When websites fail to load but your internet connection works, DNS is usually the culprit. This guide walks through flushing DNS cache, switching DNS servers, resetting the network stack, and diagnosing stubborn DNS failures.
In this guide
Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run: ipconfig /flushdns. This clears the local DNS resolver cache which may contain stale or corrupt entries. You should see "Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache." Then run ipconfig /registerdns to re-register DNS names. This fixes the majority of "site not loading" issues instantly.
In an elevated Command Prompt run these three commands in order: netsh winsock reset — netsh int ip reset — ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew. Restart your PC after. This resets the entire network stack to defaults and resolves issues caused by VPN software, malware, or corrupted network drivers.
Go to Settings → Network & Internet → Change adapter options → right-click your connection → Properties → Internet Protocol Version 4 → Use the following DNS server addresses. Set Preferred to 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 8.8.8.8 (Google) and Alternate to 1.0.0.1 or 8.8.4.4. These public DNS servers are faster and more reliable than most ISP-provided DNS servers.
Malware sometimes modifies C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts to redirect domains. Open Notepad as Administrator, open that file, and look for any suspicious entries pointing your target domains to 127.0.0.1 or unknown IPs. Remove any entries that should not be there. The default hosts file has only commented lines (starting with #).
Press Win + R, type services.msc. Find "DNS Client," right-click → Restart. If it is set to Disabled, change Startup type to Automatic. The DNS Client service caches DNS lookups — if it crashes or hangs, all DNS resolution fails even though your internet connection is working fine.
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