What Is mDNSresponder on Mac and How to Disable It?

Having a Mac and by using macOS can require you to use Bonjour, mDNSresponder is the most essential part of Bonjour. But have you asked yourself if is this needed to be on your Mac? Does it take up a lot of space? Will it result in running out of application memory of your system? Well, we’ll learn about mDNSresponder on Mac and how to disable mDNSresponder as we move along.

But first, we will let you know what the purpose of mDNSresponder is, when and how it works and if you feel the need to eliminate it on your Mac know that you can do it as well.

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Contents: Part 1. Can I Remove mDNSResponder?Part 2. How Do I Turn off mDNSResponder on My Mac?Part 3. Flush Your DNS Cache without Disabling mDNSresponderPart 4. Conclusion

Part 1. Can I Remove mDNSResponder?

mDNSresponder is vital in Bonjour and they are working hand in hand to do the work properly. Bonjour is the one responsible for your Mac to detect other devices such as local networks like printers and devices like media and storage.

mDNSresponder is used for network discovery and to allow devices to communicate with each other on a local network without manual configuration. It's typically installed with Apple software like iTunes but can also come bundled with other applications.

Some Mac clients have announced that mDNSResponder's system utilization is causing issues on their Mac, and that it's flooding the system with garbage bundles and traffic that hinders on transfer speed. They find this utilizing instruments that screen organizes traffic. This lead to remove or disable mDNSResponder.

But removing mDNSResponder will break Bonjour and lead to issues with network discovery and communication on your local network. If you're not using any Apple devices or services that rely on it, you can disable the service instead of removing it, which is a safer option.

How to Check if Bonjour is Running on your Mac

Follow the steps below to check if Bonjour administrations are running on your system:

1. Open Safari and snap the little book symbol on the upper right of the window
2. On the COLLECTIONS menu, click Bonjour. On the Bonjour wayfarer, all gadgets that are bonjour-empowered will show.

Part 2. How Do I Turn off mDNSResponder on My Mac?

You can use the Terminal App to do remove mDNSResponder, though this is something that is not likely advisable to do due to Bonjour is somehow a vital part of your mac.

Though we have learned about how it can go into your processes and storage you can opt to disable mDNSResponder for quite some time and turn it back on whenever you like:

• Open Terminal App then Key In: sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSresponder.plist

Now if you would like to put it back On:

• Open Terminal App then Key In: sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSresponder.plist

To use the two commands, you may need to key in your Administrator Password as root and use of sudo. This method is advisable to be used by advanced users of Mac. If you are unsure about executing this, we may not recommend you do this since we don’t want your mac to be messed up.

Part 3. Flush Your DNS Cache without Disabling mDNSresponder

We have covered what is mDNSresponder and how to disable it on your Mac. If you encounter those issues, maybe you don't need to disable mDNSresponder, just try PowerMyMac to flush your DNS cache, this can help it do connecting to networks and devices for us.

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All you have to do is listed below:

1. Free download PowerMyMac and then Launch the application.
2. At the left-hand side of the screen, you will see different categories, choose Optimization, then Clean NDS Cache.
3. Click Run.

You can also use PowerMyMac to clean up junk files on your Mac, such as System Status, System Junk, Photo Cache, Mail Trash, Trash Bin, etc. So that to speed up the performance of your Mac and to avoid sever issue.

Part 4. Conclusion

Though mDNSresponder and Bonjour are taking a lot of storage on your Mac, it is extremely beneficial for it to be up and running on your machine.

Without it, just imagine you are a blind person and if you need to get on the kitchen like your food, you will then need to ask someone who doesn’t know where your kitchen is then you will then need to instruct that person every detail and every part of the house just to get the food for you. Therefore, think of Bonjour as your assistant that already knows where to get the food for you.

So, instead of thinking about disabling mDNSresponder and Bonjour to clear up some storage and memory on your Mac, use the powerful tool iMyMac PowerMyMac to save you from doing a process that may cause you a bigger mess.