If you are trying to visit a specific website and your web browser returns a “Site Cannot Be Reached” error, but every other website on the internet loads perfectly fine, you likely have a corrupted DNS cache. Your computer acts like a digital phonebook, storing the IP addresses of websites you visit frequently to speed up loading times. If a website changes its server address, but your computer still has the old, invalid address memorized in its “cache,” it will fail to connect. The fastest way to fix this in Windows 11 is to flush the DNS cache.
How to Open the Command Prompt
To flush the cache, you must use a simple, single-line text command.
- Click the Start button (the Windows logo) on your taskbar.
- In the search bar at the top, type the word cmd.
- The best match will be an application called Command Prompt.
- Do not just click it. Look at the right-hand panel and click Run as administrator. (Flushing network settings requires elevated privileges).
- A User Account Control popup will ask if you want to allow this app to make changes to your device. Click Yes.
A black terminal window with white text will appear.
How to Run the Flush Command
Inside the black Command Prompt window, you will see a blinking cursor next to C:\Windows\System32>.
- Type the following command exactly as written (note the single space after ipconfig):
ipconfig /flushdns - Press the Enter key.
The process is instantaneous. Within one second, the terminal will print a success message: “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.”
You can now type exit and press Enter to close the black window. Go back to your web browser and refresh the page that was failing to load. By deleting the corrupted memory, Windows 11 was forced to go out to the internet, look up the fresh, correct IP address for the website, and establish a new connection.