Warning
Use an administrator account for these steps, and keep a recent backup before making repair or security changes.
What you will achieve
Point Windows at fast, privacy-conscious DNS resolvers and confirm the change actually took effect.
1) Change DNS in Settings
- Press Win + I and open Network & Internet.
- Choose Wi-Fi or Ethernet, then select your adapter.
- Under DNS server assignment, click Edit and set manual IPv4/IPv6 values.
2) Suggested DNS providers
- Cloudflare:
1.1.1.1and1.0.0.1 - Google:
8.8.8.8and8.8.4.4 - Quad9:
9.9.9.9and149.112.112.112
3) Flush and verify
ipconfig /flushdns
nslookup example.com