HomeMac OS XHow to Edit the Hosts File on a Mac

How to Edit the Hosts File on a Mac

Method 1 of 1:

Editing Using TextEdit

  1. How to Edit the Hosts File on a Mac Picture 1
    Open the Terminal app. You can use the Spotlight search functionality to do this.
  2. How to Edit the Hosts File on a Mac Picture 2
    Copy the /etc/hosts file to a local file to be able to edit it.
    1. Type the command: cp /etc/hosts hosts .
  3. How to Edit the Hosts File on a Mac Picture 3
    Edit the copy of the hosts file using TextEdit.
    1. Type the command: open /Applications/TextEdit.app hosts
  4. How to Edit the Hosts File on a Mac Picture 4
    Add your new hosts file entry as a single line at the bottom of the file. The format of the line is "1.2.3.4 www.mynewdomain.com", where 1.2.3.4 is the IP address and www.mynewdomain.com is the domain you want to point at the IP address.
  5. How to Edit the Hosts File on a Mac Picture 5
    Copy the file hosts over top of the system /etc/hosts file. Do this by typing: sudo cp hosts /etc/hosts.
    1. You will be prompted for your password at this point because you are overwriting the system /etc/hosts file. Note that on the command line, when you type a character into the password field, nothing at all will appear.
  6. How to Edit the Hosts File on a Mac Picture 6
    Test your new local domain name by typing the domain name into your web browser.
    1. Note: your new domain name will not work until you have a web server responding at the IP address you specify!
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