Changes to hosts file on Windows

Question

Question

Punit Shah · May 2, 2023

I'm trying to update the hosts file on Windows in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

I know that in Linux if you update the hosts file, you sometimes need to restart the Network Manager for the changes to take effect.

So my question is that is there a similar thing that we need to do on Windows or do the changes take effect as soon as the file is saved?

Discussion (3)3

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Dmitry Baranov · May 2, 2023

Usually Windows handles the changes immediately. If it doesn't, try `ipconfig /flushdns`

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score 0 · Answer 1 · 2023-05-02T11:01:32-04:00

I'm not sure it's really necessary, but I typically do this after a hosts file change:

ipconfig /flushdns

score 0 · Answer 2 · 2023-05-02T14:26:18-04:00

Thank you Dmitry and Clayton!

I was able to verify that the change went into effect immediately by trying to ping that address and verifying the IP address ping shows.