How to enable DNS over HTTPS (DoH) on Windows 11

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  • To enable DoH on Windows 11, open

    Settings

    >

    Network & internet

    >

    Wi-Fi

    and manually configure the

    “DNS server assignment”

    setting.
  • To check DoH configuration, open

    Settings

    >

    Network & internet

    >

    Wi-Fi

    , and check the “IPv4 DNS servers” address, which should include an

    Encrypted

    label.

On

Windows 11

, you can enable DNS over HTTPS (DoH) for a more secure and private online browsing experience, and in this guide, I will teach you how to complete this configuration.


DNS over HTTPS

is a networking protocol designed to encrypt

Domain Name System (DNS)

queries using the

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)

protocol. The main purpose of DoH is to protect these queries and increase user privacy and security by stopping malicious individuals from viewing and manipulating DNS traffic originating from your computer to prevent

man-in-the-middle attacks

.

Web browsers like

Google Chrome

and

Mozilla Firefox

already support this additional layer of security, but Windows 11 now natively supports DoH, which you can configure in the Settings app.

This

guide

will teach you the steps to enable DNS over HTTPS on Windows 11, which will make your online experience a little more private.

Enable DNS over HTTPS (DoH) on Windows 11

To configure DNS over HTTPS (DoH) on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open

Start

on Windows 11.

Search for

Settings

and click the top result to open the app.

Click on

Network & internet

.

Click the

Ethernet

or

Wi-Fi

tab (depending on the active connection).

Click the

Edit

button in the “DNS server assignment” setting.

Open DNS settings on Windows 11

Select the

Manual

option from the drop-down menu.

Turn on the

IPv4

toggle switch.

Under the “Preferred DNS” and “Alternate DNS” sections, specify the primary and secondary DoH IP address from one of the supported services:


  • Cloudflare:
  • 1.1.1.1
  • 1.0.0.1

  • Google:
  • 8.8.8.8
  • 8.8.4.4

  • Quad9:
  • 9.9.9.9
  • 149.112.112.112

Enable DoH for IPv4

Use the “DNS over HTTPS” drop-down menu and select the

On (automatic template)

option, but you can also choose other encryption preferences, including:


  • Off:

    Transmits all DNS traffic without encryption.

  • On (automatic template):

    Sends all DNS traffic with encryption (recommended).

  • On (manual template):

    This option allows you to specify a specific template. It is only required if the DNS service doesn’t work automatically or has a template that works as expected.

Turn off the

“Fallback to plaintext”

toggle switch.

(Optional) Turn on the

IPv6

toggle switch.

Under the “Preferred DNS” and “Alternate DNS” sections, specify the primary and secondary DoH IP address from one of the supported services:


  • Cloudflare:
  • 2606:4700:4700::1111
  • 2606:4700:4700::1001

  • Google:
  • 2001:4860:4860::8888
  • 2001:4860:4860::8844

  • Quad9:
  • 2620:fe::fe
  • 2620:fe::fe:9

Enable DoH for IPv6

Select the

On (automatic template)

option in the “Preferred DNS encryption” setting.

Turn off the “Fallback to plaintext” toggle switch unless you want to allow traffic to be sent unencrypted when encryption isn’t available.

Click the

Save

button.

Once you complete the steps, Windows 11 will encrypt DNS traffic over the HTTPS protocol.

Check DNS over HTTPS status

To check if DoH is working on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open

Start

.

Search for

Settings

and click the top result to open the app.

Click on

Network & Internet

.

Click the

Ethernet

or

Wi-Fi

tab.

The “IPv4 DNS servers” address should include an

Encrypted

label under the “DNS server assignment” section.

Check DoH on Windows 11

After you complete the steps, you will know whether the DNS over HTTPS has been configured correctly on Windows 11.


Update May 7, 2024:

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

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