Windows has told you the DNS server is not responding, and the phrase sounds like something far away has broken. It is almost always something in your house.
The DNS server your PC uses is normally the router in the corner, not anything belonging to your provider. That changes where you look.
I read what this machine has recorded as its DNS server before writing, and I found exactly one.
Ours: one DNS server, and it is the router
The measurement that redirects the whole search.
Ours, and read on the PC this page was written on. Two network interfaces had DNS servers set. Between them there was one distinct DNS server, at a 192.168 style private address.
⭐ A private address like that is not on the internet. It is the router in your home, and I would start there. It does the lookups on your behalf.
⚡ Read your own. Microsoft's own command for it:
ipconfig /all | findstr /c:"DNS Servers"⛔ So "the DNS server is not responding" usually means the router is not answering. Not your provider, not the internet, not a website.
⚠️ This machine also held 165 entries in its DNS cache. A test lookup answered normally, which is what a working setup looks like.
The first two things to try
Two minutes, and they fix a large share of these.
⭐ Restart the router properly. Off at the plug, thirty seconds, back on. Then wait two full minutes.
⚡ Test from a phone on the same Wi-Fi. If the phone is stuck too, the router is confirmed. Your PC is innocent.
⚠️ A phone that works fine while the PC does not moves this back to Windows, and the commands below are the next step.
Microsoft's own reset sequence
The documented half, quoted rather than paraphrased.
Documented by Microsoft on its Wi-Fi problems page, the route is: "Select Search on the taskbar, and type command prompt. The Command Prompt button will appear. To the right of it, select Run as administrator > Yes."
The five commands, in Microsoft's order: `netsh winsock reset`, then `netsh int ip reset`, then `ipconfig /release`, then `ipconfig /renew`, then `ipconfig /flushdns`.
What Microsoft says they do: they "manually reset the TCP/IP stack, release and renew the IP address, and flush and reset the DNS client resolver cache."
⭐ Restart the PC afterwards. The first two do not fully apply on your machine until you do.
⚠️ Microsoft's page never uses the phrase "DNS server not responding", which is Windows' own troubleshooter wording. We could not find it anywhere on that page, which is a fair part of why searching for it lands people on guesswork.
Changing the DNS server, and when it is right
The step everybody recommends, put in its proper place.
⭐ Pointing Windows at a public DNS service bypasses the router entirely. It is a genuine fix when the router's own DNS is the broken part.
⛔ It is not a fix for no internet at all. If nothing loads by address either, DNS was never the problem.
⚡ Test that first. If a numeric address loads a page and names do not, your problem is DNS. If neither works, it is the connection.
⚠️ And a network that is slow rather than dead is a different article. Waiting then fast is a lookup problem with its own fixes.
When it is not DNS at all
Being honest, because the message misleads.
⛔ Windows shows this message for several unrelated faults. The troubleshooter guesses. DNS is a common guess.
⚠️ A Wi-Fi connection that drops and returns is not a DNS fault. That has its own causes and its own settings.
⭐ Neither is a network that broke the day of an update. Ours, and marked as ours: check the date before the commands.
The last resort, and what it costs
Because people reach for it too early.
⛔ A network reset in Windows removes every saved Wi-Fi network and password. What it takes with it is worth reading before you press it.
⚡ Microsoft puts it last for that reason. So should you.
⚠️ Resetting the router itself is heavier still, because it wipes the network name, the password and every setting on it.
Status: read against Microsoft's Wi-Fi connection troubleshooting page, 25 August 2026, on Windows 11. Microsoft supplies the Command Prompt route, the five reset commands and their stated purpose, and the ipconfig command for reading DNS servers. We could not find the phrase "DNS server not responding" on that page. The DNS server count, the address form and the cache entry count were read here, and no full address is published.
What does DNS server not responding actually mean?
That your PC asked something to turn a website name into an address and got no answer. The thing it asked is usually your own router, because most home PCs use the router as their DNS server rather than anything at your provider.
Will changing my DNS to a public server fix it?
Sometimes, and only if the router's own lookups are the broken part. Test first: if a page loads by numeric address but not by name, it is DNS. If nothing loads either way, changing DNS will not help.
Should I run the netsh and ipconfig commands?
Yes, after restarting the router, and in Microsoft's order. Open Command Prompt as administrator, run all five, then restart the PC. The first two do not fully apply until you restart.
Why does my phone work when my PC does not?
Because the fault is in Windows rather than in the network. That single test is the fastest way to split this in two, and it takes ten seconds on the same Wi-Fi.
The Short Version
- Your DNS server is usually the router, at a private address like 192.168 something.
- One distinct DNS server was configured on the PC here, and it was that kind of address.
- Restart the router at the plug first. Thirty seconds off, two minutes to come back.
- Test from a phone on the same Wi-Fi to prove whether the PC is the problem.
- Microsoft's five commands are winsock reset, int ip reset, release, renew, flushdns.
- Restart the PC after them or the first two do not fully apply.
- Microsoft's page never uses the phrase Windows itself shows you.
- Windows network reset wipes every saved Wi-Fi password, so keep it last.
Where to Next
Run the ipconfig line above and look at what your DNS server actually is. A 192.168 address means it is the router, which is where to start.
Restart the router at the plug and give it two full minutes before testing again.
If a phone on the same Wi-Fi works fine, run Microsoft's five commands and restart the PC.
Anyone whose DNS problem turned out to be the router rather than the provider, say what the box was in the comments. Some models do this far more than others.
Isaac Smith is the founder and editor of PC Glance, a website that covers computers, laptops, and technology. He is a tech enthusiast and a computer geek who loves to share his insights and help his readers make smart choices when buying tech gadgets or laptops. He is always curious and updated about the latest tech trends.