DNS over HTTPS encrypts DNS lookups to increase privacy. Here’s how to enable DNS over HTTPS in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browsers.
Whenever you try to access any website in any browser, the browser automatically translates the human-readable website address into an IP address. However, the web browsers don’t inherently know which website corresponds to which IP address. So, they ask a DNS (Domain Name System) server to provide the actual IP address of the target website. Once they know the IP address, the browser takes you to the website you are looking for. All this happens in milliseconds. In case you don’t know, a DNS server is a dedicated service provided by many ISPs and even big guys like Google and Cloudflare that translates human-readable website address to IP address.
The problem is, the communication between the web browser and the DNS server is unencrypted. As such, anyone, say like your ISP can see what websites you are visiting. As you can guess, this is not good for your privacy. So, most major web browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Firefox are implementing DNS over HTTPS. When enabled, all the DNS requests are made over an HTTPS connection. Since an HTTPS connection is an encrypted connection, no one can see what websites you are visiting.
In this quick guide, let me show you the steps to enable DNS over HTTPS in Edge, Chrome, and Firefox.
Enable DNS-Over HTTPS in Web Browsers
To make things easier, I divided the steps for each browser. Depending on your browser, follow the respective steps to enable DNS over HTTPS.
For the Google Chrome browser, I’ve already written a detailed guide on how you can enable the feature. Follow it and you will have the feature enabled in no time.
In Edge Chromium
Microsoft too followed the suit and added support for DNS over HTTPS in the Edge Chromium browser. Since this is still an experimental feature, you need to access the Flags page to access the setting. Do keep in mind that the below steps are only applicable to the Edge Chromium browser and not to the old Edge browser or the Internet Explorer.
1. First, open the Edge Chromium browser if it is not already opened. After opening it, type “edge:\\flags” in the address bar and press Enter.
2. The above action will open the Edge Experiments page. In the top search bar, type DNS. This action will filter the results and you will see “Secure DNS Lookups” entry.
3. Select “Enabled” from the drop-down menu next to the “Secure DNS Lookups” option. and then click on the “Relaunch” button. Relaunching the browser will apply the settings.
That is it. You’ve enabled the DNS over HTTPS setting in the Edge Chromium browser.
Firefox took it a step further and enabled DNS over HTTPS by default. However, as of writing this, the feature is only enabled in some countries and that too for some users only. The good thing is, the option is directly available on the Settings page.
1. First, open the Firefox browser if it is not already opened. Next, click on the Menu icon (three horizontal lines) on the top-right corner and select the “Options” option.
2. The option we are looking for is buried deep. Thankfully, the settings page has a search function. So, type DNS in the top search bar. Next, click on the “Settings” button under the “Network Settings” section.
3. Now, select the “Enable DNS over HTTPS” checkbox. By default, Firefox uses Cloudflare as the DNS provider. If you want to use some other DNS service, select Custom from the drop-down menu. Click on the “Ok” button to save changes.
That is it. Restart the browser and the feature is enabled.
Verify If DNS over HTTPS is Working
After configuring your browser, it is good to verify if the DNS over HTTPS setting is working properly. To do that, just visit this URL. It will scan the connection and lists the results. If the DNS over HTTPS is working as it should, you will see “Yes” right next to “Using DNS over HTTPS (DOH)“.
That is it. I hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.