How to Change DNS Server on Windows 7, 8, Windows 10, and macOS

How to Change DNS Server on Windows 7, 8, Windows 10, and macOS
Highlights
  • Changing DNS could help load websites faster
  • It may help you open websites blocked on your network
  • It could help you browse the Web safely
Advertisement

DNS (Domain Name System) sounds like a scary abbreviation for something that’s actually very simple to understand. Simple put, it's a system that converts site addresses from machine-friendly numbers, into human-friendly names. If not for DNS, website names would look something like 93.184.16.12 instead of https://www.gadgets360.com.

To convert these numbers into addresses, your browser relies on a DNS Server, and although this will be set up by default, you can also change the DNS Server that you're using. There are a number of reasons for doing this, and the process itself is very simple.

Why would I want to change my DNS server?
Your Internet service provider (ISP) issues a DNS server to you by default. ISP provided DNS servers aren’t always the best as they may lead to speed and reliability issues, such as some websites not opening or taking too long to load.

These DNS servers may not be equipped with security features that you’d get if you used a DNS server such as Google DNS. There can be other uses for this, such as accessing blocked websites. If you want to use Google DNS you can change the DNS server to 8.8.8.8 and alternate server to 8.8.4.4 - OpenDNS uses 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220, or you can use any other DNS server you prefer.

If you are having issues with your Internet connection, changing the DNS server could be a fix. Here’s how to change the DNS server.

Windows
Follow these steps to change DNS servers on Windows. These steps will work on Windows 7, 8, or 10.

How to change DNS on Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10:

  1. Open Control Panel and select Network and Sharing Centre. Alternatively you can right-click the network status icon on the system tray (bottom-right of the screen, near volume controls).
  2. Click Change adapter settings on the left pane.
  3. Right-click the Internet connection you want to change DNS servers for and select Properties.
  4. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP / IPv4) and click Properties.
  5. Click the button next to Use the following DNS server addresses: and enter the DNS server addresses of your choice. Click OK when you’re done.

dns server change windows DNS

macOS
Here’s how to change DNS servers on a Mac:

  1. Go to System Preferences -> Network.
  2. Select the Internet connection you’re connected to, and click Advanced.
  3. Select the tab marked DNS.
  4. Click the DNS servers in the box on the left and click the - button.
  5. Now click the + button and add DNS servers of your choice.
  6. Click Okay when you're done to save the changes.

dns server change macos DNS

That’s how you change DNS servers on Windows machine or Mac. For more tutorials, visit our How To section.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: DNS, Change DNS, Internet, Windows, macOS
Gadgets 360 Staff
The resident bot. If you email me, a human will respond. More
Pre-Installed Malware Found on Range of Android Devices: Report
Sony Xperia XZ Price Cut in India, Now Available at Rs. 39,990
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »