Windows 10: Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in Windows

How to: Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in Windows

How to Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in Windows


A DNS (Domain Name System) server is the service that makes it possible for you to open a web browser, type a domain name and load your favorite websites.

When you subscribe to an Internet connection with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) (ex: Cox, Comcast, AT&T, etc...) in your area, you will use their DNS server by default. If you like, you can use third-party DNS servers (ex: OpenDNS or Google Public DNS) instead, which could offer a variety of features that your ISP may not.

Sometimes the DNS servers are slow responding to requests, or they just are not reliable. Changing your default settings can improve your internet browsing experience.

This tutorial will show you how to change the IPv4 and IPv6 DNS server address in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to change the DNS server address.



Contents

• Option One: To Change DNS Server Address on Router
• Option Two: To Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in Control Panel
• Option Three: To Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in PowerShell
• Option Four: To Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in Command Prompt
• Option Five: To Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in Settings

OPTION ONE [/i] To Change DNS Server Address on Router
1 If you connect to the Internet via a router, then you may want to change the DNS address in your router settings instead so all devices that connect via the router will use this DNS address if the computer is set to Obtain DNS server address automatically.

You'll need to read the manual for how to change the DNS settings for your router's model number.









OPTION TWO [/i] To Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in Control Panel
1 Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Network and Sharing Center icon.

2 Click/tap on the Connections link (ex: "vEthernet (New Virtual Switch)") for your current network connection. (see screenshot below)



3 Click/tap on the Properties button. (see screenshot below)



4 In the Networking tab, select (highlight) Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) or Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) for which one you want to change, and click/tap on the Properties button. (see screenshot below)



5 Do step 6 (Obtain DNS automatically) or step 7 (Use custom DNS) below for what you want to do.


6. To Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically from ISP
This is the default setting.

A) In the General tab, select (dot) Obtain DNS server address automatically, click/tap on OK, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshots below)







7. To Use Custom or Third-party DNS Server Address
A) In the General tab, select (dot) Use the following DNS server addresses. (see screenshots below)

B) Enter the Preferred DNS server and Alternate DNS server addresses you want to use, click/tap on OK, and go to step 8 below.

[table][tr][td]Third-party DNS servers[/td] [td]Preferred IPv4 DNS server address[/td] [td]Alternate IPv4 DNS server address[/td] [td]Preferred IPv6 DNS server[/td] [td]Alternate IPv6 DNS server address[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Google Public DNS[/td] [td]8.8.8.8[/td] [td]8.8.4.4[/td] [td]2001:4860:4860:8888 OR 2001:4860:4860:0:0:0:0:8888[/td] [td]2001:4860:4860:8844 OR 2001:4860:4860:0:0:0:0:8844[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]OpenDNS[/td] [td]208.67.222.222[/td] [td]208.67.220.220[/td] [td]2620:0:ccc::2[/td] [td]2620:0:ccd::2[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]1.1.1.1 by Cloudflare[/td] [td]1.1.1.1[/td] [td]1.0.0.1[/td] [td]2606:4700:4700::1111[/td] [td]2606:4700:4700::1001[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Quad[/td] [td]9.9.9.9[/td] [td]149.112.112.112 (secure) OR 149.112.112.10 (unsecure)[/td] [td]2620:fe::fe (secure) OR 2620:fe::10 (unsecure)[/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Family filter)[/td] [td]185.228.168.168[/td] [td]185.228.168.169[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:1::[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:2::[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Adult filter)[/td] [td]185.228.168.10[/td] [td]185.228.168.11[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:1::1[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:2::1[/td] [/tr] [/table]






8 Click/tap on Close. (see screenshot below)



9 Click/tap on Close. (see screenshot below step 3)

10 You can now close the Network and Sharing Center if you like. (see screenshot below step 2)

11 If you like or needed, you can flush the DNS resolver cache to make sure the new DNS server is applied.





OPTION THREE [/i] To Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in PowerShell
1 Open an elevated PowerShell.

2 Enter the command below into the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and make note of the Interface Alias (ex: "Ethernet") you want to change the IPv4 or IPv6 DNS server address for. (see screenshot below)
Get-DnsClientServerAddress

You will also be able to see the current IPv4 and IPv6 DNS server addresses for network connections (InterfaceAlias).





3 Do step 4 (Obtain DNS automatically), step 5 (Change IPv4 DNS), or step 6 (Change IPv6 DNS) below for what you want to do.


4. To Obtain IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Addresses Automatically from ISP
This is the default setting.

A) Enter the command below you want to use into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

Set-DNSClientServerAddress "Interface Alias" -ResetServerAddresses

Substitute Interface Alias in the command above with the actual Interface Alias (ex: "Ethernet") from step 2 above.





5. To Change IPv4 DNS Server Address
A) Enter the command below you want to use into the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

Set-DNSClientServerAddress "Interface Alias" –ServerAddresses ("Preferred DNS address", "Alternate DNS address")

Substitute Interface Alias in the command above with the actual Interface Alias (ex: "Ethernet") from step 2 above.

Substitute Preferred DNS address in the command above with the actual preferred IPv4 DNS server address (see table below) you want to use for this network connection.

Substitute Alternate DNS address in the command above with the actual alternate IPv4 DNS server address (see table below) you want to use for this network connection.

For example: Set-DNSClientServerAddress "Ethernet" –ServerAddresses (“1.1.1.1”,”1.0.0.1”)


[table][tr][td]Third-party DNS servers[/td] [td]Preferred IPv4 DNS server address[/td] [td]Alternate IPv4 DNS server address[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Google Public DNS[/td] [td]8.8.8.8[/td] [td]8.8.4.4[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]OpenDNS[/td] [td]208.67.222.222[/td] [td]208.67.220.220[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]1.1.1.1 by Cloudflare[/td] [td]1.1.1.1[/td] [td]1.0.0.1[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Quad[/td] [td]9.9.9.9[/td] [td]149.112.112.112 (secure) OR 149.112.112.10 (unsecure)[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Family filter)[/td] [td]185.228.168.168[/td] [td]185.228.168.169[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Adult filter)[/td] [td]185.228.168.10[/td] [td]185.228.168.11[/td] [/tr] [/table]





6. To Change IPv6 DNS Server Address
A) Enter the command below you want to use into the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

Set-DNSClientServerAddress "Interface Alias" –ServerAddresses ("Preferred DNS address", "Alternate DNS address")

Substitute Interface Alias in the command above with the actual Interface Alias (ex: "Ethernet") from step 2 above.

Substitute Preferred DNS address in the command above with the actual preferred IPv6 DNS server address (see table below) you want to use for this network connection.

Substitute Alternate DNS address in the command above with the actual alternate IPv6 DNS server address (see table below) you want to use for this network connection.

For example: Set-DNSClientServerAddress "Ethernet" –ServerAddresses (“2606:4700:4700::1111”,”2606:4700:4700::1001”)


[table][tr][td]Third-party DNS servers[/td] [td]Preferred IPv6 DNS server[/td] [td]Alternate IPv6 DNS server address[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Google Public DNS[/td] [td]2001:4860:4860:0:0:0:0:8888[/td] [td]2001:4860:4860:0:0:0:0:8844[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]OpenDNS[/td] [td]2620:0:ccc::2[/td] [td]2620:0:ccd::2[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]1.1.1.1 by Cloudflare[/td] [td]2606:4700:4700::1111[/td] [td]2606:4700:4700::1001[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Quad[/td] [td]2620:fe::fe (secure) OR 2620:fe::10 (unsecure)[/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Family filter)[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:1::[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:2::[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Adult filter)[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:1::1[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:2::1[/td] [/tr] [/table]




7 If you like or needed, you can flush the DNS resolver cache to make sure the new DNS server is applied.

8 You can now close the elevated PowerShell if you like.





OPTION FOUR [/i] To Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in Command Prompt
1 Open an elevated command prompt.

2 Enter the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and make note of the Interface Name (ex: "Ethernet") you want to change the IPv4 or IPv6 DNS server address for. (see screenshot below)
netsh interface show interface





3 Do step 4 (Obtain DNS automatically) or step 5 (Use custom DNS) below for what you want to do.


4. To Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically from ISP
This is the default setting.

A) Enter the command below you want to use into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)

(IPv4 DNS)
netsh interface ipv4 set dnsservers "Connection Name" dhcp

OR

(IPv6 DNS)
netsh interface ipv6 set dnsservers "Connection Name" dhcp

Substitute Connection Name in the command above with the connection name (ex: "vEthernet (New Virtual Switch)") from step 2 above.





5. To Use Custom or Third-party DNS Server Address
A) Enter the command below you want to use into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
(IPv4 DNS)
netsh interface ipv4 set dnsservers "Connection Name" static Preferred DNS address primary

OR

(IPv6 DNS)
netsh interface ipv6 set dnsservers "Connection Name" static Preferred DNS address primary

Substitute Connection Name in the command above with the connection name (ex: "Ethernet") from step 2 above.

Substitute Preferred DNS address in the command above with the actual preferred IPv4 or IPv6 DNS server address (see table below) you want to use for this network connection.

For example: netsh interface ipv6 set dnsservers "Ethernet" static 2001:4860:4860:0:0:0:0:8888 primary


[table][tr][td]Third-party DNS servers[/td] [td]Preferred IPv4 DNS server address[/td] [td]Preferred IPv6 DNS server address[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Google Public DNS[/td] [td]8.8.8.8[/td] [td]2001:4860:4860:0:0:0:0:8888[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]OpenDNS[/td] [td]208.67.222.222[/td] [td]2620:0:ccc::2[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]1.1.1.1 by Cloudflare[/td] [td]1.1.1.1[/td] [td]2606:4700:4700::1111[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Quad9[/td] [td]9.9.9.9[/td] [td]2620:fe::fe (secure) OR 2620:fe::10 (unsecure)[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Family filter)[/td] [td]185.228.168.168[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:1::[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Adult filter)[/td] [td]185.228.168.10[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:1::1[/td] [/tr] [/table]





B) Enter the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)
(IPv4 DNS)
netsh interface ipv4 add dnsservers "Connection Name" Alternate DNS address index=2

OR

(IPv6 DNS)
netsh interface ipv6 add dnsservers "Connection Name" Alternate DNS address index=2

Substitute Connection Name in the command above with the connection name (ex: "Ethernet") from step 2 above.

Substitute Alternate DNS address in the command above with the actual alternate IPv4 or IPv6 DNS server address (see table below) you want to use for this network connection.

For example: netsh interface ipv6 add dnsservers "Ethernet" 2001:4860:4860:0:0:0:0:8844 index=2


[table][tr][td]Third-party DNS servers[/td] [td]Alternate IPv4 DNS server address[/td] [td]Alternate IPv6 DNS server address[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Google Public DNS[/td] [td]8.8.4.4[/td] [td]2001:4860:4860:0:0:0:0:8844[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]OpenDNS[/td] [td]208.67.220.220[/td] [td]2620:0:ccd::2[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]1.1.1.1 by Cloudflare[/td] [td]1.0.0.1[/td] [td]2606:4700:4700::1001[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Quad9[/td] [td]149.112.112.112 (secure) OR 149.112.112.10 (unsecure)[/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Family filter)[/td] [td]185.228.168.169[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:2::[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Adult filter)[/td] [td]185.228.168.11[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:2::1[/td] [/tr] [/table]





6 If you like or needed, you can flush the DNS resolver cache to make sure the new DNS server is applied.

7 You can now close the elevated command prompt if you like.





OPTION FIVE [/i] To Change IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address in Settings
This option is only available starting with Windows 10 build 18252.


1 Open Settings, and click/tap on the Network & Internet icon.

2 Perform the action below you want to do depending on if you want to change the IPv4 and/or IPv6 DNS address for an Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection. (see screenshots below)
(Ethernet)
A) Click/tap on Ethernet on the left side, and click/tap on the connection (ex: "Brink-Router2") on the right side you want to edit the DNS address settings for.

OR

(Wi-Fi)
B) Click/tap on Wi-Fi on the left side, and click/tap on the connection (ex: "Brink-Router2") on the right side you want to edit the DNS address for.






3 Do step 4 (Obtain DNS automatically) or step 5 (Change DNS) below for what you want to do.


4. To Obtain IPv4 and IPv6 DNS Server Address Automatically from ISP
This is the default setting.

A) Select Automatic (DHCP) in the Edit IP settings drop menu, click/tap on Save, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)





5. To Use Custom or Third-party IPv4 and/or IPv6 DNS Server Address
A) Select Manual in the Edit IP settings drop menu. (see screenshots below)

B) Turn on IPv4, and enter the Preferred DNS and Alternate DNS addresses you want to use.

If you turn off IPv4, its DNS address will be obtained automatically instead of using a custom DNS.


[table][tr][td]Third-party DNS servers[/td] [td]Preferred IPv4 DNS server address[/td] [td]Alternate IPv4 DNS server address[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Google Public DNS[/td] [td]8.8.8.8[/td] [td]8.8.4.4[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]OpenDNS[/td] [td]208.67.222.222[/td] [td]208.67.220.220[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]1.1.1.1 by Cloudflare[/td] [td]1.1.1.1[/td] [td]1.0.0.1[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Quad[/td] [td]9.9.9.9[/td] [td]149.112.112.112 (secure) OR 149.112.112.10 (unsecure)[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Family filter)[/td] [td]185.228.168.168[/td] [td]185.228.168.169[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Adult filter)[/td] [td]185.228.168.10[/td] [td]185.228.168.11[/td] [/tr] [/table]

C) Turn on IPv6, and enter the Preferred DNS and Alternate DNS addresses you want to use.

If you turn off IPv6, its DNS address will be obtained automatically instead of using a custom DNS.


[table][tr][td]Third-party DNS servers[/td] [td]Preferred IPv6 DNS server[/td] [td]Alternate IPv6 DNS server address[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Google Public DNS[/td] [td]2001:4860:4860:0:0:0:0:8888[/td] [td]2001:4860:4860:0:0:0:0:8844[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]OpenDNS[/td] [td]2620:0:ccc::2[/td] [td]2620:0:ccd::2[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]1.1.1.1 by Cloudflare[/td] [td]2606:4700:4700::1111[/td] [td]2606:4700:4700::1001[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Quad[/td] [td]2620:fe::fe (secure) OR 2620:fe::10 (unsecure)[/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Family filter)[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:1::[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:2::[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]CleanBrowsing (Adult filter)[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:1::1[/td] [td]2a0d:2a00:2::1[/td] [/tr] [/table]

D) When finished, click/tap on Save, and go to step 6 below.






6 You can now close Settings if you like.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Flush DNS Resolver Cache in Windows 10
• How to Enable or Disable IPv6 in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10
• How to Find Private and Public IP Address of Your Windows 10 PC
• How to reset Hosts file back to default in Windows

:)

 

Force Windows to use IPV4 DNS Server Address

My local bind9 DNS Server address comes from a local ISC DHCP server as an IPV4 address.

ipconfig /all show both IPV6 and IPV4 addresses for the DNS server in that order.

nslookup always shows only the IPV6 address for the "Default Server".

The system IPV6 prefix policy is set to prefer IPV4 over IPV6.

I want the system to only use the IPV4 address for the DNS Server.

So far, I have not been able to find a way to configure windows to stop using the IPV6 address

for the local DNS server.

Any specific help would be greatly appreciated.

 

ASUS ET2701 Windows10 and WIFI

Log when working ok

Name: Ethernet

Description: Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller

Physical address (MAC): removed

Status: Not operational

Maximum transmission unit: 1500

IPv4 address: removed

IPv6 address: removed

DNS servers: removed

Connectivity (IPv4/IPv6): Disconnected





Name: Local Area Connection* 12

Description: Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter

Physical address (MAC): removed

Status: Not operational

Maximum transmission unit: 1500

IPv4 address: removed

IPv6 address: removed

DNS servers: removed

Connectivity (IPv4/IPv6): Disconnected





Name: Wi-Fi

Description: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485WB-EG Wireless Network Adapter

Physical address (MAC): removed

Status: Operational

Maximum transmission unit: 1500

Link speed (Receive/Transmit): 144/72 (Mbps)

DHCP enabled: Yes

DHCP servers: removed

DHCP lease obtained: ‎03 ‎July ‎2017 17:17:20

DHCP lease expires: ‎04 ‎July ‎2017 17:17:20

IPv4 address: removed

IPv6 address: removed

Default gateway: removed

DNS servers: removed

DNS domain name:

DNS connection suffix:

DNS search suffix list:

Network name: ASUS

Network category: Public

Connectivity (IPv4/IPv6): Connected to Internet / Connected to unknown network





Name: Bluetooth Network Connection

Description: Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)

Physical address (MAC): removed

Status: Not operational

Maximum transmission unit: 1500

IPv4 address: removed

IPv6 address: removed

DNS servers: removed

Connectivity (IPv4/IPv6): Disconnected





Name: Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

Description: Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

Physical address (MAC): removed

Status: Operational

Maximum transmission unit: 1280

IPv6 address: removed

Default gateway: ::

Connectivity (IPv4/IPv6): Disconnected





Name: Ethernet 2

Description: TomTom #2

Physical address (MAC): removed

Status: Not Present

Maximum transmission unit: 0

Connectivity (IPv4/IPv6): Disconnected





Name: Local Area Connection* 2

Description: Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #3

Physical address (MAC): 1e:71:d9:83:33:df

Status: Not Present

Maximum transmission unit: 0

Connectivity (IPv4/IPv6): Disconnected

 

Tutorial updated for IPv6, and added more free DNS servers. *Smile

 

Thank you for the additional DNS servers. *Smile

 

[/quote] That is pretty neat - it is nice to be able to run a command without having to find interface name manually - but SetDNSServerSearchOrder doesn't seem to work for IPv6 - I get error 70 invalid IP address.

In Powershell you do both IPv4 and IPv6 at once for all valid adapters. Code: Get-NetAdapter | ` Where-Object {$_.InterfaceIndex -in $(Get-DnsClientServerAddress).InterfaceIndex} | ` Set-DnsClientServerAddress -Addresses ('1.1.1.1','1.0.0.1','2606:4700:4700::1111','2606:4700:4700::1001')[/quote] Set-DnsClientServerAddress is worse than SetDNSServerSearchOrder in that it fails if it finds an invalid network adapter (such as a network bridge) - that is why you need the Where-Object bit. Conversely SetDNSServerSearchOrder just carries on and reports its failed attempts.

Pros and cons I suppose but in section 3 of the tutorial steps 5 and 6 could be combined - no need to do them separately if you don't want to.

 

Thank you for the addition. *Smile

 

How about making a tutorial for Family friendly DNS? *Nerd

Sorted by effectiveness: CleanBrowsing / UltraDNS / NortonDNS / OpenDNS

There also those 2, but they are questionable, though Adguard has a nice landing page.

Yandex (servers mostly for Russia ) / Adguard (blocks ADs and thus break some webpages)