How To Clear Your DNS Cache in Mac OS X

OS X 11 (El Capitan) and OS X 12 (Sierra)

macbook$ sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Mac OS Versions 10.10.4+

macbook$ sudo dscacheutil -flushcache;sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

MacOS® 10.10 (Yosemite)

To clear your DNS cache if you use MacOS X version 10.10, perform the following steps:

• Click Applications.
• Click Utilities.
• Click the Terminal application.
• Run the following command:
  sudo discoveryutil mdnsflushcache *
• If the command succeeds, the system does not return any output.

MacOS 10.7, 10.8, and 10.9

To clear your DNS cache if you use MacOS X version 10.7, 10.8, or 10.9, perform the following steps:

• Click Applications.

• Click Utilities.

• Double-click the Terminal application.

• Run the following command:
  sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder *

• If the command succeeds, the system does not return any output.

MacOS 10.5 and 10.6

To clear your DNS cache if you use MacOS X version 10.5 or 10.6, perform the following steps:

• Click Applications.
• Click Utilities.
• Double-click the Terminal application.
• Run the following command:
  sudo dscacheutil -flushcache *

• If the command was successful, the system does not return any output.

  • To run this command, you must know the computer's administrator account password.