Editing your \etc\hosts file is a common task for troubleshooting issues or for developing a site that you aren’t quite ready to launch. By editing this file, you’ll be able to bypass DNS to view a site at a declared IP address.
In Windows 10, your hosts’ file is located at: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. You will need to edit the file with administrative privileges.
- Click the Windows button and type Notepad in the search bar.
- Right click on Notepad and then Run as Administrator.
- You’ll be asked, “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?”.
Choose Yes. - In Notepad, choose File then Open
- Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts or click the address bar at the top and paste in the path and choose Enter. If you don’t readily see the host file in the /etc directory then select All files from the File name: drop-down list, then click on the hosts file.
- Add the appropriate IP and hostname at the end of your hosts’ file, select save and close the file.
- Finally, you will want to flush your DNS cache for your computer to recognize changes to the file. Click the Windows button and search command prompt.
- Type the following command in the terminal and press Enter
ipconfig /flushdns
