How to Flush your Mac's DNS Cache

In most cases, you don’t need to worry about your Mac’s DNS cache. When you request a URL, it quietly sends you to the right one in the background. But if it becomes corrupt, you can have problems loading websites. 404 errors are common. To fix this, you can clear your Mac’s DNS cache.

Before we put this article into action, let’s take a closer look at Mac optimization. Optimizing your Mac device is imperative if you want it to be fast. Mac Optimizer Pro software is one of the best Mac cleaner and optimizers for these purposes. Using it, your Mac automatically gets cleaned and optimized. Moreover, you can easily remove obsolete and redundant data from Mac within a few clicks.

However, first, we will focus on the main topic of DNS cache. There are only a few steps needed to flush DNS cache on Macs. The purpose of this guide is to show you how to flush the DNS cache on your Mac

Cache DNS: what is it?

First, you must know what DNS is in order to understand DNS caches. An online DNS (Domain Name System) server connects you to a website. This program looks at the web address in your browser and then compares it to a database of IP addresses. Those IP addresses provide your web browser with information about where to look for this website. This is referred to as a DNS lookup.

DNS caching means your computer stores a temporary database of all the recent DNS lookups it has performed. By doing so, your browser is able to perform these lookups faster, which in turn reduces the loading time of web pages.

Why it is important to clear the DNS cache

With time, the DNS cache can become outdated or corrupted, causing connectivity issues. Your browser can also be infected with malware, causing you to be taken to malicious sites or phishing schemes. You can resolve these issues by flushing your Mac’s DNS cache. Furthermore, you should also run a malware scanner on your Mac if you find that your browser is redirecting to malicious sites.

How can I check the DNS cache on my Mac?

You can check the DNS cache on your Mac by following these steps:

Go to the Console app, choose your Mac, and then type any: DNS responder in the search bar.
Launch a Terminal window, and enter sudo killall –INFO mDNSResponder.
Back in the Console app, you can view the stored DNS records.
Also, you can use your web browser to check your DNS cache entries. For instance, enter chrome://net-internals/#dns into the address bar to view cached DNS records if you’re using Chrome.

What you need to do to flush the DNS cache on a Mac?

For macOS Monterey and Big Sur, flush your DNS cache as follows:

Search Spotlight or with Command + Space by clicking the Spotlight search button
Open the Terminal application by double-clicking the Terminal icon under Top Hit

*Alternatively, you can click Applications, then click the Utilities folder, then double-click Terminal in the Utilities folder if you’re having trouble opening Terminal through Spotlight.

After that, Open Terminal and enter the following commands: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
To clear the DNS cache, enter your Mac’s password and press Enter

For older versions of macOS, here’s how to clear the DNS:

Different commands are used in older macOS versions. Here are the ones you need to use in Terminal to flush your DNS cache:

macOS El Capitan or newer: Run sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
macOS Yosemite: Enter sudo discoveryutil udnsflushcaches
Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks: sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder will kill the processes
Mac OS Snow Leopard: Enter sudo dscacheutil –flushcache
MacOS Leopard: Run sudo lookupd –flushcache
And in Mac OS Tiger: use lookupd –flushcache

Once the DNS cache on your Mac has been flushed, visit the problematic website again to see if the problem has been resolved.

In case you are using the Safari browser as your default browser for use, then in that scenario you can work as per these instructions:

In addition, the Safari browser caches DNS information. Whenever you restart the browser, it automatically clears the cache, but you can also do the same manually without having to re-launch the app.

Navigate to Safari > Preferences from the menu bar
Then, click the Advanced button and check the Show Develop menu in menu bar box to enable the Develop menu
After that, Choose Develop > Empty Caches on the menu bar. After clearing your browser cache, launch the browser again.

Is it safe to flush DNS cache?

Yes, flushing DNS cache on your Mac is safe. A cached file is simply temporary storage, but flushing the DNS cache too frequently prevents it from doing its job, which is to speed up page loading. Cleaning your Mac’s DNS cache can help you conceal your search history; prevent cyber criminals from manipulating your searches, and resolve technical problems while accessing web apps. Nevertheless, there is no point in doing it if it doesn’t need to be done.

Cleaning up browser caches with third-party optimization tools

Cleaning your browser caches regularly for all your browsers can take a lot of time. It can either be done manually by the user or through some fantastic third-party applications. Additionally, Mac Optimizer Pro is a good choice for this purpose. This best Mac cleaner and optimizer remove obsolete files and redundant caches with a few clicks. Furthermore, you can use this cache clearing tool to clean all caches automatically and quickly, maximize your device performance, and download and install new apps.

With Mac Optimizer Pro you can make sure you are not accidentally deleting important system files by analyzing any files that are using up space on your Mac. Moreover, when you can’t access a website and you’re unsure of the reason, clearing your Mac’s DNS cache can help. With the detailed guide and cleaning and maintenance tools like Mac Optimizer Pro, you can solve the problem, get back to browsing the web and make your Mac run faster.

How to Flush your Mac’s DNS Cache