How To Edit the Hosts File in Windows 10.How To Edit the Hosts File in Windows 10

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HOSTS File for Windows is the default HOSTS file for Windows 7, 8, and 10 provided for anyone not comfortable manually editing their HOSTS. However, an easier way to edit the hosts file is to use a free tool called Host Mechanic. This tool allows you to add entries to the hosts file.
 
 

 

Windows 10 default hosts file free.Reset Hosts File Back to Defaults in Windows

 

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Best Wireless Earbuds. Best Smartwatches. Best Oculus Quest 2 Accessories. Best Home Theater Systems. Browse All News Articles. Chevrolet Blazer EV. Thunderbird for Android. Telegram Premium. File Explorer Tabs in Windows Select Yes. Select Run as Administrator.

This launches a privileged instance of the Notepad application. Note that you may be asked to enter an administrative password in order to re-authenticate yourself.

Need a hosting solution that gives you a competitive edge? Check out our plans. Select File and then Open in the Notepad toolbar. Then, navigate to C:WindowsSystem32driversetchosts. In Notepad, open the File name dropdown and choose All Files. Open the File name dropdown and choose All Files.

You can now add your custom IP address and hostname to the end of this file. In the subsequent window, type the following:. To flush the DNS cache, press the Enter key. Once this process is complete, Windows 10 should be using your new hosts file settings. Alternatively, restarting your computer should have the same effect.

By default, you cannot edit the hosts file without administrator privileges. You might also be worried about hosts file hijack attacks. In these scenarios, you might want to consider locking your hosts file. To lock your hosts file, navigate to C:WindowsSystem32driversetchosts. Then, right-click on the file and select Properties. In the Properties window, mark the hosts file as Read-only.

This will lock the file and prevent anyone from modifying it. If you want to remove this lock at any point, simply navigate back to the Properties window.

You can then remove this Read-only restriction. You can always remove individual entries from your hosts file. Simply open the file in Notepad and delete the line in question. However, sometimes you may need to revert your hosts file to its original state. You may also be encountering strange redirects, which suggests that your hosts file has become corrupted. To reset your hosts file back to its original state, open your File Explorer.

Or, if you are using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, select Search , type run, and then select the Run icon. Select the Hosts file, select Rename , and then rename the file as “Hosts. If you are prompted to enter an administrator password, tap or click Continue. On the File menu, select Save as , type “hosts” in the File name box, and then save the file to the desktop. Microsoft ended support for Windows XP on April 8, This change has affected your software updates and security options.

Learn what this means for you and how to stay protected. Microsoft ended support for Windows Server on July 14, Windows 8 Windows 8. To reset the Hosts file back to the default, follow these steps: Open Notepad. Close Notepad. To do this, follow these steps: Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Search , type run, and then tap the Run icon.

Select the Hosts file, and rename it “Hosts. Need more help? If you have a home LAN, mapping a network device name to its IP address with the Hosts file will allow you to open the device by its name from File Explorer. This is useful when your network devices run a bareboned Linux distro which doesn’t provide names Windows can recognize over the network.

The Hosts file is just a regular text file which can be modified using any text editor. The only catch is that the editor app should be started elevated as Administrator. The hosts file is located in the system directory, so non-elevated apps will fail to save it. The Hosts file consists of lines of text. Each line must include an IP address in the first text column followed by one or several host names. Text columns are separated from each other by white space. Lines started with a hash character are comments.

Windows ignores blank in the hosts file. Winaero greatly relies on your support.