---
title: How to preview your site before DNS propagation completes
description: "Editing the hosts file is a temporary measure to preview a newly transferred site on our servers before changing the domain’s DNS. This allows you to access the site on Host-Age.com servers as if you had already changed the domain’s…"
url: "https://www.host-age.com/kb/advanced/view-site-without-dns-propagation/"
updated: "2025-07-31"
category: Advanced
---

# How to preview your site before DNS propagation completes

Editing the hosts file is a temporary measure to preview a newly transferred site on our servers before changing the domain’s DNS. This allows you to access the site on Host-Age.com servers as if you had already changed the domain’s DNS. The site can only be viewed this way from the computer where the hosts file is modified. Below we show how to make this change on computers running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux.

Modifying the hosts file involves adding two entries. Each entry contains the IP address where you want the site to resolve and the domain variations with and without www. For example, add the following two lines with www.domain.com and domain.com plus the allocated IP.

89.38.233.180 www.domain.com
89.38.233.180 domain.com

This can be the shared IP of the server or a dedicated IP if you opted for one. You can find your site’s IP in cPanel, as shown in the image below.

![Showing IP in cPanel](https://www.host-age.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/afisare-ip-cpanel.png)

## **Editing the hosts file on Windows**

**Windows 8, 10, and 11**

1. Press the **Windows** key.
2. Type **Notepad** in the search field.
3. In the search results, right-click on **Notepad** and select **Run as administrator**.
4. In Notepad, open the file:
**c:\\Windows\\System32\\Drivers\\etc\\hosts**
5. Make the necessary changes in the file.
6. Save the file.

**Windows Vista and Windows 7**

1. Select Start > All Programs > Accessories.
2. Right-click on **Notepad** and select **Run as administrator**.
3. Windows will ask for your permission; the UAC window appears.
4. Click **Continue** to grant permission.
5. Notepad opens.
6. In Notepad, open the file: **c:\\Windows\\System32\\Drivers\\etc\\hosts**
7. Make the necessary changes.
8. Select **File** > **Save** to save the changes.

## **Editing the hosts file on Mac OS**

1. Select **Applications** > **Utilities** > **Terminal** to open a Terminal window.
2. Type the following command in Terminal to open the hosts file:
**sudo nano /private/etc/hosts** and press **Enter**.
3. You will be prompted to enter the administrator password.
4. Edit the file.
5. To save changes, press **Control+X**.
6. When prompted with **Save modified buffer (ANSWERING “No” WILL DESTROY CHANGES)?**, press **y**.
7. When prompted with **File Name to write : /private/etc/hosts**, press **Enter**.
8. In Terminal, type **dscacheutil -flushcache** and press **Enter**.

## **Editing the hosts file on Linux**

1. Open a **Terminal** window.
2. Enter the following command to open the hosts file in an editor:
**sudo nano /etc/hosts** and press **Enter**.
3. You will be prompted to enter the administrator password.
4. Make the necessary changes.
5. Press **Control-X**.
6. When prompted with **Save modified buffer (ANSWERING “No” WILL DESTROY CHANGES)?**, press **y**.
7. When prompted with **File Name to write : /private/etc/hosts**, press **Enter**.