DNS stands for Domain Name System that helps browsers and other tools resolve the IP addresses of the requested domain names. Over recent development, DNS started serving over HTTPS(Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), which allows the remote systems to resolve the domain names securely over TLS/SSL. The goal behind this is to overcome the shortcomings of plain DNS; those are Privacy and Security. The DoH prevents eavesdropping and manipulation of DNS data caused by MIMT(Man-In-The-Middle) attacks.
Many browsers started rolling out to the DoH in 2018 and have the option to disable it. Microsoft is not far behind; after adopting the open-source Chromium engine, Edge started offering better web compatibility with enhanced security features such as DoH. The new chromium-based Edge is supported in all the versions of Windows above Windows 7. In this article, we shall be showing you the steps to enable or disable the DoH in chromium based Microsoft Edge browser.
How does it work?
- Unlike the plain DNS, the DoH works pretty differently. When you are trying to access a website, the browser sends a request to the DoH compatible DNS server over an encrypted HTTPS connection instead of the plain text. This makes sure that the third-party or the man-in-the-middle won’t be able to monitor the website you are trying to access.
- Encryption doesn’t always guarantee Privacy, but it makes sure that your DNS requests are wholly scrambled and won’t get decrypted by the watchers.
- Chromium-based browsers make it a lot easier to switch between the plain DNS and the DoH by enabling the experimental flags.
Note:
This option is no longer available, starting with Microsoft Edge Canary 86.0.612.0 version and higher but is back in version 86.0.615.0.
Option #1 Enable or Disable DNS over HTTPS (DoH) in Microsoft Edge:
- Open Microsoft Edge.
- Copy and paste the below link in the address bar and hit the enter key to navigate,
edge://flags/#dns-over-https
- They’re under the “Secure DNS lookups” section; you shall be able to a drop-down. Click on the drop-down and select the appropriate option,
- Default
- Enabled: To enable the DoH feature.
- Disabled: To disable the DoH feature.
- Once you have selected the option, you shall be able to see a “Restart” button at the end, click on it to see the changes.
Option #2 Turn Off or Turn On and Specify DNS over HTTPS (DoH) Provider in Microsoft Edge:
- Open Microsoft Edge.
- Click on the three-dot present on the right-hand top corner. Then click on the “Settings” option.
- Click on the Privacy, search, and services option in the left pane.
- Turn on the “Use secure DNS to specify how to lookup the network address for websites” slider on the right side to enable the DoH feature in your Edge browser.
- Then choose the secured DNS provider option as per your preference,
- Use current service provider (default)
- Choose a service provider (custom)
- If you have selected the “Choose a service provider” option, you need to tap into the “Enter custom provider” box and select the DoH provider from the drop-down.
- To turn off the DoH feature, click on the slider next to “Use secure DNS to specify how to lookup the network address for websites” on the right side under Security.
Conclusion:
This article has shown you the steps to enable or disable the DNS over HTTPS(DoH) feature in the Microsoft Edge Chromium browser. If you find any difficulties in executing the steps, please leave a comment below.
About Harsit Mohapatra
Harsit Mohapatra is a full-time Software Engineer passionate and hungry for tech updates and knowledge. Besides being a crazy software developer, he is an avid traveller and loves capturing the things that give him a perception through his lenses