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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How to Change DNS Servers in Windows

Change DNS servers in any version of Windows

Most computers and devices connect to a local network using DHCP and DNS servers are automatically configured in Windows. When you change the DNS servers in Windows, you change which servers Windows uses to translate hostnames (for example, www.lifewire.com) to IP addresses (for example, 208.185.127.40).

DNS servers are sometimes the cause of certain types of internet problems. Changing DNS servers can help troubleshoot the problem. Here’s how to override these automatic DNS servers with others of your choosing.

Instructions in this article apply to Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7.

How to Change Windows DNS Servers

Below are the steps required to change the DNS servers that Windows uses. However, the procedure is different depending on the version of Windows.

For a head start, skip these first four steps and go to Step 5 by entering the control netconnections Control Panel applet command in the Run dialog box. You can access the Run dialog box by pressing the windows key and typing run (search in the charm bar on Windows 8) or by pressing the windows key+R.

On Windows 8.1, select Network Connections from the Power User Menu, then skip to Step 5.

Select Network and Internet.

Network and Internet doesn’t appear if the Control Panel displays large or small icons. Instead, choose Network and Sharing Center, then skip to Step 4.

In the Network and Internet window, select Network and Sharing Center to open that applet.

In the Network and Sharing Center window, select Change adapter settings.

The Network Connections window lists connections to the computer. Wired connections are labeled as Ethernet or Local Area Connection, while wireless ones are labeled as Wi-Fi.

If you don’t see the right connection, change the view to Details, go to the Connectivity column, and use the connection that lists Internet access.

Open the network connection you want to change the DNS servers for by double-clicking or double-tapping on its icon.

In the Status window, select Properties.

In some versions of Windows, provide the administrator password if you’re not logged in to an admin account.

In the Properties window, go to the This connection uses the following items section and select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) or Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to select the IPv4 option, or select Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) to change the IPv6 DNS server settings.

Select Properties.

In the Internet Protocol Properties window, choose Use the following DNS server addresses.

If Windows has custom DNS servers configured, replace the existing DNS server IP addresses with new ones.

Enter the IP address for the Preferred DNS server and for the Alternate DNS server.

You can also enter only a preferred DNS server, replace the preferred DNS server from one provider with a secondary DNS server from another, or enter more than two DNS servers using fields in the DNS tab (select Advanced to enter multiple DNS servers).

Select OK to make the DNS server changes.

Close Control Panel.

Verify that the new DNS servers work properly in Windows. Visit several websites in your favorite web browser. If the web pages show up as quickly as before, the new DNS servers are working properly.

How to Change DNS Servers With Command Prompt

The preferred DNS server in Windows can be changed through Command Prompt. Use this method if you’re comfortable entering commands on the command line.

Type netsh and press Enter.

At the netsh> prompt, type interface ip show config, then press Enter.

Locate the network connection for which you want the DNS server changed.

Enter interface ip set dns «Ethernet0» static 8.8.8.8 and press Enter. Replace Ethernet0 with the name of your connection and 8.8.8.8 with the DNS server you want to use.

Use the command line, in Command Prompt or a BAT file, to force the connection to use DHCP. Replace the static section of the command with dhcp.

When the command is completed, the netsh> prompt displays.

Close Command Prompt.

DNS Server Settings Are Device-Specific

Setting up custom DNS servers for your computer only applies to that computer, not to the other devices on the network. For example, you can set up a Windows laptop with one set of DNS servers and use an entirely different set on a desktop, phone, or tablet.

DNS settings apply to the closest device they’re configured on. For example, if you use one set of DNS servers on the router, your laptop and phone will use these DNS servers when they connect to Wi-Fi. However, if the router has its own set of servers and the laptop has its own separate set, the laptop will use a different DNS server than the phone and the other devices that use the router. The same is true if the phone uses a custom set.

DNS settings only trickle down a network if each device is set up to use the router’s DNS settings and not their own. This means that if four devices are on a network, for example, all four could be using separate DNS servers.

Check out our list of free and public DNS servers for the complete list of publicly available DNS servers which may be more complete than the list provided by your ISP.