What's a hosts file anyway? Back in the early days of the internet, before it was widespread, computers used a hosts file to map long, hard to remember IP addresses with much shorter, easier to remember hostnames. For example, here's a line you'll find in many hosts files on Windows, Linux, and macOs: 127.0.0.1 localhost
The hosts file was used to resolve host names for decades before the DNS system was implemented, since way back in the ARPANET days. Since they were used to aide in network name resolution, hosts files grew to become massive documents.
Host files are text files that are used to map domain names to IP addresses, precisely what the DNS servers do. You can use them to streamline connecting to websites, and as such, sometimes you'll need to edit one. As such, this guide will explain what host files are on Windows, how you can edit it, and what to do if you're not able to do so.
The hosts file is an elementary tool of a network protocol and converts host names into numeric IP addresses. The network can only work with these addresses. The hosts file is created in all common operating systems for PC, Mac, and mobile devices, and can be changed by system administrators.
HOSTS File Locations. In Windows, the HOSTS file is in the \windows\system32\drivers\etc folder. In the Mac, it is in /private/etc. The first line of a HOSTS file contains the following. See
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what is a host file
