Super DNS Proxy: Frequently Asked Questions
Super DNS Proxy is a local DNS proxy for Windows and Linux that sits between your computer and the resolvers it asks about domain names. It runs on your own machine, listens on the loopback address, and forwards each lookup to the upstream DNS servers you choose instead of letting it go straight to your ISP. This page collects the questions people ask most often about how it behaves, what it changes on a machine, and how to put things back the way they were.
The short version of the setup: you point your Windows DNS server at 127.0.0.1, list the upstream resolvers you want inside the app, and from then on every lookup your machine makes passes through the proxy first. The proxy sends each query to all of the addresses you list at the same time and returns whichever answer arrives first, waits 500 ms before re-sending a query that Windows would otherwise abandon, and can check that a resolved address actually answers on port 443 before handing it back. A local cache, a live query log and a TCP retransmission log round out what you can see while it runs.
The answers below cover what the proxy listens on and what it changes, whether the cache is on by default, what the port 443 check does, which kinds of resolver can be listed, how Linux and Windows differ, and how to reverse the change completely. Longer background on the lookup path is on the how it works page, and example upstream addresses are listed in the resolver directory. If your question is not answered here, the contact page is the place to ask it.
What does Super DNS Proxy actually do?
BasicsA local DNS proxy that answers your machine's lookups from the resolvers you choose.
It runs a DNS proxy on your own computer. Your machine sends its lookups to 127.0.0.1 instead of straight to your ISP's resolver, and the proxy forwards each query to the upstream DNS servers you have entered, returning the first answer it receives.
What changes on my computer when I run it?
SetupA single Windows DNS setting, plus the upstream list inside the app.
The only change the app needs is your Windows DNS server address: set it to 127.0.0.1 so that lookups go to the proxy. Nothing else is reconfigured, and your upstream resolvers stay in the app's own settings where you entered them.
Do I have to leave the app running?
SetupThe proxy has to be open for lookups to resolve.
Yes. While Windows is pointed at 127.0.0.1 the proxy is the only thing answering DNS on that address, so the app has to be running for lookups to resolve. If you close it, set your DNS server back to automatic or to the addresses you were using before.
Is the local DNS cache on by default?
BehaviourOff by default, so upstream resolvers answer every lookup.
No. The optional local DNS cache is off by default, so every lookup is answered by an upstream resolver. Turning it on keeps recently resolved names on your own machine and makes repeat lookups instant.
What is the TCP port 443 reachability check for?
BehaviourIt probes resolved addresses on port 443 so dead ones fail fast.
Some addresses resolve correctly and then turn out to be unreachable. With the check enabled, the proxy probes every returned address on port 443 before handing it back, and answers 127.0.0.1 if nothing responds within 200 ms so the browser fails immediately instead of sitting on a dead connection. The live TCP retransmission log is available while this check is switched off.
Can I list DNS-over-HTTPS or DNS-over-TLS resolvers?
BehaviourThe upstream list is for ordinary DNS over UDP only.
The upstream list takes ordinary DNS resolvers, addressed by IP and answered over UDP. DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS endpoints are reached by hostname on port 443 and are not entered in that list, so those services cannot be used as upstreams in this version.
Does the Linux build work the same way?
SetupThere is a Linux build, published as untested.
A Linux build is published alongside the Windows one, and it ships untested. Extract it and run the included run.sh script to launch it. Your system resolves DNS differently from Windows, so you point that system's resolver at the proxy rather than changing a Windows DNS setting.
How do I undo the change?
TroubleshootingPut your previous DNS setting back and close the app.
Set your Windows DNS server back to automatic, or to the addresses your network handed out, and close the app. Your lookups then go straight to your previous resolvers again.
Which upstream resolvers should I list?
SetupList several ordinary resolvers and let the fastest answer win.
Any resolver that answers ordinary DNS queries. Listing several from different networks usually works better than listing one, because the proxy asks them all at once and returns whichever answer arrives first. The resolver directory on this site lists public services you can start with.