How to change a computer DNS address

What is a DNS?

A DNS (Domain Name Service) acts like a phonebook for Internet addresses. It’s a networked computer system with a massive database of Internet domain names and their corresponding addresses, which is constantly kept up-to-date.

When you make a network request to a domain name, your computer needs to know where on the Internet that domain is located. It gets this information from the DNS. Your computer sends a request to the DNS containing the name of the domain, and the DNS responds with that domain’s numeric IP address. Your computer then proceeds to connect to that address.

The process is referred to as domain name resolution: a domain name resolves to its corresponding address.

Your ISP usually provides its own default DNS for its customers, and the settings for this server are automatically configured via DHCP. But you don’t have to use your ISP’s DNS. There are many publicly available Domain Name Services, and you may want to use one of them instead. In addition to providing an alternative solution to your ISP, services like Cloudflare also encrypt and keep your DNS requests private from your ISP.

Alternate domain name services

Here is a selection of public DNS servers, current as of December 2018. There are two addresses listed for each: primary and a secondary, which acts as a backup if the first address is unavailable.

DNS Provider	Primary Address	Secondary Address
Cloudflare IPv4	1.1.1.1	1.0.0.1
Cloudflare IPv6	2606:4700:4700::1111	2606:4700:4700::1001
Google Public DNS	8.8.8.8	8.8.4.4
OpenDNS	208.67.222.222	208.67.220.220
Verisign	64.6.64.6	64.6.65.6
DNS.WATCH	84.200.69.80	84.200.70.40
OpenNIC	50.116.23.211	192.99.240.129
Dyn	216.146.35.35	216.146.36.36
DNS Advantage	156.154.70.1	156.154.71.1
SafeDNS	195.46.39.39	195.46.39.40
Comodo Secure DNS	8.26.56.26	8.20.247.20
Norton ConnectSafe	199.85.126.10	199.85.127.10
GreenTeamDNS	81.218.119.11	209.88.198.133
SmartViper	208.76.50.50	208.76.51.51
AlternateDNS	198.101.242.72	23.253.163.53
Yandex.DNS	77.88.8.8	77.88.8.1

You may decide to use one of these, or change your DNS to an address provided by your school or your employer’s IT department. Make sure you know the address(es) of your new DNS before you proceed.

Configuring your operating system

The steps for changing your computer’s DNS settings will depend on what operating system you are running. Use the links below to navigate to the section which applies to you.

Before making any changes to your DNS configuration, we highly recommended writing down your current DNS address information so changs can be reverted if necessary.

If you cannot change your DNS addresses, you likely don’t have the proper permissions to do so. If you have problems, contact your system administrator or IT department for assistance.

The following are step-by-step instructions for changing the DNS settings on Windows, OS X, Linux, and BSD operating systems:

Windows 10

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Click View network status and tasks
3. Click Change adapter settings on the left portion of the window.
4. Double-click the icon for the Internet connection you’re using.
5. Click the Properties button.
6. Click and highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties.
7. If not already selected, select the Use the following DNS server addresses option.
8. Enter the new DNS addresses and click OK and close out of all other windows.

Windows 8

1. Access the Windows desktop screen.
2. Press Ctrl + I on the keyboard to open the Settings menu and select the Control Panel option.
3. Click the Network and Sharing Center icon.
4. Click the Change adapter settings option in the left navigation pane.
5. Double-click the icon for the Internet connection you are using. It may be labeled Ethernet if using wired Internet, or Wi-Fi if you’re using a wireless connection. If you have multiple connections, make sure not to select the one with the red X. In the Properties or Status window that opens, click the Properties button.
6. Select the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) option in the list of items on the Properties window and click the Properties button.
7. If not already selected, select the Use the following DNS server addresses option.
8. Enter the new DNS addresses and click OK and close out of all other windows.

Windows 7

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Click View network status and tasks
3. Click Change adapter settings on the left portion of the window.
4. Double-click the icon for the Internet connection you’re using. Often this will be labeled Local Area Connection or the name of your ISP. If you have multiple connections, make sure not to click the one with the red X.
5. Click the Properties button.
6. Click and highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties.
7. If not already selected, select the Use the following DNS server addresses option.
8. Enter the new DNS addresses and click OK and close out of all other windows.

Windows Vista

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Click View network status and tasks
3. Click View status for the network connection.
4. Click Properties and Continue.
5. Click and highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties.
6. If not already selected, select the Use the following DNS server addresses option.
7. Enter the new DNS addresses and click OK and close out of all other windows.

Windows XP

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel window, double-click the Network Connections icon.
3. Double-click the icon for the Internet connection you’re using. Often this will be labeled Local Area Connection or the name of your ISP. If you have multiple connections, make sure not to click the one with the red X.
4. Click the Properties button.
5. Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the connection items list and click the Properties button.
6. If not already selected, select the Use the following DNS server addresses option.
7. Enter the new DNS addresses and click OK and close out of all other windows.

Windows 98

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel window, double-click the Network icon.
3. Highlight TCP/IP Ethernet adapter in the connection items list and click the Properties button.
4. In the Properties window, click the DNS Configuration tab and select Enable DNS.
5. If any DNS server is listed, highlight each and click the Remove button.
6. Once no DNS is listed, type in the new addresses and click the Add button.
7. Once the new addresses are added, click Ok and close out of all other windows.

macOS

1. From the Apple menu in the upper left corner of your screen, select System Preferences.
2. From the System Preferences menu, select Network.
3. In the Network menu, make sure your correct network device is highlighted on the left pane of the window Wi-Fi, for example. Click Advanced.
4. In the advanced settings, click the DNS button to bring up DNS settings.
5. In the left pane, you can see your current DNS server addresses. Write these down in case you need to revert your changes later.
6. Highlight one of your current DNS addresses, and click the minus («—«) button underneath the left pane to remove the highlighted address from the list. Do this for each of your current DNS addresses.
7. Once the list is empty, click the plus («+«) button to add a new empty address (0.0.0.0). Highlight this address and type in a new one. Press Enter when you are done.
8. Repeat step 7 for a secondary address, if you are adding one.
9. Click OK to save the settings.
10. Click Apply to apply your new network settings.

Linux

In Linux, the DNS server addresses are kept in the system file /etc/resolv.conf. (You need superuser privileges to edit this file.)

For instance, to edit this file with the nano text editor, use the command:

(We prefix the command with sudo to run nano with superuser permission.)

In your text editor, you can see the contents of /etc/resolv.conf. Each line that begins with the word nameserver contains a DNS address that is used by your system.

Once you have the file open, follow these steps:

1. Make a note of the DNS addresses already listed. You may need this information later if you want to revert your changes.
2. Delete any lines beginning with nameserver.
3. For each DNS address you want to add, add a line which reads nameserveraddress, where address is the address of the DNS. For instance, in the image below, we are configuring our system to use the primary and secondary Google Public DNS.

1. Save the file. In nano, this is Ctrl-O, Enter.
2. Exit the text editor. In nano, this is Ctrl-X.

How to change DNS settings on your PC running Windows 10

Source: Windows Central

When you subscribe for internet access for home or business, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) also provides the necessary network settings, including the Domain Name System (DNS) addresses, which makes possible to access your favorite sites, online services that you may need to work from home, and download files.

The only caveat is that the ISP’s DNS servers are usually slower, unreliable at times, and not very private. However, you can always use different resolvers from third-party companies to improve your internet experience on Windows 10. Here’s how.

What’s DNS?

A Domain Name System is a service (usually at no cost to you) that allows you to type a friendly domain name in the web browser to load a web page, and without them, it’d be a nightmare to surf the internet.

The issue is that every device connected to a network requires an IP address (104.18.189.55) to communicate with other devices. However, these addresses are not easy for humans to remember, and DNS servers are the ones that provide the mechanism to translate friendly domain names (WindowsCentral.com) into an IP address that computers can understand.

Although you can type https://windowscentral.com to get to our website, in the background, the browser first sends a request to the DNS servers to resolve the website name into an IP address. When the address is found, it returns, and then the browser connects to the site and downloads the contents of the page.

Typically, you don’t notice this process, because everything happens in milliseconds. However, if the resolvers that you’re using aren’t reliable, they’re slowing down your internet, or you want to use faster and more private servers, Windows 10 allows you to change these settings to any services you want to use.

In this Windows 10 guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to change the DNS settings on your computer using Control Panel, Command Prompt, and Settings app.

How to change Windows 10 DNS settings using Control Panel

To change the DNS settings on Windows 10 using Control Panel, use these steps:

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Click on Network and Internet.
3. Click on Network and Sharing Center.

Click the Change adapter settings option in the left pane.

Source: Windows Central

Right-click the network interface that connects Windows 10 to the internet, and select the Properties option.

Source: Windows Central

Quick tip: You’ll know which adapter is connected to the network because it won’t have a «Disabled» or «Network cable unplugged» label.

Click the Properties button.

Source: Windows Central

Select the Use the following DNS server addresses option.

Quick note: When you select the option to specify the DNS settings manually, the device will continue to receive the TCP/IP address from the DHCP server (router).

Type your «preferred» and «alternate» DNS addresses.

Source: Windows Central

If you want to use Cloudflare, Google Public DNS, or Cisco OpenDNS, you can use these settings:

• Cloudflare: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
• Google Public DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
• OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

(Optional) Click the Advanced button.

Click the DNS tab.

Click the Add button.

Specify the alternate DNS server address.

Click the Add button.

Quick tip: In addition to adding more addresses, from this tab, you can also edit and remove resolvers, and you even have an option on the side to change their priority.

Click the OK button.

Click the Close button.

Once you complete the steps, the device will immediately start using the DNS settings that you specified.

How to change Windows 10 DNS settings using Settings

To change the DNS addresses using the Settings app, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Network & Internet.
3. Click on Ethernet (or Wi-Fi depending on your connection).

Select the connection that connects Windows 10 to the network.

Source: Windows Central

Under the «IP settings» section, click the Edit button.

Source: Windows Central

Confirm your «Preferred DNS» and «Alternate DNS» addresses.

Source: Windows Central

If you want to use Cloudflare, Google Public DNS, or Cisco OpenDNS, you can use these settings:

• Cloudflare: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
• Google Public DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
• OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

Click the Save button.

After you complete the steps, you should now be able to connect to the internet using the new resolvers.

Although the Settings app should be the recommended experience to change the DNS settings on your computer, we’re not listing this option first because it can be confusing for some people.

How to change Windows 10 DNS settings using Command Prompt

Alternatively, you can also use Command Prompt to change the DNS settings on Windows 10.

To use Command Prompt to change the device DNS settings, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

Type the following command to launch the tool to change the networking settings and press Enter:

Type the following command to identify the names of the network adapters and press Enter:

interface show interface

Type the following command to set the primary DNS IP address and press Enter:

interface ip set dns name=»ADAPTER-NAME» source=»static» address=»X.X.X.X»

In the command, remember to change ADAPTER-NAME with the name of your network adapter you identified on step No. 4, and change X.X.X.X with the IP address of the DNS server that you want to use.

If you want to use Cloudflare, Google Public DNS, or Cisco OpenDNS, you can use these settings:

• Cloudflare: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
• Google Public DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
• OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

For example, this command sets the primary DNS addres to 1.1.1.1:

interface ip set dns name=»Ethernet1″ source=»static» address=»1.1.1.1″

Source: Windows Central

Type the following command to add an alternative DNS IP address and press Enter:

interface ip add dns name=»ADAPTER-NAME» addr=»X.X.X.X» index=2

In the command, remember to change ADAPTER-NAME with the name of your network adapter you queried on step No. 4, and change X.X.X.X with the secondary address that you want to use.

For example, this command sets the secondary DNS addres to 1.0.0.1:

interface ip add dns name=»Ethernet1″ addr=»1.0.0.1″ index=2

Source: Windows Central

Quick tip: If you need to add even more DNS addresses, you can repeat the above steps, but increase the number of the index option by 1. For instance, interface ip add dns name=»Ethernet1″ addr=»8.8.8.8″ index=3

Once you complete the steps, Windows 10 will start using the new DNS server addresses to resolve domain names to numeric addresses that your device can understand.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

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