Microsoft is releasing a new build of Windows 10 to Insiders in the Fast Ring today. The new build, 19628, does not come with any major changes but includes an interesting new feature.

With the new build of Windows 10, Microsoft is starting to test DNS over HTTPS. The new build comes with Microsoft’s initial support for DNS over HTTPS on Windows, and Insiders will have to manually enable the new feature.

But what exactly is DNS over HTTPS? DNS, to put simply, is the process where an easy-to-read and write domain address is translated into an actual IP address for where a web resource is located. Although most websites already use HTTPS for added privacy, your computer is still making DNS requests and resolving addresses without any encryption. With DNS over HTTPS, your device will perform all the required DNS requests over a secured HTTPS connection, which improves security thanks to the encrypted connection.

Microsoft is not the only company starting to rollout DNS over HTTPS. In fact, Firefox enabled DNS over HTTPS back in February. Google is also testing DNS over HTTPS on Chromium, though it’s hidden behind a flag. If you are using Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or any other Chromium-based browser, you should be able to enable DNS over HTTPS by going into the flags of the browser (chrome://flags, or edge://flags).

If you would like to enable DNS over HTTPS in Windows 10, you will have to first install the latest Insider build. After that, you will have to go into the registry and tweak an entry to first enable the new DNS over HTTPS client, and then update the DNS servers your computer is using. It’s not as easy as ticking a checkbox, but Microsoft has shared the instructions to enable the feature in detail, so make sure to check it out here. 

Do keep in mind that the new DNS over HTTPS client in Windows 10 is in preview, so it will likely have some issues. In other words, enable it at your own risk.

Tagged with DNS over HTTPS, HTTPS, Windows 10