{"id":784,"date":"2019-01-12T02:06:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-12T09:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pagely.com\/kb\/?post_type=ht_kb&p=784"},"modified":"2020-01-31T13:57:39","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T20:57:39","slug":"edit-hosts-file-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/pagely.com\/kb\/en\/edit-hosts-file-wordpress\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Edit Your Hosts File (And Preview Your Website Before DNS Propagates)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your computer’s hosts <\/strong>file is a simple text file that maps hostnames to IP addresses. In practical terms, that means that it maps a domain, like pagely.com, to a server’s IP address, like 192.168.0.1.<\/p>\n

Normally, this process is handled by the Domain Name System (DNS)<\/a> when you’re using the Internet. However, the hosts file provides an alternative method to map hostnames to IP addresses without using DNS.<\/p>\n

As a WordPress user, the hosts file can be especially helpful when you migrate a WordPress site<\/a> to a new host or otherwise change your domain’s nameservers. For example, if you move from Host A to Host B, you’ll first migrate all of your site’s files. Then, you’ll need to update your domain’s nameservers<\/a> to point to Host B (instead of Host A<\/em>).<\/p>\n

However, DNS takes some time to update, which means that your domain name might still take you to Host A when you really want to end up at Host B to see if your newly migrated site is working properly.<\/p>\n

The hosts<\/strong> file lets you fix that by manually mapping your site’s domain name to the IP address of your site’s new server. That means you’ll be able to fully test out your new site without needing to wait for your DNS changes to propagate.<\/p>\n

In this article, you’ll learn:<\/p>\n