macOS Networking

Renew DHCP lease on Mac

Quick network refresh without rebooting the Mac.

7 min read Beginner Updated 9 Jun 2026
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Step-by-step guide

Work through each section in order. Stop when your issue is resolved — you do not need every step for every situation.

Warning

Renewing DHCP on a corporate or hotel network may trigger re-authentication on captive portals. Have login credentials ready if you are on guest Wi‑Fi.

What you will achieve

Renew your Mac’s DHCP lease to obtain a fresh IP address from the router — fixing stale leases after router changes, migration to a new subnet, or odd connectivity without rebooting the entire Mac.

DHCP leases expire eventually, but macOS sometimes holds an old address after sleep, router firmware updates, or ISP changes. A manual renew forces a new conversation with the DHCP server.

1) When to renew DHCP

  • Self-assigned IP (169.254.x.x) despite other devices working.
  • Internet worked until you changed routers or VLANs.
  • Captive portal pages loop after you already logged in.
  • VPN connects but local LAN routing behaves oddly after sleep.

2) Renew on Wi‑Fi via System Settings

  1. Open System Settings → Wi‑Fi.
  2. Click Details… (or the info button) next to your connected network.
  3. Select TCP/IP in the sidebar.
  4. Click Renew DHCP Lease.
  5. Confirm — Wi‑Fi may disconnect briefly and reconnect.

3) Renew on Ethernet

  1. Open System Settings → Network.
  2. Select your Ethernet service (e.g. “USB 10/100/1000 LAN” or “Thunderbolt Ethernet”).
  3. Click Details… → TCP/IP → Renew DHCP Lease.

On Apple Silicon Macs with no built-in Ethernet, USB-C or Thunderbolt adapters appear as separate network services — renew on the active adapter, not Wi‑Fi.

4) Renew from Terminal

List services:

networksetup -listallnetworkservices

Renew Wi‑Fi (service name may vary):

sudo ipconfig set en0 DHCP
sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

en0 is often Wi‑Fi on MacBooks; Ethernet may be en5 or similar. Check with networksetup -listallhardwareports. Intel and Apple Silicon use the same commands — interface names differ by hardware, not chip architecture.

5) Flush DNS after renew (optional)

If hostnames still fail after IP renewal, flush DNS cache — especially after router migration. See related guides for DNS-specific steps.

6) When renew does not help

Forget the network and rejoin, reboot the router, or test with another device on the same network. Persistent self-assigned IP may indicate DHCP server exhaustion or Mac-specific firewall profiles on managed machines.

Verify

TCP/IP details show a valid router IP and assigned address (not 169.254.x.x). Ping the router or load a website to confirm.

Related guides

dhcp macos network

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