{"id":1561,"date":"2021-05-20T08:50:26","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T05:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/?p=1561"},"modified":"2023-03-01T13:50:44","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T11:50:44","slug":"how-to-clear-the-local-dns-cache-in-mac-os","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/how-to-clear-the-local-dns-cache-in-mac-os\/","title":{"rendered":"How to clear the local DNS cache in Mac OS?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Windows, Mac OS, and Linux use Domain Name Servers<\/b> (DNS) <\/span><\/i>cache to save name resolution information. Think of the DNS as a phone book or directory that indexes websites and their IP addresses.<\/span><\/p>\n

In DNS caching, your browser or Operating System captures IP addresses you\u2019ve visited recently and saves them in a database. So, instead of rerouting your queries to DNS servers, the system answers them. Since caching keeps the IP addresses you\u2019ve queried, your load time is significantly faster.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, you may start experiencing connectivity issues if the<\/span> local DNS cache becomes outdated or corrupted.<\/b><\/p>\n

A number of things can corrupt the local DNS cache, including viruses and network attacks. But, you can resolve such problems by clearing your DNS cache.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Happens During Caching?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Imagine that a friend asked you to meet at a restaurant you\u2019ve never been to. If you only have access to the phone book, it might take you longer to get the right address. However, your next visit to the same restaurant will be faster if you save the address.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you type a website on your browser for the first time, your computer has no reference to it. So, <\/span>it looks up the address on a DNS server, <\/b>which in turn links it to the right IP address. Your local DNS then caches this information for easy navigation to sites you visited before without having to query the DNS server each time.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, Why Clear Your DNS Cache?<\/b><\/h2>\n

As mentioned earlier, different events can lead to your DNS cache becoming corrupted. Sometimes,<\/span> when website owners change location<\/b>, they may have to change DNS servers as well. So, the site you plan to revisit may no longer be using the address you have in your <\/span>DNS cache.<\/b><\/p>\n

In some other cases, a malware might be trying to redirect popular sites to a malicious one. For instance, an attacker might insert a malicious<\/span> IP address<\/b><\/a> into your DNS record that redirects you to that address when <\/span>you try to visit Amazon.<\/b><\/p>\n

Whatever the case, you can clear your local DNS cache and start afresh.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Implication of Clearing Local DNS Cache<\/b><\/h2>\n

Clearing a DNS cache leads to the deletion of any saved DNS lookup information. Subsequently, your computer will have to update its data from DNS servers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The information saved in your DNS cache might include:<\/b><\/p>\n