How to change DNS server address on Windows 11

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  • To change the DNS address on Windows 11, open

    Settings

    >

    Network &



    Internet

    and select

    “Ethernet”

    or

    “Wi-Fi.”

    Then, open the

    “DNS server assignment”

    settings

    and change the DNS address.
  • Also, on

    Command Prompt (admin)

    , you can use the

    “netsh interface ip set dns name=”Ethernet0″ static 1.1.1.1”

    command to change the DNS servers, and on

    PowerShell (admin)

    , you can use the

    “Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceIndex 12 -ServerAddresses 208.67.222.222”

    command.


UPDATED 7/16/2024:

On

Windows 11

(or any other computing system), Domain Name System (DNS) is a core technology of the internet and networks across the planet that translates domain names (X.com) into IP addresses (104.244.42.193) that computers can understand. Otherwise, it would be too difficult for us to remember a bunch of numbers for each website we want to visit or the device we have to connect.

Typically, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) supplies this configuration automatically to make connecting to your favorite websites and services easier. However, many other DNS resolvers on the internet are faster, more reliable, better in privacy, and more secure. Some of them include

Cloudflare

,

Google

, and

Cisco

.

If the current DNS servers are slow and unreliable and you want to boost your internet experience or you have privacy concerns about your ISP, you can change the DNS addresses on Windows 11 in at least four ways using the Settings app, Command Prompt, PowerShell, and Control Panel.

In this

guide

, I’ll teach you how to change the DNS servers on Windows 11. You can follow these instructions if you want to

set a new DNS server address along with a static IP configuration

.

  • Best DNS servers for Windows 11

  • Change DNS servers on Windows 11 from Settings

  • Change DNS servers on Windows 11 from Command Prompt

  • Change DNS servers on Windows 11 from PowerShell

  • Change DNS servers on Windows 11 from Control Panel

Best DNS servers for Windows 11

Cloudflare, OpenDNS, and Google are among the best companies that offer fast, reliable, and secure resolvers. However, you can always use any service you want.

Cloudflare DNS addresses

  • 1.1.1.1
  • 1.0.0.1

Google Public DNS addresses

  • 8.8.8.8
  • 8.8.4.4

OpenDNS by Cisco DNS addresses

  • 208.67.222.222
  • 208.67.220.220

I have been using Google DNS addresses for a long time, and they have been fast and reliable. Also, to ensure you get the best experience, you could set the primary DNS address of one service and then the primary address of another service. If one of the services is down, you will still have connectivity with the secondary address.

Change DNS servers on Windows 11 from Settings

If typing commands isn’t your thing, the Settings app is the best method for changing the DNS servers. You can also easily configure DNS over HTTPS (DoH), which offers more privacy and security by encrypting your computer’s inbound and outbound DNS traffic.

To change the Windows 11 DNS address from Settings, use these steps:

Open

Settings

on Windows 11.

Click on

Network & Internet

.

Click the

Ethernet

tab.

Click the

Edit

button under the “DNS server assignment” section.

DNS server assignment

Select the

Manual

option using the drop-down menu.

Turn on the

IPv4

toggle switch.

Confirm the DNS server IP address for

Cloudflare

,

Google

,

OpenDNS

, or another service under the “Preferred DNS” section.

Change DNS server with encryption

(Optional) Select the

“On (automatic template)”

option to

enable DNS encryption

under the “Preferred DNS encryption” section.

(Optional) Turn on the

“Fallback to plaintext”

toggle switch to send DNS requests unencrypted over plain text if DoH fails.

Confirm the IP address of the secondary DNS address under the “Alternate DNS” section.

(Optional) Select the

“On (automatic template)”

option to enable encryption for the secondary server under the “Alternative DNS encryption” section.

(Optional) Turn on the

“Fallback to plaintext”

toggle switch.

Click the

Save

button.

Once you complete the steps, the computer will continue to use a dynamic network address configuration, but it’ll now use the static DNS servers you specified.

If you want to undo the changes, you can use the same steps outlined above, but in

step 5

, choose the

“Automatic”

option and click the

“Save”

button.

Change DNS servers on Windows 11 from Command Prompt

The quickest way to change the DNS servers on Windows 11 is using Command Prompt, even though typing commands isn’t for everyone.

To change the DNS address with Command Prompt, use these steps:

Open

Start

.

Search for

Command Prompt

, right-click the top result, and select the

Run as administrator

option.

Type the following command to view the current networking configuration and press

Enter

:

Under the network adapter section, confirm the adapter’s name and

“IPv4”

and

“DNS Servers”

addresses.

Current DNS servers

Type the following command to set the new DNS server address on Windows 11 and press

Enter

:

In the command, change

“Ethernet0”

to the name of your adapter and

“1.1.1.1”

to the DNS server address for the service to use. You can also specify the address for the local DNS server (if applicable).

Type the following command to set an alternate DNS server address and press

Enter

:

In the command, change

“Ethernet0”

with the name of your adapter and

“1.0.0.1”

with the preferred alternate DNS server address.

Command Prompt change DNS servers

Once you complete the steps, you can use the

ipconfig /all

command to confirm the new configuration.

If you no longer have to use the custom addresses, you can remove the configuration to receive dynamic DNS IP addresses from the DHCP server by running the

netsh interface IP set DNS "ADAPTER-NAME" DHCP

command. In the command, change the

“ADAPTER-NAME”

for the name of your network adapter.

Change DNS servers on Windows 11 from PowerShell

You can also use the

NetTCPIP

module with PowerShell to manage the DNS server settings on Windows 11.

To change the DNS address from PowerShell on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open

Start

.

Search for

PowerShell

, right-click the result, and select the

Run as administrator

option.

Type the following command to view your current network configuration and press

Enter

:

Confirm the values for the

“InterfaceIndex”

and

“DNSServer”

in the command output.

Get-NetIPConfiguration

Type the following command to assign a primary DNS server address and press

Enter

:

Change DNS server with PowerShell

(Optional) If you need to set a secondary DNS server address, you can use the same command but add a comma and append the second address:

In the command, change the

“InterfaceIndex”

number to the one corresponding to your network adapter, and change

“ServerAddresses”

to the DNS address.

After you complete the steps, you can use these instructions to

check if network traffic is using the DNS resolver

you have configured.

If you no longer have to use the custom addresses, you can restore the IP addresses from the DHCP server by running the

Get-NetAdapter "ADAPTER-NAME" | Set-DnsClientServerAddress -ResetServerAddresses

command. In the command, change the

“ADAPTER-NAME”

for the name of your network adapter.

Change DNS servers on Windows 11 from Control Panel

Alternatively, it’s still possible to use the Control Panel to change the DNS settings on Windows 11.

To change the DNS address of Windows 11 from the legacy Control Panel, use these steps:

Open

Control Panel

.

Click on

Network and Internet

.

Click on

Network and Sharing Center

.

Click the

“Change adapter settings”

option from the left pane.

Change adapter settings

Right-click the network adapter and select the

Properties

option.

Select the

“Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)”

option.

Click the

Properties

button.

Control Panel network properties

Choose the

“Use the following DNS server addresses”

option to enable a DNS manual configuration.

Confirm the

“Preferred DNS server,”

which is the server address of

Cloudflare

,

Google

,

OpenDNS

, or another service.

Control Panel change DNS server

(Optional) Specify the

“Alternative DNS server”

and the DNS address your device will use if it can’t reach the preferred server address.

Click the

OK

button.

Click the

Close

button.

Once you complete the steps, you can confirm the new configuration using services like the

DNS leak test

.

You can always restore the DHCP configuration for the DNS addresses using the same steps, but in

step 8

, choose the

“Obtain DNS server address automatically”

option and click the

“OK”

button.

You can specify any DNS server on Windows 11 using the Control Panel, but you won’t be able to turn on the “DNS over HTTPS” feature. You can only do this from the Settings app. It’s possible to enable DoH through Command Prompt, but it’s not a supported option.

Whatever method you use, make sure to use the correct IP address for the DNS server. Otherwise, you won’t be able to connect to the internet. Also, it shouldn’t be necessary, but I have experienced in the past that a restart may be needed for the system to apply the settings.

It’s important to note that you can change the DNS server addresses on Windows 11. However, the best approach is configuring the DHCP server (usually the router) to deploy these addresses to all the local network computers automatically. You should only proceed with this configuration on your computer when you don’t have control over the network or have a specific network requirement to use a different address.


Update July 16, 2024:

This guide has been updated to ensure accuracy and reflect changes to the process.

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