How to Change Your DNS Servers on a Mac for Faster Internet

Every time you type a website address like “google.com” into your browser, your Mac needs to translate that human-readable name into a numerical IP address (like 142.250.190.46) that computers can understand. This translation process is handled by a Domain Name System (DNS) server. By default, your Mac uses the DNS servers provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Unfortunately, ISP-provided DNS servers are often slow, unreliable, and sometimes used to track your browsing habits or serve you advertisements. Switching to a reputable, free public DNS provider—such as Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8)—can instantly improve your web browsing speed, reliability, and privacy. Here is how to easily change your DNS settings on macOS.

Step 1: Open Your Network Settings

The process of changing your DNS servers is done entirely through the native macOS System Settings application. You do not need to download any third-party software.

1. Click the Apple logo () in the top-left corner of your menu bar.
2. Select System Settings from the drop-down menu. (If you are using an older version of macOS, this will be called System Preferences).
3. In the left-hand sidebar, click on Network.
4. On the right side of the window, click on your active internet connection. This will usually be labelled Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and will have a green dot indicating it is connected.

Step 2: Access Advanced DNS Configuration

Once you are looking at your active network connection, you need to dig one level deeper to find the manual DNS overrides.

1. Click the Details… button next to your connected network name. (On older macOS versions, click the Advanced… button in the bottom right corner).
2. In the new window that appears, look at the sidebar on the left and click on DNS.
3. You will see a box labelled “DNS Servers”. There will likely be a greyed-out IP address already in the list (usually the IP address of your home router, like 192.168.1.1).

Step 3: Add Your New DNS Servers

You can now add the IP addresses of your preferred DNS provider. We highly recommend Cloudflare for maximum speed and privacy, or Google for general reliability.

1. Click the small + (plus) button at the bottom of the DNS Servers box.
2. Type in your primary DNS server. For Cloudflare, type exactly: 1.1.1.1
3. Press Enter on your keyboard.
4. Click the + button again to add the secondary (backup) server. For Cloudflare, type: 1.0.0.1
5. Press Enter.
6. (Optional) If you prefer Google Public DNS, you would use 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 instead.
7. Click the OK button at the bottom of the window to save your changes.

How to Verify the Change

Your Mac will immediately begin using the new DNS servers you specified. To ensure you are getting the full benefit, you should flush your Mac’s DNS cache to remove any old, saved IP addresses.

To do this, open the Terminal application (found in Applications > Utilities), type sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder, press Enter, and type your administrator password.

Your browsing experience should now be noticeably snappier, particularly when loading websites for the first time.