Quad9 Is Leaving France on November 24: How to Switch DNS in Time

Quad9, the free non-profit DNS resolver at 9.9.9.9, says it will stop serving users in France on November 24, 2026, rather than obey a French court order to block domains for French users. If you are in France and your computer, phone or router uses Quad9, switch to another DNS resolver before then, or websites may stop loading. Nothing changes for Quad9 users outside France.

This guide explains what happened, who is affected, and how to check and change your DNS settings on each device.

What happened

In a blog post titled Au revoir France, published October 22, 2026, Quad9 says a French court ruled in favor of the broadcaster beIN and ordered it to block DNS resolution of a set of domain names for users in France. According to heise online, the order covers 58 domains carrying unauthorized streams of beIN Sports tennis broadcasts.

Quad9 says it cannot comply in a way it finds workable:

• It has no record of which users are in which country, because the service needs no account or sign-up. So it cannot block only French users reliably.
• Blocking the names for everyone would apply a French court decision to users worldwide, which it also rejects.
• If it does not comply, it faces a penalty of 1,000 euros a day until the blocking period ends on November 14, plus legal costs.

Instead, Quad9 will withdraw its service from France. It says it hopes the transition takes about 30 days, warns that not every user will see the notice in time, and is appealing the ruling. It also notes about 20 other pending lawsuits in France that seek similar blocking.

Who is affected

You are affected if you are in France and anything on your network sends DNS queries to Quad9. Its well-known addresses are:

Common places where Quad9 is set:

• A home router or office firewall, which then passes it to every device on the network.
• A computer's network settings, or an Android phone's Private DNS setting.
• Browsers with secure DNS turned on and Quad9 chosen as the provider.
• Ad blockers, VPN apps and Pi-hole style setups that forward to Quad9.

If you are outside France, nothing changes for you.

How to check which DNS resolver you use

1. Open a terminal (Command Prompt on Windows, Terminal on macOS or Linux) and run nslookup example.com. The Server and Address lines at the top show the resolver your computer asked. If it shows your router's address, check the router's settings too.
2. Look at the DNS fields in your router's admin page, usually under WAN, Internet or DHCP settings.
3. In Chrome, open chrome://settings/security and look at "Use secure DNS". In Firefox, search settings for "DNS over HTTPS".

The Reverse DNS Lookup tool shows the name behind a resolver's IP address, which helps when a setting lists only numbers.

How to switch to another DNS resolver

Pick a replacement first. Widely used public resolvers include:

Quad9's main selling point was blocking known malicious domains by default. If you want to keep that, choose a resolver that offers malware filtering, such as Cloudflare's 1.1.1.2. See Cloudflare's setup docs and Google's for IPv6 addresses and details.

Then change it where it is set:

• Router (changes every device at once): open the router's admin page, find the DNS server fields, replace 9.9.9.9 and 149.112.112.112 with the new addresses, save, and restart the router.
• Windows 11: Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi or Ethernet > Hardware properties > DNS server assignment > Edit > Manual. Turn on IPv4 and enter the new addresses.
• macOS: System Settings > Network > your connection > Details > DNS. Remove the Quad9 entries and add the new ones.
• iPhone and iPad: Settings > Wi-Fi > tap the (i) next to your network > Configure DNS > Manual.
• Android: Settings > Network & internet > Private DNS > Private DNS provider hostname, then enter the new provider's hostname from the table. The menu path varies by phone maker.
• Browser secure DNS: in the same Chrome or Firefox setting as above, pick another provider.

How to confirm the change worked

1. Run nslookup example.com again and check that the Server line no longer shows Quad9.
2. Look up a site you use with the DNS Lookup tool and compare the answer with what your network returns.
3. If you run a website, the DNS Propagation Checker shows how several public resolvers answer for your domain, which is a quick way to confirm your records look the same everywhere.

Our guide to how DNS works explains what a resolver does and why changing it does not change the websites themselves.

Why a DNS resolver cannot easily block "just France"

A DNS resolver only sees the IP address a query comes from. To block names for French users only, Quad9 would have to guess each user's country from that address. IP geolocation databases are often wrong for VPN users, mobile networks and travelers, which you can see by checking a few addresses with the IP Geolocation Lookup tool. Quad9's argument is that geoblocking a privacy-focused resolver is unreliable and would mean collecting more data about users, while blocking globally would export one country's court order to everyone.

Common questions

Is Quad9 shutting down? No. Quad9 says it will keep operating everywhere except France, and it is appealing the French ruling.

When does Quad9 stop working in France? Quad9 says on November 24, 2026, with a transition that may take about 30 days. Switch before then to avoid surprises.

I'm outside France. Do I need to do anything? No. The withdrawal only affects users in France.

What is the closest alternative to Quad9? If you want the same malware blocking by default, pick a filtering resolver such as Cloudflare's 1.1.1.2. If you just want fast, unfiltered DNS, Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 and Google's 8.8.8.8 are common choices.