Your DNS cache stores the locations (IP addresses) of web servers that contain web pages which you have recently viewed. If the location of the web server/site changes before the entry in your DNS cache updates, your site will still load from the old location. Some clues for this could be 404 errors or changes that you make not appearing. Those can indicate that your DNS cache needs to be updated to redirect towards the new location.
The following methods allow you to remove old and inaccurate DNS information.
Windows
To clear your DNS cache if you use Windows 7, perform the following steps:
- Click Start.
- Enter cmd in the Start menu search text box.
- Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
- Run the following command: ipconfig /flushdns
MacOS 10.10
To clear your DNS cache if you use MacOS X version 10.10, perform the following steps:
- Click Applications.
- Click Utilities.
- Click Terminal.
- Run the following command: sudo discoveryutil mdnsflushcache
- If the command succeeds, the system does not return any output.