DNS cache keeps the records of DNS lookups and makes internet browsing a bit faster. But you may need to clear DNS cache sometimes. There could be several reasons why you need to clear your DNS cache. Here are a few reasons why someone might want to clear their DNS cache:
Fixing website load errors: If a website’s IP address changes, the DNS cache on a person’s computer may still have the old IP address stored, causing the website to load incorrectly or not at all. Clearing the cache will force the computer to request the updated IP address from the DNS server.
Security: DNS cache poisoning is a type of cyber attack that involves injecting false information into a DNS cache, redirecting users to a different website than the one they intended to visit. Clearing the cache can help to remove any poisoned entries and protect against this type of attack.
Troubleshooting connectivity issues: If a person is experiencing connectivity issues, such as being unable to access certain websites, clearing the DNS cache may help to resolve the issue.
Updating to new DNS server: if a user wants to use a different DNS server, Clearing the cache will help to pick up the new DNS server.
Also see: Best DNS Benchmarking Tools
What is DNS Cache?
A DNS cache, also known as a DNS resolver cache, is a temporary database stored on a local computer or network device that contains records of recent DNS lookups. The purpose of a DNS cache is to speed up the process of resolving DNS hostnames to IP addresses. When a computer needs to resolve a hostname to an IP address, it first checks its DNS cache to see if the information is already available. If so, the cached information is used instead of requesting the information from a remote DNS server, which can save time and reduce network traffic.
If you want to clear the DNS cache, you can use the terminal. In this article, I will tell you how to clear DNS cache in Mac.
How to clear DNS cache on Mac
Launch Terminal. For this, open Spotlight search and then type Terminal.
Now paste the following command.
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
Hit Return.
It will ask for your system’s password. Enter the password and Hit return.
This action will flush the DNS cache of your system.
Now you know how to clear DNS cache of your system. If you ever need to clear DNS cache, you can use the terminal command to clear the DNS cache. It is safe to clear DNS cache on your Mac an =d it will not crate any problem.
