Why Is My DNS Slow? 7 Fixes for Slow DNS Lookups (2026)

You click a link and the browser sits on 'Resolving host…' for a few seconds before anything happens. That pause is DNS: your device asking a resolver to turn a name like example.com into an IP address. When that step is slow, every site feels slow, even on a fast connection. If you want the basics first, read what DNS is and how it works.

Why is my DNS slow?

• Your ISP's resolver is overloaded, far away or poorly maintained.
• Your local DNS cache holds stale or broken entries.
• Your router forwards every lookup and adds its own delay.
• IPv6 lookups time out before falling back to IPv4.
• A VPN, antivirus or ad blocker is filtering DNS traffic.

7 fixes for slow DNS lookups

1. Switch to a faster public resolver: 1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8 or 9.9.9.9. See our Cloudflare vs Google vs Quad9 comparison.
2. Flush your DNS cache (ipconfig /flushdns on Windows).
3. Restart your router to clear its cache and memory.
4. Set DNS directly on your device instead of relying on the router.
5. Update router firmware; old firmware often has buggy DNS forwarding.
6. Temporarily disable VPN or security software to see if it is the cause.
7. If IPv6 is broken on your network, ask your ISP to fix it or prefer IPv4 for testing.

How to test DNS speed

Run the same domain through our DNS lookup tool and note the response. On your computer, 'nslookup example.com 1.1.1.1' lets you compare resolvers directly; our nslookup command examples show more options. Test a few times, because the first lookup is always slower than cached ones.

When it isn't DNS

If the page resolves quickly but still loads slowly, the problem is bandwidth, the website itself, or your Wi-Fi. If you see an error instead of a delay, check our guide to DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN. And if you worry your lookups are going somewhere unexpected, check for a DNS leak.