Your computer caches DNS lookups so it doesn't have to ask repeatedly. When a website moves to a new IP, your old cached entry can keep loading the wrong (or missing) server until the cache expires. Flushing the DNS cache is the immediate fix — and the right first step for any "this site loads for everyone except me" mystery.

Windows

Open Command Prompt (search → cmd → Run as administrator), then run:

ipconfig /flushdns

You'll see Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache. That's it — the next lookup will hit live DNS.

Mac

Open Terminal and run:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Enter your password. Both commands need to run — the first flushes the system cache, the second restarts the multicast DNS responder so apps pick up the change.

Linux

Depends on which resolver you use:

• systemd-resolved: sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches
• dnsmasq: sudo systemctl restart dnsmasq
• nscd: sudo systemctl restart nscd

Most modern desktop distros use systemd-resolved — that's the first one to try.

Browser DNS cache

Browsers also cache DNS independently. To flush Chrome: visit chrome://net-internals/#dns and click Clear host cache. Firefox: about:networking#dns, click Clear DNS Cache.

When to flush

• A site moved hosts and now won't load for you
• You changed your DNS server (Cloudflare, Google) and want immediate effect
• You suspect DNS poisoning
• You're troubleshooting after editing your hosts file

If flushing doesn't help, the issue is the DNS servers themselves — try 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 to rule that out.

Try it now

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