When you browse the Internet, your computer stores relevant information about the websites you visit. It does this in order to display the page much faster, as well as reduce the load on the server when you decide to visit that site again.

These contents are stored both by browsers and by your own operating system. Over time, many of these contents expire and produce the opposite effect, that is, they take up unnecessary disk space, slowing down their performance and becoming a target for malicious code to track your online behavior.

With Flush DNS you will be able to solve this type of problem. Below you will find how to do it in a simple way on your computer.

What is DNS Flush?

It is about the emptying or elimination of the information stored in your equipment or computer by the DNS servers, in charge of resolving the addresses of web pages on the network.

The saved data includes the name of the server, the domain visited, the period of validity of this registration and its type. If you want to know what data is stored on your computer and you're using Windows, go to the command prompt and type the command ipconfig /displaydns.

The validity period or Time to Live (TTL) is expressed in seconds. While this period is active, the resolution of the electronic address will be carried out through the stored data, without the need to go through the server.

There is no ideal time to do this cleaning, because doing it too often can interfere with the main function of this type of cache. Some people tend to do this as part of a general equipment clean every 6 months.

But, if you happen to observe that your navigation and your equipment become slow and heavy, it is a good practice to carry out this cleaning as a way of discarding.

There are mechanisms to perform this action and they are adapted to the operating system that your computer uses. Here you will learn how to do it.

Benefits of applying Flush DNS

There are a number of benefits you will achieve by cleaning your computer. Some of them are:

Prevent browsing tracking

On the network there are countless codes aimed at obtaining user information and generating profiles, both for advertising purposes and others not so clear. Although the information provided by the DNS is not the main objective, it always provides good indications of behavior.

Reduce the risk of attacks

Because these logs have page address resolution preference, attackers can access this file and divert your access to fake websites, through which they obtain sensitive information such as access data to your bank accounts or applications. of payment.

Solve technical problems accessing pages

It is possible that during your navigation you access a site and the information returned is not updated. To force the refreshing of this data, you must eliminate all previous information from the registry, so the network's DNS system will be responsible for offering the response to the browser's request.

How to clear the DNS cache on your computer?

The procedure is simple to perform. Everything will depend on the operating system with which you work.

How to clear the DNS cache in Windows

For this you need to enter the command window of the operating system. Press the Windows key + R at the same time and when the Run window comes out, type cmd and press a click on the OK button or the “Enter” key.

The operating system command window will then appear. Enter the command ipconfig/flushdns and press the Enter key, after a few seconds a message should appear stating “DNS resolver cache successfully flushed”.

This will be the indication that everything has been processed with total success.

How to clear the DNS cache on Linux

In Ubuntu, to access the command window, click on the Activities option located in the upper left region. In the search bar enter the word Terminal.

Next, type the command sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches and press the Enter key. This will ask you to enter the password and then proceed to delete all records.

In other distributions, the command window must be activated in the same way, but the instruction to execute changes to sudo /etc/init.d/dns-clean start.

How to clear DNS cache on Mac OS

To perform this procedure on a Mac, it is also necessary to enter the command window and this can be done by pressing the F4 key and then typing the word Terminal.

In case the version of your operating system is:

MAC OS Sierra

X El Capitan

X-Mavericks

X Mountain Lion or X.

Use the command:

sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

If you work with MAC OS X Yosemite:

Use the command:

sudo discoveryutil udnsflushcaches

If your version is MAC OS X Snow Leopard

Use the command:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

Finally, if your operating system is MAC OS X Leopard or earlier than this

Use the command:

sudo lookupd -flushcache

Conclution

flush dnsrefers to the cleaning or elimination of web page access records, which are stored on your computer in order to speed up the response to browser requests by reducing server processing.

Although the advantage of having shorter response times is notable, over time these records can work against us. Either as a means of scanning our activity on the network, as a form of attack or generating technical problems when browsing.

There is no ideal average time to perform this cleaning. The truth is that some people implement it as part of their equipment maintenance every 6 months, but it will also depend on how you feel the flow of the equipment at the time of navigation.

Performing the cleaning is very easy, since it is only necessary to access the command window of your operating system and execute the appropriate instruction, in this way you will eliminate all the information and force the servers to provide you with updated pages and create a new record.

Thanks for your time, ;-)