DNS cache is a piece of digital information that’s stored in the operative system of your computer, that is basically a register of web pages you have visited in order to load them more quickly the next time you open them and facilitate a large number of users accessing a web page without having it collapse. Websites also use this information to track your interests and online activity, and then customize the content they show to you and optimize the web without openly stealing your personal information.
It is necessary to flush your DNS manually, as the operative system won’t do it automatically. This is a highly recommended thing to do for 3 main reasons:
To hide your activity online: Online privacy is important, and while most data compilations use cookies or JavaScript to track your information, DNS is still an important gateway for these groups to get your personal data. They could collect all your most recently visited web pages and potentially get an idea of your interests and personality, so if you are a cautious person it’s recommended deleting this information.
To protect yourself from hackers: With DNS data, expert hackers could also perform a technique called spoofing in order to access confidential login web pages and potentially enter, for example, to your bank account. So, for security reasons, flush your DNS.
To solve technical problems: because DNS is used to load web pages, it is possible that the server loads an old version of the page due to obsolete cache. When flushing your DNS, this will force the server to update your data, and the current version of the web page will begin loading.
How to Flush DNS in Windows 10
Now, how to flush your DNS? It’s a pretty easy process, and there isn’t a specific moment to do it, so you can do it anytime you want. The process goes as it follows:
- Use Windows 10’s search function to look for the keyword “CMD“.
- Click on the “Command prompt” option that has somewhat of a black square as an icon.
- Use the command “ipconfig /flushdns“. Without quotation marks, full lowercase.
If there are no further technical issues, it should appear a message indicating the operation was a success, and you have now flushed your DNS!