The Domain Name System (DNS) translates website domain names from human readable format into numeric IP addresses. This allows you to type a readable domain name like www.microsoft.com, instead of a numeric ip address. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) automatically connects you to a DNS server when you access the internet on your Windows computer.
There are many free DNS servers you can use to speed up or make your internet more secure. You can change your DNS in Windows if you want to configure your internet to use more reliable, secure, and faster servers. Some popular DNS servers include Cloudflare, Google, and Cisco. You can easily set DNS servers using the two methods outlined below.
How to change your DNS in the Settings menu
- Open Settings⚙ and click on Network & Internet.
- Select the Ethernet tab, then under DNS server assignment click Edit.
- Open the dropdown menu and select Manual then turn on the IPv4 toggle.
- Under Preferred DNS type the IP address of the new DNS server.
- Under Alternate DNS type the IP address of the new alternate DNS server, then click Save.
Note: Under the Preferred/Alternate DNS encryption sections select the Encrypted only (DNS over HTTPS) to enable DNS encryption on your PC.
How to change your DNS in Control Panel
- Open Start ⊞ and type control panel in the search bar and launch control panel.
- Click Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.
- Click Change adapter settings from the list on the left pane.
- Locate and right-click the Network adapter and select Properties.
- Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) from the list and then click Properties.
- Under Use the following DNS server addresses, type the IP address of the new DNS server and the new alternate DNS server.
- Click OK and then Close to finish changing the DNS server.
Note: Changing DNS settings with this method does not enable you to set up DNS over HTTPS.
