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What Should I Do If Nothing Changes After Flush DNS?

Posted by Flush on April 27, 2011 | Category: FAQ

Sometimes flushing the DNS cache does not solve the problem because the underlying issue lies elsewhere. Understanding why this happens and what alternative steps you can take will help you resolve the situation.

Why Flushing DNS May Not Help

DNS flushing only clears your local cache. It does not affect DNS servers upstream from your computer. If the DNS records have not fully propagated across the global DNS infrastructure, flushing your local cache will not make the correct records appear any sooner.

DNS propagation can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours or more, depending on the TTL values set on the DNS records and how quickly each DNS server in the chain updates its cache.

Workaround: Edit Your Hosts File

If you need to access a domain that is pointing to the wrong IP address and flushing DNS has not helped, you can manually override DNS resolution by editing your hosts file. The hosts file is located at:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

Open this file with a text editor running as administrator and add an entry in the following format:

[IP address] [domain name]

For example:

192.168.1.1 example.com

This tells your computer to use the specified IP address for that domain, bypassing DNS resolution entirely. Remember to remove the hosts file entry once DNS has fully propagated, as it will prevent your system from picking up future DNS changes for that domain.

Other Things to Try

  • Clear your browser cache: Your web browser may be caching old DNS or page data independently of the operating system. Clear the browser cache and cookies, then try again.
  • Try a different DNS server: Switch to a public DNS server such as Google DNS (8.8.8.8) or Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1). Your ISP's DNS servers may be slower to update than public alternatives.
  • Check with your hosting provider: Contact your hosting provider or domain registrar to confirm that DNS records are correctly configured and that propagation is underway.
  • Wait for propagation: In some cases, the only solution is to wait for DNS propagation to complete across all servers worldwide.