How to Change Your DNS on Mac (macOS Ventura, Sonoma, and Sequoia)

Why change your DNS on a Mac

Out of the box, your Mac uses whatever DNS server your router or ISP hands out over DHCP. That resolver is not always the fastest or most private option available, and switching it costs nothing — it takes about a minute and applies instantly without a restart. A faster resolver shortens the lookup delay before a page starts loading; it will not change your actual internet speed.

Before you start, run the DNS speed test to see which resolver responds fastest from your connection, then use its addresses in the steps above. If you’d rather compare resolvers by their privacy and filtering features first, see the public DNS servers list.

Older macOS: System Preferences (Monterey and earlier)

If your Mac is running Monterey or older, the settings app is named System Preferences instead of System Settings, and the layout is slightly different:

1. Open System Preferences → Network.
2. Select your active connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) in the sidebar and click Advanced.
3. Select the DNS tab.
4. Click + under the DNS Servers list and add 1.1.1.1, then add 1.0.0.1 the same way.
5. Select any old entries and click − to remove them.
6. Click OK, then Apply.

The DNS tab layout is nearly identical across versions — only the path to reach it changed when Apple renamed System Preferences to System Settings in macOS Ventura.

Enabling encrypted DNS (DoH/DoT)

macOS does not expose a toggle for DNS-over-HTTPS or DNS-over-TLS in the Network settings UI the way Windows 11 does. To encrypt your DNS queries system-wide on a Mac, you need a configuration profile:

• Cloudflare publishes a one-click profile at 1.1.1.1 for macOS, which installs a DoH profile via System Settings → Privacy & Security → Profiles.
• Alternatively, third-party tools like DNSCloak or router-level DoH/DoT (configured on your router instead of each device) cover every device on your network at once.
• After installing a profile, confirm it’s active under System Settings → Network → VPN & Device Management (or Profiles on older versions).

If you don’t need encryption, plain DNS entered through the steps above still works fine and is what most people use.

Verify it worked

Open Terminal (Spotlight search for “Terminal”) and run:

scutil --dns

Look at the first resolver #1 block — the nameserver[0] entry should match the address you entered. You can also confirm actual resolution is using the new server with dig:

dig cloudflare.com | grep SERVER

To make sure you’re not seeing a stale, cached result, flush the local DNS cache:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Then reload this page and run the speed test again — your new resolver should show at the top of the results.

Troubleshooting

• A website won’t load. Remove the manual DNS entries (select each and click −), click Apply, and try a different resolver. A single broken site is almost never a DNS problem.
• scutil --dns still shows the old server. Wi-Fi and Ethernet each have their own DNS tab — make sure you edited the interface that’s actually connected. Also confirm you clicked Apply, not just OK.
• Changes revert after reconnecting to Wi-Fi. Some routers push DHCP-assigned DNS back to devices. Adding your own servers in the DNS tab should override DHCP, but if it keeps reverting, check for a VPN or MDM profile that might be resetting network settings.
• No noticeable speed difference. DNS only affects the lookup step before a connection starts. If pages still feel slow, the bottleneck is elsewhere — your ISP connection, Wi-Fi signal, or the site itself.

Revert to your old settings

To go back to your router’s default DNS, open the same DNS tab, select each manual entry you added, and click − until the list is empty, then click OK and Apply. With no servers listed, macOS resumes using DHCP-assigned DNS automatically.