Editing the Hosts File on Windows, macOS, and Linux

A hosts file maps hostnames to IP addresses. It is commonly used to test a website before DNS changes propagate.

General Note

The hosts file is plain text. Always use a plain text editor like Notepad (Windows) or nano/vi (macOS/Linux). Do not use a word processor.

Microsoft Windows

1. Click Start, type notepad, right-click, and select Run as administrator.

2. Click Yes to allow changes.

3. On the File menu, click Open.

4. Navigate to:

   %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc

5. In the file type dropdown, select All Files (.).

6. Double-click hosts to open it.

7. At the end of the file, add a new line:

   xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx example.com

   Replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the desired IP address and example.com with the domain. Ensure there is at least one space between them.

8. Press Ctrl+S to save your changes.

Apple macOS

1. Open Terminal.

2. Type the following command and press Return:

   sudo nano /etc/hosts

3. Enter your password when prompted.

4. At the end of the file, add a new line:

   xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx example.com

   Replace the IP address and domain as needed. Ensure there is at least one space.

5. Save changes with Ctrl+O, press Return, then exit with Ctrl+X.

6. Clear the DNS cache to apply the changes.

Linux

1. Open the /etc/hosts file with root privileges using your preferred editor. For example:

   sudo vi /etc/hosts

2. At the end of the file, add a new line:

   xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx example.com

   Ensure there is at least one space between the IP address and the domain name.

3. Save the file.

These steps allow you to map domain names to specific IP addresses locally, which is useful for testing websites before updating DNS records.