How to Fix "DNS Server Not Responding"
The "DNS server not responding" error means your device tried to look up a website's address and the DNS server it asked never answered. The site you wanted is almost certainly fine. The break is in the path between your device, your router, and the resolver that turns names into IP addresses. The good news is that this is one of the most fixable internet errors: in most cases you can clear it in a few minutes by switching DNS servers, flushing a stale cache, or restarting the right piece of network gear. This guide walks through the fixes in the order that resolves the problem fastest, on Windows, Mac, and your router.
What "DNS server not responding" means
Every time you open a website by name, your device performs a DNS lookup. DNS (the Domain
Name System) is the internet's address book: it translates a human-friendly name like
example.com into the numeric IP address machines actually connect to. Your
device sends that question to a DNS resolver, usually one run by your
internet provider, and waits for an answer.
"DNS server not responding" is what Windows reports when that resolver cannot be reached or
fails to reply in time. Chrome shows a related message,
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN, when the resolver does answer but reports that the
name does not exist. In both cases the connection never gets past the very first step, so
the page cannot load even though your link to the wider internet may otherwise be working.
Because the failure happens before any real traffic to the website, the cause is nearly always close to home: the resolver address configured on your device, your router, a stale local cache, or a temporary outage at your provider's DNS service. That is why the fixes below focus on your own equipment and on swapping in a different, reliable resolver.
Common causes
The error has a short list of usual suspects. Most fixes below map directly to one of these:
- The provider's DNS server is down or overloaded. Provider resolvers do go offline; switching to a public resolver is the fastest workaround.
- A stale or corrupted DNS cache. Your device or browser is holding an old, wrong answer for a name and refuses to ask again until you flush it.
- Wrong or leftover DNS settings. A previous VPN, a security tool, or a manual change left a dead resolver address configured on the adapter.
- A network adapter or router that needs a restart. Drivers and router DNS forwarders occasionally hang and recover only after a power cycle.
- A firewall, antivirus, or VPN blocking DNS. Security software sometimes intercepts port 53 (and DoH on 443) and silently breaks lookups.
- A typo or an expired domain. If only one specific site fails with NXDOMAIN, check the spelling before blaming your network.
Fix it on Windows
Work through these in order. The first two clear the great majority of cases, so try them before moving on.
1. Flush the DNS cache and reset the network stack
Open the Start menu, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt, and choose "Run as administrator." Then run these commands one at a time:
ipconfig /flushdnsclears stale cached lookups.ipconfig /registerdnsre-registers your device with DNS.ipconfig /releasethenipconfig /renewrequests a fresh address from your router.netsh winsock resetrepairs a corrupted network socket configuration (reboot afterward).
2. Change your DNS server to a public resolver
If flushing did not help, point Windows at a fast public resolver instead of your provider's. Open Settings, go to Network & Internet, choose your connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet), then open its properties and edit the DNS server assignment. Set it to Manual, turn on IPv4, and enter:
- Preferred:
1.1.1.1(Cloudflare) or8.8.8.8(Google) - Alternate:
1.0.0.1(Cloudflare) or8.8.4.4(Google)
Save, then reopen the failing site. If it loads now, your provider's resolver was the problem.
3. Restart the network adapter
Open Settings, then Network & Internet, then Advanced network settings, and disable the active adapter. Wait a few seconds and re-enable it. This forces a clean reconnection and often clears a hung driver without a full reboot.
4. Temporarily disable VPN and security tools
If you run a VPN, a proxy, or third-party antivirus with a network shield, disconnect or pause it and test again. These tools can intercept DNS and break it after an update. If the site loads with the tool off, add an exception for DNS or update the tool, then turn it back on.
Fix it on Mac
1. Flush the DNS cache
Open the Terminal app (Applications, then Utilities) and run:
sudo dscacheutil -flushcachesudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
Enter your password when prompted. Together these clear the system resolver cache on current versions of macOS.
2. Change your DNS server
Open System Settings, choose Network, select your active connection, and open Details (or
Advanced on older versions). Go to the DNS tab, click the plus button under DNS Servers, and
add 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1, or 8.8.8.8 and
8.8.4.4. Remove any old, unreachable entries, then click OK and Apply.
3. Renew the DHCP lease
In the same Network details panel, open the TCP/IP tab and click "Renew DHCP Lease." This requests fresh network settings, including DNS, from your router and clears a stale assignment.
4. Try a different network location or restart
If the error persists, create a new network location (Network settings, then the Location menu) to start from clean settings, or simply restart the Mac. A reboot reloads the network stack and is a reliable last resort on macOS.
Fix it on your router
If every device on your network shows the error, fix it once at the router instead of on each device.
1. Power-cycle the router and modem
Unplug both the router and the modem, wait about 30 seconds, plug the modem back in first and let it fully reconnect, then plug the router back in. This clears the router's DNS forwarder, which is the single most common router-level cause.
2. Set public DNS on the router itself
Sign in to your router's admin page (often 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1)
and find the DNS settings, usually under Internet, WAN, or DHCP. Replace the automatic
provider DNS with 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1, or 8.8.8.8 and
8.8.4.4. Save and reboot the router. Now every device on the network uses the new
resolver automatically.
3. Update the router firmware
Outdated firmware can cause DNS forwarding bugs. Check the admin page for a firmware update and apply it if one is available. Keep the router on a recent version to avoid known DNS and stability issues.
Diagnose it with our free tools
Before and after each fix, you can confirm exactly what DNS is doing instead of guessing. Our free, no-signup tools let you see whether the name resolves, what it resolves to, and how long it takes:
- DNS Lookup queries the A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, and other records for any domain. If it returns an address but your browser still fails, the problem is local to your device, not the domain.
- DNS Health Check runs a battery of checks against a domain's name servers and flags misconfigurations, making it the right tool when you own or manage the site that will not resolve.
- DNS Propagation Checker queries resolvers in multiple locations at once. If you recently changed a record, this shows which networks have the new answer and which are still serving the old one.
- IP Lookup and MAC Address Lookup help you verify the addresses your devices are using once DNS is working again.
A useful workflow: run DNS Lookup on the failing domain. If it answers, the public DNS system is healthy and your fix belongs on your own device or router. If it does not answer for you but does for the tool, your local resolver is the weak link and switching to a public one will clear the error.
When DNS is slow rather than dead
Sometimes DNS works but every new site stalls for a moment before loading. That delay is the DNS lookup finishing before the connection can even begin, and it is worth fixing because it slows down everything you browse.
The same changes that fix a dead resolver usually speed up a slow one:
- Use a nearby public resolver. Cloudflare and Google run servers close to most users, so they typically answer faster than a distant or overloaded provider resolver.
- Reduce filtering layers. Some routers and security suites inspect every DNS query, which adds latency. Test with that filtering off to see how much it costs you.
- Keep firmware and drivers current. Old router firmware and network drivers are a common source of inconsistent lookup times.
To see the difference for yourself, time a lookup with our DNS Lookup tool before and after switching resolvers. If you want to understand the full resolution path that determines this speed, read How DNS Works.
Fast checklist
If you only have a minute, run this short order of operations. It resolves the error in most cases:
| Step | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Test a second device | Tells you if it is one device or the whole network |
| 2 | Flush the DNS cache | Clears stale or wrong cached answers |
| 3 | Switch to 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 | Bypasses a down or slow provider resolver |
| 4 | Restart the adapter, then the router and modem | Recovers hung drivers and forwarders |
| 5 | Pause VPN, proxy, and antivirus | Rules out software that intercepts DNS |
Related tools & reading
- DNS Lookup - query records and confirm a name resolves.
- DNS Health Check - audit a domain's name servers for misconfiguration.
- DNS Propagation Checker - see if a record change has reached resolvers worldwide.
- IP Lookup - check the details of any IP address.
- How DNS Works - the resolver, root, TLD, and authoritative flow explained.
- Back to the Learning Center
Frequently asked questions
What does "DNS server not responding" actually mean?
It means your device could not reach the DNS server it was told to use, or that server did not return an answer in time. Your computer needs DNS to turn a name like example.com into an IP address; when the lookup fails, the browser cannot find the site and shows the error. The web server itself is usually fine. The break is almost always between your device, your router, and the DNS resolver, which is why changing your DNS server or restarting your network gear fixes it most of the time.
Is "DNS server not responding" a problem with my computer or my internet provider?
It can be either, and the fastest way to tell them apart is to test a second device on the same network. If every device fails, the problem is your router or your internet provider. If only one device fails, the problem is local to that device, usually its DNS settings, its network adapter, or a stale cache. Switching that device to a public resolver such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 isolates the question further: if that fixes it, your provider's DNS server was the culprit.
Which DNS servers should I switch to?
Two free, fast, well-maintained public resolvers are Cloudflare at 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1, and Google at 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Both are reliable replacements when your provider's DNS is slow or down. Set one as your primary and the other (or your provider's) as the secondary so you always have a backup. These addresses work for IPv4; the IPv6 equivalents are 2606:4700:4700::1111 for Cloudflare and 2001:4860:4860::8888 for Google.
How do I flush my DNS cache?
On Windows, open Command Prompt and run ipconfig /flushdns. On macOS, open Terminal and run sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder. On most browsers you can also clear the browser's own DNS cache; in Chrome, visit chrome://net-internals/#dns and click Clear host cache. Flushing removes stale or poisoned entries that point to old or wrong addresses, which is the usual cure for the DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN error.
What is the difference between "DNS server not responding" and DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN?
They are closely related. "DNS server not responding" usually means the resolver could not be reached at all. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN is Chrome's way of saying the resolver answered, but reported that the domain does not exist (NXDOMAIN). A typo in the address, an expired domain, or a stale cache entry all produce NXDOMAIN. The fixes overlap heavily: flush the cache, switch to a public resolver, and double-check the spelling of the address.
Why does my DNS keep being slow even when it works?
Slow DNS lookups add a visible delay before every new site loads, because the name has to be resolved before the connection even starts. Common causes are an overloaded or distant provider resolver, a router that is doing extra filtering, or a long chain of redirects on the sites you visit. Switching to a nearby public resolver, raising your router's cache, and keeping firmware current usually cut lookup time. You can measure the real resolution time for any domain with our DNS lookup and propagation tools.
How this tool works: This tool runs in your browser and on our server in real time. Depending on the tool, results are computed directly from the input you provide or retrieved from live, authoritative data sources at the moment you run a lookup. We do not sell your data, and your lookups are kept private — any history shown here is stored only on your device.