Free tool · DNS
DNS leak test
See which DNS resolver looks up names for your browser, and whether it gives away your real location behind a VPN or proxy.
Checking your browser…
The check runs in your browser and takes about five seconds.
IP location by DB-IP. How this test works.
Direct answer
A DNS leak happens when your browser sends its DNS lookups outside the VPN or proxy, usually to your internet provider. The provider then sees every site you open, and sites that check the resolver see your real country. This test makes your browser look up unique test names and shows which resolvers asked for them, with their network and country.
How this DNS leak test works
Your browser looks up a few random names that only one DNS server in the world answers for, run by ipleak.net. That server records which resolvers asked, so the resolvers it reports are the ones your lookups really use. If you use a proxy that resolves names itself, the proxy's resolver asks instead.
The test then compares the country of each resolver with the country of your IP address. A resolver in another country means your lookups leave the VPN or proxy.
How to fix a DNS leak
| Setup | Fix |
|---|---|
| Firefox with a SOCKS proxy | Turn on "Proxy DNS when using SOCKS v5" in the network settings, or set network.proxy.socks_remote_dns to true in about:config. |
| Chrome or Edge with a proxy | Use a SOCKS5 or HTTP proxy: Chrome then lets the proxy resolve names. Avoid SOCKS4, which resolves locally. |
| VPN app | Turn on the DNS leak protection of the VPN app, so that all lookups go through the tunnel. |
| Secure DNS (DNS over HTTPS) | Encrypted DNS hides lookups from your provider, but the resolver still sees your real address unless it runs through the VPN. |
| Antidetect browser | Use proxies with remote DNS in each profile, so that each profile resolves names where its proxy is. |
Questions
Is using Google or Cloudflare DNS a leak?
Not by itself. It is a leak when the resolver is reached from your real connection instead of through the VPN or proxy, which shows here as a resolver in another country than your IP.
Who runs the DNS part of the test?
The lookups go to the free public DNS detection API of ipleak.net, run by AirVPN. Your browser contacts it directly. We only look up the network and country of the resolvers it reports, and do not store them.
Why does the test show no DNS lookup?
The browser may have blocked the request, or an extension may have stopped it. Run the test again with extensions turned off.