Change your Mac's DNS server

Why it happens

DNS is how your Mac turns a website name into the address it connects to. By default it asks your router, which passes the question to your internet provider. If that service is slow or failing, websites hang before they load or don't open at all, even though your connection works.

How to fix it

1. Open the Apple menu, choose System Settings and click Wi-Fi. Click Details… next to the network you're connected to.

2. Click DNS in the sidebar of the window that opens.

   Wi-Fi›Details…›DNS

3. Under DNS Servers, click + and type a public server, such as 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8. Add a second one as a backup if you like, such as 1.0.0.1 or 8.8.4.4.

4. Click OK. Greyed-out entries came from your router, and the ones you add are used instead.

5. Using a cable? Open Network, click Ethernet, then Details… and DNS, and add the same servers there.

   Network›Ethernet›Details…›DNS

6. Open a website to check it loads normally.

Still not fixed?

1. Turn Wi-Fi off and on again, or restart your Mac. That clears addresses your Mac remembered from before the change.

2. Renew your connection to the router: in the same Details… window, click TCP/IP, then Renew DHCP Lease.

   Wi-Fi›Details…›TCP/IP

3. A VPN or iCloud Private Relay can use its own DNS and ignore yours. Turn off your VPN, or check Private Relay, then try again.

   Apple Account›iCloud›Private Relay

4. To go back to your router's DNS, select the servers you added and click the minus button, then click OK.

5. If no device on your network can load websites, restart the router and contact your internet provider. If only this Mac has trouble after all of this, contact Apple Support.