A DNS server resolves website URLs into their IP addresses, which is how the internet functions. Without DNS, we would be typing in IP addresses into our browsers instead of domain names. As an end user, you’re probably using your internet provider’s DNS server by default, but you can change that.

Of course you could always use your hosts file, but that’s for another article!

If you want to change your DNS servers for everyone on your network, you’ll want to do it from your router. Please refer to your router’s manual.

If you’re having issues with browsing to websites, try changing your settings to one of these.

Public DNS Providers

Google’s DNS Servers:

8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4

OpenDNS’ DNS Servers:

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

Norton ConnectSafe:

199.85.126.10
199.85.127.10

Comodo Secure DNS:

8.26.56.26
8.20.247.20

Yandex DNS:

77.88.8.88
77.88.8.2

DNS.Watch DNS Servers:

84.200.69.80
84.200.70.40

VeriSign DNS Servers:

64.6.64.6
64.6.65.6

How To Change Your DNS Settings On Windows

• Hit Start and type Network and Sharing Center (or right-click on your Wi-Fi icon and click it there).
• Click on Change Adapter Settings (on the left).
• Right-click on your active network connection, then hit Properties.
• Left-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and hit Properties. (If you use IPv6, change that one also/instead.)
• Click on Use the following DNS server addresses: and type in one of the above DNS server addresses.

To flush your DNS cache in Windows 8 or Windows 10, right-click on Start and select Command Prompt (Admin) and type the following command:

ipconfig /flushdns

How To Change Your DNS Settings On A Mac

• Go to System Preferences.
• Click on Network.
• Click the DNS tab.
• Click the little + sign at the lower left to add a new DNS server.
• Type in the numbers of a public DNS server from the list above.
• Click OK.
• Click Apply.

To flush your DNS cache in Mac OS X, open a Terminal and type the following command:

sudo discoveryutil mdnsflushcache;sudo discoveryutil udnsflushcaches

How To Change Your DNS Settings On Linux

With Linux, you can go through the GUI depending on your distro, otherwise you can use the following terminal commands:

sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf

Add/Replace lines for the name servers that you want to use.

Finally, save the file.