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Clear your DNS cache in OS X

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If you are having trouble viewing a newly created website, or are seeing an old version of your website after updating your domains DNS, your mac may not be using the current DNS entries from your server. If this is the case, you can choose to wait it out – We normally advise an hour or two, however – it’s simple to clear your DNS cache and pull the latest entries.

Please note that it’s not 100% guaranteed you will pull the latest DNS, as this can depend on other external factors such as if your internet service provider has received the DNS changes. DNS propagation should take no longer than 24 – 48 Hrs at most. As mentioned we normally see DNS propagation within a couple of hours so it can be worth waiting then trying again if the previous DNS cache clear did not help.


How to clear your local DNS Cache on OS X

Firstly, you will want to open a Terminal window by pressing the command key and space on your keyboard.

Once the terminal has been opened you will then need to run one of the commands below. The command you run will depend on the version of OS X you currently have installed. Simply find your version below, then run the command listed underneath by entering it in to your terminal and pressing enter


OS X 12 (Sierra) and later

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


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

macbook$ sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder


OS X 10.10 (Yosemite)

Versions 10.10.4+

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

Versions 10.10.1, 10.10.2, 10.10.3

macbook$ sudo discoveryutil udnsflushcaches


OS X 10.9 (Mavericks)

macbook$ dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder


OS X 10.7 (Lion) and 10.8 (Mountain Lion)

macbook$ sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder


OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and 10.6 (Snow Leopard)

macbook$ dscacheutil -flushcache


OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

macbook$ lookupd -flushcache


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