DNS server isn't responding, explained and fixed

The Windows troubleshooter reports “Your DNS server might be unavailable”, often shown as “DNS server isn’t responding”, when the PC cannot turn a website name into an address. DNS is the phone book of the internet, so when it fails, every site fails even though the Wi-Fi itself is connected.

The fix, in order

  1. Restart the router and the device. A hung router DNS service is a common cause, and a restart clears it.
  2. Flush the DNS cache. Open Command Prompt as administrator and run ipconfig /flushdns.
  3. Try a different DNS server. Open the adapter properties, open Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), choose “Use the following DNS server addresses,” and enter 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, or 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1, then test. To check whether DNS answers at all, try a lookup with the DNS lookup tool.
  4. Restart the DNS Client service. Press Windows key plus R, type services.msc, find DNS Client, and restart it.
  5. Disable any VPN or proxy temporarily. A VPN or proxy that is down can block DNS, so turn it off and test. If the problem clears, the VPN or proxy is the cause.
  6. Reset the network stack. In an admin Command Prompt, run netsh winsock reset and netsh int ip reset, then restart.
Do not change DNS settings on a work or school device without checking first. Those networks often require their own DNS, and changing it can break access to internal resources.

If it still happens

If the problem affects every device on the network, the router or the internet provider's DNS is at fault, so try the public DNS servers above on one device to confirm, then restart or update the router. If only one device is affected after a stack reset, reinstall its Wi-Fi driver.

Common questions

What does “DNS server isn't responding” mean? It means the PC asked a DNS server to resolve a website name and got no answer. The Wi-Fi link can be fine while DNS is down, which is why the browser reports a DNS error instead of a connection error.

Is it safe to use 8.8.8.8 as a DNS server? Yes. 8.8.8.8 is a public DNS service run by Google, and 1.1.1.1 is run by Cloudflare. Both are widely used when a router or provider DNS server is unreliable.

Related errors

DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG · DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NO_INTERNET · Wi-Fi connected but no internet

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