![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/eBook-Speed-Up-your-website.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>
What Is the Hosts File on a Mac, and Why Is It Important<\/h2>
A system’s hosts file maps hostnames to IP addresses. Users can override default DNS information for a given domain and specify their IP addresses.<\/p>
Mac users can find the hosts file in the \/private\/etc\/hosts <\/strong>directory. You can edit it with any text editor as long as you have root user privileges.<\/p> Important!<\/strong> Hosts file changes will only apply to the local machine. If you want a website to be visible to everyone, you must register a domain and point it to a hosting plan.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p> Let’s start by finding and opening the hosts file.<\/p> 1. Open the Hosts File<\/p> Follow these steps to access your hosts<\/strong> file on a Mac:<\/p> 2. Open Terminal by searching it via the spotlight search (Command + Spacebar <\/strong>keys).<\/p> 3. Open the hosts <\/strong>file with your preferred editor program. In this tutorial, we will use the Nano text editor<\/a>. To open it, enter the following:<\/p> 4. Since we use sudo<\/strong> to edit the hosts<\/strong> file, you will be asked to enter the administrator password of your macOS user account. Type your admin password and hit the Enter <\/strong>key.<\/p> Important!<\/strong> For security reasons, the cursor doesn’t work in the command line. Use the arrow keys to navigate between the lines inside the hosts file.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p> 5. Edit the Hosts File on a Mac<\/p> To emulate DNS settings and point a domain name to an IP address, use the following syntax:<\/p> For example, to emulate the DNS change for hostinger.com<\/strong> and www.hostinger.com<\/strong>, you would have to include the following lines at the bottom of the hosts<\/strong> file.<\/p> This will emulate the IP address change of the hostinger.com<\/strong> domain and www.hostinger.com<\/strong> subdomain to 185.185.185.185<\/strong>.<\/p> Once you are done editing the hosts<\/strong> file, press Control + X<\/strong> on your keyboard. Enter Y<\/strong> to save the changes, and hit the Enter <\/strong>button.<\/p> Now, your Mac will resolve the hostinger.com<\/strong> domain using the given IP address instead of what is set at the DNS Zone.<\/p> Editing the hosts<\/strong> file can also help you see your new site content during the propagation period after connecting a domain to web hosting. Remember that after propagation is done, you should remove the new lines from the hosts<\/strong> file.<\/p> 6. Flush DNS Cache<\/p> The hosts<\/strong> file changes may not apply instantly. You can flush the DNS cache<\/a> to help speed up the process. To flush a Mac’s DNS cache, execute the following command:<\/p> macOS Monterey, Big Sur<\/strong><\/p> macOS Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, Mountain Lion, Lion<\/strong><\/p> Editing the hosts<\/strong> file helps point your domain to a hosting plan without changing DNS records. This lets your personal computer resolve the domain to a preferred IP address.<\/p> In this tutorial, we’ve gone through editing the hosts<\/strong> file on a Mac and flushing the DNS cache to speed up the process.<\/p> We hope that you found this tutorial helpful. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Users can emulate domain name system (DNS) changes by editing the hosts file. This includes overwriting DNS values set by the internet service provider (ISP) and setting custom IPs for a domain name. By editing the Mac hosts file, you can easily preview your website on the local network. This helps if your domain is […]<\/p>\nHow to Locate and Edit the Hosts File on macOS<\/h2>
![\"Finder](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Finder-window-displaying-search-results-for-terminal.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure>sudo nano \/private\/etc\/hosts<\/pre>
![\"The](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/The-terminal-window-displays-the-original-hosts-file-that-is-opened-with-the-nano-text-editor.-Here-users-can-add-a-specific-IP-address-to-map-to-a-specific-domain.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure>IP_Address domain.com\n\nIP_Address www.domain.com<\/pre>
185.185.185.185 hostinger.com\n\n185.185.185.185 www.hostinger.com<\/pre>
![\"Mac's](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/Mac_s-hosts-file-contents-with-custom-IPs-added-for-the-Hostinger.com-domain.-The-red-border-indicates-new-mapping-values-with-corresponding-IPs.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure>sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder<\/pre>
sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder<\/pre>
![\"Hostinger](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/Web-hosting_in-text-banner.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure>Conclusion<\/h2>