unique IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. In layman’s term, DNS serves as a phone book of the Internet. The main job of DNS is to translate human readable information like website, domain names, or other Internet resources into the actual addressing protocols. These protocols (IP) addresses are used by computers to navigate and find information on the web. For example, when you type in a URL on your browser, the ISP (Internet service provider) views the domain name, finds its matching IP address and then directs your Internet connection to the correct website.
Which DNS is best for your Mac?
In Mac computers, OpenDNS are recommended for use. Examples of OpenDNS are 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. If your Internet isn’t working well with OpenDNS, this is when Google’s Public DNS can be considered as alternative. Google’s public DNS are for IPv4 access are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. For IPv6 access, 2001:4860:4860::8888 and 2001:4860:4860::8844 are recommended. You can use either of these addresses as your primary or secondary DNS server.
While DNS is not directly connected to your Internet speed, it’s one of the factors that can affect how a web page is loaded on your computer. Listed among the fastest free and public DNS servers to date include Comodo Secure DNS, Norton ConnectSafe, GreenTeamDNS, and SafeDNS, to name a few.
How to flush or reset DNS server settings on your Mac?
The DNS server settings on your Mac can be changed or modified whenever Internet issues occur. If the problem is attributed to errant DNS caches, flushing DNS server settings is a potential solution. For Internet problems tied to corrupt DNS, resetting DNS server settings is recommended. Read further to find out how this is carried out on your Mac with the macOS Mojave system interface.
Flushing/clearing cached DNS on Mac macOS Mojave
Slow internet browsing issue is usually linked to a stale DNS cache. DNS cache or DNS resolver cache is a temporary database or folder that helps speed up DNS lookups by storing records of all recent network requests. So instead of memorizing IP addresses for your favorite website, your device will just tap into a cached table of recent DNS lookups to determine which web resource to load. While cache serves good purposes, it can also trigger some issues if it becomes corrupt over time. A corrupt DNS could lead to intermittent problems with loading websites. To rule this out, flushing DNS cache or resetting DNS server settings on your device is recommended. Doing so clears or deletes all invalid items from your DNS cache. This process does not affect your browsing history, website data, saved passwords or any other temporary Internet files that are saved as cached files to your Mac.
In macOS Mojave devices, flushing DNS cache is done this way:
- Open the Terminal app using the keyboard shortcut Command + Space bar.
- Then type in Terminal and press the Enter key.
- Copy this command into Terminal: sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder; sleep 2;
- Then hit the Enter key.
- Enter the correct password for your macOS and press Enter again to continue.
- Quit Terminal using the keyboard shortcut Command + Q.
Your DNS cache should now be cleared or flushed.
When and why is it necessary to flush or reset DNS on your Mac?
It is important to clear DNS cache because the name servers, otherwise known as domain names may not resolve to the correct IP when your DNS is cached. As result, you may be routed to a cached website or unable to establish a connection to the website itself.
Flushing or resetting DNS server settings can also help resolve connectivity issues, DNS spoofing, and stale content issues or when a website has moved servers.
In addition, clearing or flushing DNS cache can help prevent DNS hijacking, resolve page-loading problems, prevent interruptions from recent changes made to server, protect device from malware, and enforce a network settings change.
It is also important to clear/flush DNS before using Google DNS or Open DNS servers as DNS for your device.
Another simpler and easier way to flush or reset DNS on your Mac is through a third-party software or Mac-cleaning software like MacPaw’s CleanMyMac X, CCleaner Professional, Macbooster 7, Intego Mac Washing Machine X9, and AppCleaner, to name some. You may opt to resort to any of these alternative tools if you find the Terminal method complicated or difficult to use. You can download any of these tools and install it to your computer when needed. Just be sure to read the system requirements to verify and ensure that the software is compatible and works well with your Mac or macOS Mojave operating system, in particularly. To get some clues on the efficacy of the tool, reading prior reviews will help you.
How to test DNS server?
After configuring DNS server settings on your Mac, you can test it using Network Utility. Here’s what you should do then:
- Open the Network Utility app on your Mac. You can find this app by heading to the /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications folder.
- Click Lookup then enter an Internet address to look up.
- Type a domain name address like www.apple.com or a numerical IP address for a website you know of.
- Then click the Lookup button to confirm DNS search.
To find out which DNS server you should be using on your Mac, and for more advanced DNS server settings configuration, contact your Internet service provider (ISP) or network administrator. To troubleshoot major Internet issues on your Mac that are tied to DNS server settings, you can ask more help from the Apple-Mac Support team instead.
I hope that we’ve been able to help you fix the problem with your device. We would appreciate it if you helped us spread the word so please share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you so much for reading!