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Setup guide

Change DNS on Android

Android offers two quite different mechanisms, and most guides conflate them. One is encrypted and system-wide; the other is plain DNS and applies to a single Wi-Fi network.

Before you change anything

  • Note which option you are using before you change it: Settings → Network & internet → Private DNS is normally set to Automatic, and any per-network setting is normally DHCP. Those are the states to return to.
  • Menu paths vary between manufacturers. On Samsung devices Private DNS sits under Connections → More connection settings. The names of the options are consistent even where the path is not.
  • On a work, school or campus network, a custom resolver commonly breaks internal hostnames, intranet sites and VPN resources that depend on split DNS. If anything internal stops resolving, that is the cause — revert first, investigate second.
  • Captive portals on hotel and airport Wi-Fi often will not appear until you go back to the network’s own DNS.
  • Changing resolver changes what is filtered. Moving to an unfiltered resolver switches off malware or adult-content blocking you may currently rely on; moving to a filtering one can block sites that used to work.
  • Your chosen resolver can see every domain your device looks up. Changing DNS moves that visibility from your ISP to the new provider. It does not make your lookups invisible, and it does not hide which sites you visit from anything else on the path.

Option 1 — Private DNS (encrypted, applies everywhere)

Android’s Private DNS is DNS-over-TLS, not DNS-over-HTTPS and not plain DNS. You enter a hostname, never an IP address, and the setting applies to Wi-Fi and mobile data alike.

  1. Open Settings → Network & internet → Private DNS.
  2. Choose Private DNS provider hostname.
  3. Enter the provider’s DNS-over-TLS hostname — for example the hostname part of the endpoints listed in the resolver comparison. Entering an IP address here will not work.
  4. Choose Save.

If the hostname is wrong or unreachable, Android will fail closed and you will lose name resolution entirely rather than falling back. If the device suddenly cannot reach anything, this setting is the first place to look.

Option 2 — Static DNS on one Wi-Fi network (plain DNS)

This is unencrypted DNS on port 53, and it applies only to the network you edit. It also requires assigning a static IP address, which is the part that most often causes trouble later.

  1. Open Settings → Network & internet → Internet and tap the gear beside your network.
  2. Tap the edit icon, then expand Advanced options.
  3. Change IP settings from DHCP to Static.
  4. Keep the IP address and gateway your network already assigned, and set DNS 1 and DNS 2 to your chosen addresses.
  5. Tap Save.

Because this pins a static address, the same device may collide with another one later if your router hands that address out. Private DNS is the better option unless you specifically need unencrypted DNS.

Mobile data

Android does not let you set plain DNS servers for the cellular connection. Private DNS is the only built-in mechanism that covers mobile data. Anything else requires a VPN-based app, which routes your traffic through that app’s own infrastructure — a much larger change than switching resolver.

Reverting

  1. Private DNS: Settings → Network & internet → Private DNS → Automatic. Choosing Off also works but disables encrypted DNS entirely; Automatic restores the default behaviour.
  2. Static Wi-Fi settings: edit the network again and set IP settings back to DHCP.
  3. Toggle Wi-Fi or flight mode off and on so the new settings are picked up.

Related

Last reviewed 2026-08-15. Provider configuration comes from RESOLVER-REGISTRY.json, which records the official source and verification date for every entry.