chrome://net-internals/#dns – How to Clear Your DNS Cache in Google Chrome

chrome://net-internals/#dns is a Google Chrome URL to Clear the DNS cache. The feature is not available in general settings and to edit the DNS cache you have to visit this URL. In this article, We will walk you step by step and guide you to clear your DNS cache in Google Chrome.

Google Chrome is a popular web browser with over a billion users. Almost 80% of the internet is browsed using Google Chrome. Due to such heavy usage, every data is cached on Google Chrome to speed up the browsing. However, for some reason, if someone wants to Clear their DNS cache, it might get difficult as the process is a little complex. Thankfully, we have found an easy solution for you to clear your DNS cache on Google Chrome quickly.

How to Clear DNS Cache?

Clearing the DNS cache on Google Chrome is a lengthy process. To simplify this, we have broken down the whole process in a step-by-step guide with screenshots for easy understanding. Just follow the steps mentioned below and you will be able to Clear the DNS cache without any problem.

Step 1: Visit chrome://net-internals/#dns

On your PC or mobile, open Chrome browser and type in the following text in the URL bar “chrome://net-internals/#dns” (Without quotes).

Step 2: Clear Host Cache

Under DNS Lookup, search for “Host resolver cache” and click the button next to it that says “Clear Host Cache”.

Step 3: Restart Chrome

Once you click the “Clear Host Cache” button, nothing will happen and no successfully executed type message will be displayed but in the background, the process is done and you have successfully flushed the DNS cache on Chrome.

Now, close the Chrome browser completely and relaunch it.

Step 4: visit chrome://net-internals/#sockets

The next step is to visit chrome://net-internals/#sockets on your Chrome browser by visiting the link directly or clicking the “Sockets” option in net internals.

Step 5: Flush Socket Pools

under the Sockets tab, click the “Flush Socket Pools” button, and restart your Chrome browser.

Now you have successfully flushed all the DNS cache on your browser and you can freely visit any website without getting DNS error or any other error.

What is DNS Cache

As of now, we know how to solve DNS-related errors by flushing the DNS cache but what exactly is the DNS cache? A DNS cache is a record of the IP address of the website you are visiting. Every domain name has a unique server IP to access the files DNS or Domain name server is responsible for mapping these domains to the relevant IP address.

These records are generally stored on your browser such as Chrome. Sometimes, the server IP changes or the website is moved to a new domain, in such conditions, the Locally cached DNS is not able to detect the IP and you might get various DNS-related issues.

Why you should Flush out the DNS cache?

Flushing out the DNS cache means you are removing the existing DNS records of the websites that you visited in the past. If your previously visited website is not opening due to bad DNS cache then flushing the Cache is the best option.

After flushing the Cache, whenever you visit a website, the browser will ask for the IP and other details again and update it in the DNS records locally.

What is chrome://net-internals/?

chrome://net-internals provides the browser activities-related information and helps debug various Socket, DNS, Domain Security Policy, and proxy-related issues. Net internals are very useful for troubleshooting issues like DNS problems, clearing bad proxies, reapplying proxy settings, flushing socket Pools, and Removing a domain from the Security Policy.

The net internals network viewer has been moved to another URL chrome://net-export. You can visit this URL to start logging into the disk.

How to Clear DNS Cache on Chrome Mobile App

Android

Step 1: To Clear DNS Cache on the Chrome Android app open the app on your mobile and visit this URL – chrome://net-internals

Step 2: Now click the DNS option from the left-side menu and click the “Clear host Cache” button.

Step 3: Visit the Sockets option from the same left-side menu and click the “Flush socket pools” button

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Step 4: Restart your Chrome browser by clearing it from the Recent Apps section and opening it again. This will reflect the changes you just made and all DNS cache data will be removed from the Chrome Android app.

iOS

The Chrome app doesn’t have a direct option to clear the DNS Cache from the browser. Instead, we will follow a different method to flush the DNS cache using iOS settings.

Note: This will flush the DNS cache for all browsers.

Step 1: On your iOS device, click the Settings app and choose General Settings.

Step 2: Select the Transfer or Reset Phone option from the menu and select “Reset” when asked.

Step 3: On the following window, click Reset Network Settings and confirm that you want to reset network settings if prompted.

Finally, Open the Chrome Browser and visit the website that was previously giving you the DNS error. If it doesn’t work please restart your iOS device to apply the changes we made.

Final Words

chrome://net-internals/#dns is a URL that helps you to visit Chrome net internals to debug Chrome activity and make necessary changes to DNS and others. In DNS, it allows you to flush the DNS Cache and reset it to solve any DNS error on Google Chrome.

Please let us know if you have any questions regarding chrome net internals or DNS cache by commenting below.