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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →You can change DNS servers in your device’s network settings, but a different resolver does not increase your internet plan’s bandwidth. It may make domain lookups feel faster on your particular connection; the result depends on your location, ISP routing, resolver availability and cache state. Save your existing settings, change DNS on the active connection, then test it—and restore automatic DNS if VPN, captive-portal or local-network names stop working.
What changing DNS can—and cannot—speed up
DNS translates a name such as example.com into an address a device can connect to. Choosing another resolver changes which service answers those lookups. It does not increase your broadband line’s capacity, improve a weak Wi-Fi signal or make every part of a website load faster.
A resolver may respond more quickly than your current one on a particular network, but there is no universally fastest choice established by the available comparisons. Lookup time varies with geography, routing from your ISP, whether the answer is already cached, and whether the resolver is available. Test from the connection you actually use rather than relying on a general ranking.
Changing DNS can also affect privacy and compatibility. A public resolver becomes a party you trust with DNS requests; encrypted DNS protects those requests in transit, but does not make them anonymous. Some networks depend on their own DNS for captive portals, VPN split DNS, parental controls, or workplace and home-only domain names.
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Choose a resolver before changing settings
Google Public DNS lists IPv4 addresses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, and IPv6 addresses 2001:4860:4860::8888 and 2001:4860:4860::8844. Cloudflare’s public resolver uses 1.1.1.1; 1.0.0.1 is commonly paired with it for IPv4. Check the provider’s current documentation before entering addresses, particularly if you intend to configure IPv6 or encrypted DNS.
| What to compare | What to check on your connection |
|---|---|
| Lookup latency | Measure from the network and region where you browse. A nearby or well-routed resolver may behave differently from one on another ISP. |
| Reliability | Consider whether lookups continue to work for you and what happens if the resolver is unavailable. A second resolver can be configured as an alternate where the operating system supports it. |
| Privacy and encryption | Read the provider’s current data-handling policy. Encryption protects traffic in transit; it does not remove the need to trust the resolver. |
| Network compatibility | Check captive portals, VPN split DNS, parental controls, and workplace or private-network domains before keeping a public resolver as your permanent setting. |
Do not assume that two entries are always queried in a strict primary-then-backup order; resolver selection and failover behavior can vary by operating system and network configuration. If you need a managed work or VPN setup, follow its administrator’s instructions instead of replacing its DNS with public addresses.
Before you change DNS
- Record or photograph the DNS addresses currently shown for the active network. If the setting is automatic, note that too.
- Identify whether the active connection is Wi-Fi or Ethernet. DNS settings on another, inactive service will not test the connection you are using.
- Decide whether you need IPv4, IPv6, or both. An IPv4-only change does not replace IPv6 DNS settings when the connection also uses IPv6.
- Plan to test several unrelated public domains and, if applicable, a VPN or local domain and a captive portal.
Change DNS in Windows 11
Enter DNS addresses
- Open Start > Settings > Network & internet.
- Choose Wi-Fi or Ethernet, then select the connected network.
- Next to IP assignment, select Edit. Choose Manual, then enable IPv4. Enable IPv6 too only if you intend to configure IPv6 DNS.
- Enter the resolver address in Preferred DNS and, if desired, a second address in Alternate DNS. Save the change. Use addresses for the same IP version as the section you enabled.
Windows documents the automatic option this way: “When you select Automatic (DHCP), the IP address settings and DNS server address setting are set automatically by your router or other access point (recommended).” If you want the router or access point to provide DNS again, return to IP assignment and select Automatic (DHCP).
Set DNS-over-HTTPS if appropriate
Windows 11’s manual IP settings offer DNS-over-HTTPS choices: off, an automatic template, or a manual template, along with a control for falling back to plaintext DNS. These controls determine whether DNS queries use an encrypted HTTPS connection where supported; they do not change which resolver you trust. If you select a manual template, use the resolver provider’s current template rather than guessing one. Disabling plaintext fallback can improve the consistency of encryption, but may prevent resolution on a network or resolver that cannot use the configured encrypted path.
Verify the Windows setting
In Command Prompt, run:
ipconfig /all | findstr /c:"DNS Servers"
Check the DNS server entries for the active adapter. If old results appear to persist, open an elevated Command Prompt and run:
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ipconfig /flushdns
That clears the local DNS cache; it does not repair a wrong address, unavailable resolver or network policy conflict.
Change DNS in macOS
Set DNS for the active network service
- Open Apple menu > System Settings > Network.
- Select the active Wi-Fi or Ethernet service, then click Details.
- Click DNS. Use Add to enter an IPv4 or IPv6 resolver address.
- If you want the new resolver to be preferred over old entries, remove the old DNS entries after recording them. Click OK to apply the change.
DNS is configured per network service, so verify that you edited the service currently carrying your traffic. Search domains are separate from DNS server addresses. Leave search domains unchanged unless your workplace or private network requires them. Apple describes the settings path as: “To change these settings, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Network in the sidebar, click a network service, click Details, then click DNS.”
Restore the prior macOS configuration
Reopen the same service’s DNS list. Remove the addresses you added and restore the saved entries, or use the service’s prior automatic configuration if it obtained DNS automatically. Then test the public and private names you rely on.
Change DNS in Linux
Linux does not have one universal DNS settings screen or file. The right method depends on the distribution and which network service manages the connection. NetworkManager is common on desktop distributions; systems using systemd-resolved may also have per-link resolver settings. Configure DNS through the manager that owns the active connection rather than assuming a manually edited file will persist.
NetworkManager desktops
Open the network settings for your distribution, edit the active connection, and enter DNS addresses in its IPv4 and, if required, IPv6 settings. Reconnect or reactivate the connection so the new values take effect. Labels and exact screen layouts differ by distribution and desktop environment, so look for the active connection’s IPv4 and IPv6 configuration rather than relying on one universal menu path.
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Before changing a setting that controls address assignment, check how the connection gets its IP address. You generally want to change DNS without accidentally replacing required DHCP-provided IP, gateway or routing information. If you are on a managed workplace network, check with its administrator.
systemd-resolved systems
Use NetworkManager to set DNS when it manages the connection. Otherwise, configure systemd-resolved through /etc/systemd/resolved.conf or a drop-in appropriate to your system, then reload or restart the service as appropriate for that configuration. The exact commands and persistence behavior depend on the distribution and its service setup; do not apply a service-restart command blindly to a system that uses a different resolver manager.
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Inspect active per-link DNS with:
resolvectl status
Check the output for the link carrying your traffic and confirm that the DNS servers shown are the ones you intended to set. On systems that use DNS-over-TLS through systemd-resolved, configuration can use an address followed by a verification hostname and a DNSOverTLS=yes setting. Use the resolver provider’s required hostname and your distribution’s documentation; an encrypted-DNS setting is not interchangeable with an ordinary DNS address.
Why not simply edit /etc/resolv.conf?
Cloudflare’s Linux guidance says, “On most Linux distributions, /etc/resolv.conf controls which DNS resolver the system uses.” But that does not mean it is the durable configuration point. The file may be a symlink or generated and managed by NetworkManager, systemd-resolved, a DHCP client, or another service. A direct edit can be overwritten at reconnection or reboot. Configure the manager responsible for the active connection; inspect the file’s ownership and symlink status before treating it as a permanent settings file.
Test the change and revert if it causes problems
- Reconnect if the platform requires it, then verify the active adapter or link reports the intended DNS servers.
- Visit or resolve several unrelated public domain names. One successful site is not enough to confirm that every lookup path is healthy.
- Test a workplace, home-only or VPN domain if you use one, and test a captive-portal network if that applies to your normal use.
- If any important lookup fails, restore the saved DNS addresses or return the connection to automatic DNS/DHCP. Disconnect and reconnect the network, then test again.
For Windows, recheck ipconfig /all; use ipconfig /flushdns from an elevated Command Prompt if cached answers may be confusing the test. On Linux, inspect resolvectl status or the active NetworkManager connection. On macOS, reopen the active service’s DNS list. If restoring DNS does not recover access, check whether a VPN, proxy, firewall, DHCP setting or captive portal is also involved.
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Troubleshooting common DNS-change problems
Websites do not resolve after saving
- Check for a typing error, an address entered under the wrong IP version, or a resolver that is unreachable from the current network.
- Verify the address on the active adapter or link rather than another network service.
- Restore the previous settings or automatic DNS first. Once connectivity is back, retry with the resolver provider’s documented addresses.
Some websites work, but a work or VPN domain does not
The private name may only be available through a workplace resolver or VPN split-DNS configuration. Restore the managed DNS settings or ask the network administrator how public and private queries should be handled together. A public resolver alone is not a substitute for an organization’s internal DNS.
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Captive portals may rely on the network’s DNS behavior during sign-in. Return DNS to automatic/DHCP, reconnect, and complete the portal sign-in. Cloudflare warns that static DNS can interfere with captive portals; only reapply a custom resolver if the network works correctly afterward.
The old DNS server still appears
Confirm you changed the active connection, reconnect, and check the platform’s reported DNS configuration again. On Windows, clear the local cache with ipconfig /flushdns if needed. On Linux, use resolvectl status to inspect per-link values and check which service manages the connection. On macOS, confirm the correct network service was edited and review whether older DNS entries remain.
Linux settings disappear after reconnecting or rebooting
This commonly indicates that a network manager, DHCP client or resolver service owns and regenerates the configuration. Set DNS in that manager or its supported configuration file instead of relying on a direct edit to a generated /etc/resolv.conf.
Encrypted DNS fails or falls back to plaintext
Check that the resolver address and encrypted-DNS template or verification hostname match the provider’s current documentation. On Windows, review the DNS-over-HTTPS mode and fallback setting; on Linux, check the systemd-resolved configuration if it is in use. A network may block or fail to support the encrypted route. If resolution is more important than enforcing encryption on that network, restore a working supported setting rather than leaving DNS unavailable.
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ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server, not a DNS resolver, so it does not change DNS or make browsing faster. If you are documenting a website after changing network settings, its API can return a screenshot in one request. The following example captures a page as WebP; see the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for parameters and response details.
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp
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Frequently Asked Questions
Will changing DNS make every website load faster?
No. It can affect the time needed to look up a domain, not the bandwidth of your connection or every other part of a page load. The effect varies by network and resolver.
Can I use a different DNS server on Wi-Fi and Ethernet?
Yes. Windows, macOS and Linux network managers can associate settings with a particular connection or service. Change and verify the connection you are actually using.
Does DNS-over-HTTPS hide my browsing from everyone?
No. It encrypts DNS traffic in transit to the resolver, but it does not make the resolver anonymous or eliminate the need to consider the provider’s data policy.
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