If, however, you entered an incorrect phone number in our contacts analogy, whether that’s an invalid number or one that links to someone else’s, then you have no chance of getting through to that particular cell phone.Įditing the hosts file reroutes the IP address, but only from your own Mac. If you save the contact details with the wrong name, well, it’s still going to connect to that person when you ring the contact. How editing the hosts file worksĮditing your Mac hosts file is a bit like changing the phone number in your contact book. Your Mac’s hosts file, however, is localized to your own device, like a list of contacts on your phone: The web address acts as your contact’s name - that’s how you find who you want to talk to - and the IP address is their cell phone number, which is your actual way of getting in touch with them.

It’s a giant directory of which name belongs to which IP address, like online yellow pages. The Domain Name System is the database that corresponds to an IP address’ “dotted quad” numerical format with a website’s alphabetized web address.

What is hosts file, and how does it differ from DNS?įirst of all, what is the hosts file, and how does it differ from the more commonly known DNS? But to help you do it all by yourself, we’ve gathered our best ideas and solutions below. So here's a tip for you: Download CleanMyMac to quickly solve some of the issues mentioned in this article.

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