How to Change Your DNS on iPhone and iPad (iOS/iPadOS)

Why change your DNS on iPhone and iPad

Your iPhone normally uses whatever DNS server your Wi-Fi router hands out via DHCP — usually your ISP’s default resolver. That resolver is often slower and less private than public alternatives. Switching to a faster, privacy-respecting resolver can shave time off the lookup that happens just before a page or app starts loading, though it won’t change your actual download speed.

Before you start, run the DNS speed test on your iPhone or iPad’s own connection to see which resolver responds fastest. Copy its primary and secondary addresses, then follow the steps above. If you want to compare more options first, browse the full list of public DNS servers.

This setting is per Wi-Fi network — and doesn’t touch cellular

The Manual DNS setting you configure under Settings → Wi-Fi → (i) only applies to that one Wi-Fi network. If you connect to a different Wi-Fi network — at work, a coffee shop, a friend’s house — it will use whatever DNS that network hands out unless you repeat the steps there too. It also has no effect on cellular data; iOS does not expose a manual DNS setting for the cellular connection.

If you want DNS control that follows you across every network, including cellular, you have two options:

Option 1: A DNS configuration profile

Apple lets you install a signed configuration profile that sets an encrypted DNS resolver (DNS-over-HTTPS or DNS-over-TLS) system-wide, covering Wi-Fi and cellular alike. Cloudflare, Quad9, and several other providers publish free .mobileconfig profiles for this. After installing one from Cloudflare’s official site (https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/), go to:

Settings → General → VPN & Device Management

and confirm the profile is installed and enabled. You can remove it at any time from the same screen.

Option 2: The 1.1.1.1 app

Cloudflare’s free 1.1.1.1: Faster Internet app (App Store) installs a local VPN-style DNS profile that encrypts and routes all DNS queries — Wi-Fi and cellular — through Cloudflare’s resolver, without a full VPN tunnel unless you turn WARP on. It’s the simplest way to get always-on encrypted DNS on iOS without manually managing profiles.

How to enable encrypted DNS (DoH/DoT) per network

The Manual DNS screen under Wi-Fi settings only accepts plain IP addresses — it does not support DNS-over-HTTPS or DNS-over-TLS directly. To get encrypted DNS on a specific network (or system-wide), you need a configuration profile or an app like 1.1.1.1, as described above. This is different from Windows, which exposes a DNS-over-HTTPS toggle right in the network settings, or Android, which has a built-in Private DNS (DNS-over-TLS) field — iOS requires a profile or app for either.

Verify it worked

After tapping Save, reload this site and run the DNS speed test again from your iPhone or iPad — the resolver you configured should now show up as the one actually in use, and if you picked the fastest one, it should sit at the top of the results.

You can also check the assigned servers directly:

1. Go back to Settings → Wi-Fi → (i) for your network.
2. Confirm Configure DNS still shows Manual with your entered addresses listed.

If an app or website misbehaves, try opening Safari and loading a site you haven’t visited recently — a fresh DNS lookup will use the new resolver immediately, since iOS does not require a reboot for this change.

Troubleshooting

• A specific website won’t load. Go back to Configure DNS, switch back to Automatic, and try a different resolver. A single site failing to resolve is almost always unrelated to your choice of DNS.
• Captive portals (hotel, airport Wi-Fi) won’t appear. Public Wi-Fi login pages sometimes rely on the network’s own DNS to redirect you. Temporarily switch Configure DNS back to Automatic until you’re logged in, then switch back to Manual.
• The change didn’t seem to apply. Make sure you tapped Save on the Configure DNS screen, not just the back arrow — an unsaved manual entry silently reverts to Automatic.
• It’s fast on Wi-Fi but slow on cellular. Expected — manual DNS via Settings → Wi-Fi only affects that Wi-Fi network. Use a configuration profile or the 1.1.1.1 app if you also want it on cellular.

Revert to automatic

To undo the change, go back to Settings → Wi-Fi → (i) → Configure DNS, tap Automatic, and tap Save. Your iPhone or iPad will immediately resume using the DNS servers assigned by your Wi-Fi router. If you installed a configuration profile or the 1.1.1.1 app, remove it from Settings → General → VPN & Device Management (or delete the app) to fully revert.