How to Run the Traceroute Command: Step-by-Step Guide

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Learn what the traceroute command does and how to use it
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When you load a website or connect to a host on the internet, your device sends data packets that pass through multiple routers before arriving at their destination. Traceroute is a command that shows you the route your data takes to get from your device to a location on the internet. [1] You can use traceroute to troubleshoot slow connections or unreachable hosts and websites, as it will tell you where along the route your data slows down or drops. This article will teach you how to run a traceroute on any device, including your Windows PC, Mac, Android, iPhone, and on Linux.

How to Do a Traceroute: Quick Steps

  1. Open CMD (Windows) or Terminal (Mac & Linux).
  2. Type "tracert <hostname>" (Windows) or "traceroute <hostname>" (Mac).
  3. Press Enter or Return .
  4. Check the times to see how long it took the data to arrive to and return from each router.
  5. Look for asterisks (*) to find dropped packets, which could indicate problems.
Method 1
Method 1 of 6:

Windows

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  1. Doing this searches your computer for the Command Prompt program.
  2. It's at the top of the search results. Command Prompt will open.
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  3. For example, if you want to trace the route from your PC to Facebook, you'd type tracert facebook.com and press Enter to run the command.
    • If you want to run a traceroute to a website, don't type the https:// at the beginning.
    • You can also do a traceroute to an IP address. For example, tracert 69.63.181.11 .
  4. The tracert command will send packets to the address you specified and report the time it took for the packets to arrive at each stop (called "hops") along the way. You will see the IP addresses (and sometimes the hostnames, depending on the route) of each router and device your data passes through. Once you see "Trace complete" appear below the list of hops, your trace has successfully run its course.
    • The times you see (in milliseconds) show how long it took for the data to arrive at that router and return to your computer. There are three values for each hop, as the tracert command checks and reports the round-trip times for each hop three times. [2]
    • If you're experiencing lag , you'll usually see time spikes along the route.
    • Asterisks * indicate dropped packets. Sometimes you'll see dropped packets on just one or two of the attempts at each router, but you might see three asterisks. This could mean there's a problem at that router, but it could also just mean that router is just blocking the sort of data sent in the traceroute (ICMP). [3]
    • If you see " Destination net unreachable ," you could be running a traceroute to a non-existent IP address or hostname, or there might be a problem with your router. [4]
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Method 2
Method 2 of 6:

macOS (Terminal)

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  1. Click the magnifying glass-shaped icon in the top-right corner of the screen to do so.
  2. 2
    Type terminal and select the Terminal app. This opens a Terminal window on your Mac.
  3. 3
    Enter the "traceroute" command. Type in tracert website.com , replacing website.com with the hostname of the address you want to trace a route to—then press ⏎ Return .
    • You can also run a traceroute to test the speed and path to an IP address.
    • You don't need to provide the "https://" section of the website's address.
  4. 4
    Review the results. You will see a list of all hops between your computer and the destination address, as well as the speed (in milliseconds) at each hop. Once you see "Trace complete" appear below the list of hops, your trace has successfully run its course.
    • The times you see (in milliseconds) reflect the amount of time it took for the packet to arrive at the destination and return to your computer. There are three values for each hop—this is because the traceroute makes three attempts to deliver the packets and report the round-trip time for each packet.
    • If you see asterisks * , that indicates dropped packets. Sometimes you'll see dropped packets on just one or two of the attempts. If asterisks appear on all three attempts, there might be a problem with that router, or it may just be blocking ICMP traffic .
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Method 3
Method 3 of 6:

macOS (Network Utility)

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  1. If you're using macOS 11 or earlier, you can use this method to run a traceroute on your Mac. Click the magnifying glass-shaped icon in the top-right corner of the screen to get started.
  2. This will search your computer for the Network Utility program.
  3. Double-click Network Utility near the top of the search results. Doing so will prompt the Network Utility window to open. [5]
  4. It's a tab at the top of the Network Utility window.
  5. In the text box near the top of the window, type in the address (or IP address) of the website or host to which you want to trace a path.
    • For example, to trace a path to wikiHow's website, you would enter wikihow.com here.
    • You don't need to provide the "https://" section of the website's address.
  6. It's a blue button on the right side of the page. Doing so will prompt Network Utility to begin tracing the path to your selected website.
  7. Traceroute will bring up a list of the devices (called "hops") through which your trace travels on the way to its destination.
    • You will see three times (in milliseconds) on each hop. These times represent the amount of time it took for the data packets to arrive at that hop and return to your computer.
    • There are three times for each hop because traceroute attempts to deliver packets three times—this gives you a more accurate understanding of the amount of time packets are spending at a particular router.
    • If you see an asterisk * instead of an amount of time at one hop, packets have dropped. If you see three asterisks instead of times at a hop, the packets have dropped on all three attempts, which could point to a problem at that router.
      • Sometimes asterisks are nothing to worry about—they could just indicate that the firewall is blocking ICMP traffic.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 6:

iPhone/iPad

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  1. Skip this step if you already have iNetTools installed on your iPhone. Open the App Store , then do the following:
    • Tap Search
    • Tap the search bar.
    • Type in inettools
    • Tap inettools - ping,dns,port scan
    • Tap GET next to iNetTools.
    • Enter your Touch ID or Apple ID password.
  2. Tap OPEN in the App Store, or tap the radar display-shaped iNetTools app icon on one of your iPhone's Home Screens.
  3. It's in the middle of the screen.
  4. You'll find this option near the top of the screen. Doing so brings up your iPhone's on-screen keyboard.
  5. Type in the address (or IP address) of the address to which you want to trace a path.
    • For example, to trace a path to Google's closest server, you would enter google.com here.
    • You don't need to provide the "https://" or "www." section of the website's address.
  6. It's in the top-right corner of the screen. iNetTools will begin tracing a route to your specified address.
  7. Once the spinning wheel across from the "Result" heading disappears, you can review the address of each router (called a "hop") through which your trace passed on its way to the destination.
    • You will see three times (in milliseconds) on each hop. These times represent the amount of time it took for the data packets to arrive at that hop and return to your computer.
    • There are three times for each hop because traceroute attempts to deliver packets three times—this gives you a more accurate understanding of the amount of time packets are spending at a particular router.
    • If you see an asterisk * instead of an amount of time at one hop, packets have dropped. If you see three asterisks instead of times at a hop, the packets have dropped on all three attempts, which indicates a problem at that location (or a firewall with strong rules that block ICMP).
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Method 5
Method 5 of 6:

Android

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  1. Skip this step if you already have PingTools installed on your Android. Open the Google Play Store , then do the following:
    • Tap the search bar.
    • Type in pingtools
    • Tap PingTools Network Utilities in the results.
    • Tap INSTALL
    • Tap ACCEPT when prompted.
  2. Tap OPEN in the Google Play Store, or tap the PingTools app icon in your Android's App Drawer.
  3. Doing so agrees to PingTools' terms of use and opens the app.
    • If you've opened PingTools before, you might be able to skip this step.
  4. It's in the top-left corner of the screen. A pop-up menu will appear.
  5. This option is in the middle of the pop-out menu.
  6. It's at the top of the screen. Doing so will bring up your Android's on-screen keyboard.
    • If a website's address is already in this text box, remove it before proceeding.
  7. For example, if you're having trouble loading wikiHow, you can type wikihow.com . If you're doing a traceroute to a website, don't type the "https://" at the beginning.
  8. It's in the top-right corner of the screen. Doing so will prompt PingTools to begin tracing a route to your selected address.
  9. Once the trace is complete, you can review the address of each gateway through which your trace passed on its way to the destination.
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Method 6
Method 6 of 6:

Linux

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  1. On most distributions, you can do this by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T . You can also double-click the Terminal option in your menu.
  2. You can use the traceroute command to view the route from your Linux PC to any IP address or hostname. For example, if YouTube is running slowly, you can type traceroute youtube.com and press Enter to see if packets are dropping or slowing down at a particular router (also called a "hop") between your computer and YouTube.
    • If you have the IP address, you can use it instead of the URL.
  3. Once the trace is complete, you will see the IP address (and sometimes the hostname, depending on the device's configuration) through which your trace passed on its way to the destination. Each hop also displayed three different numbers (in milliseconds) that tell you how long it took for a packet to arrive at that destination and return to your computer.
    • Each hop along the route displays three different times. This is because traceroute sends the packets three times to each host. If you're seeing spikes in MS at a particular hop, it might be having problems, or it could just be a busy time.
    • Sometimes you will see an asterisk * instead of a time in milliseconds. This means the packets were dropped at that location. If you see three asterisks and "Request timed out," your data is not making it past that hop, which could mean there's a problem at that router.
      • Sometimes asterisks are nothing to worry about—they could just indicate that the firewall is blocking ICMP traffic.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    I don't see a GO tab on my Mac. Does it go by another name?
    Community Answer
    Maybe you have a Mac with a GO tab in another language. GO can be said in many different languages and ways.
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    Thank you for your feedback.
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  • Question
    When I write a command tracer to Google in Windows, I get this message: "tracer is not recognized as an internal or external command". What should I do?
    Community Answer
    it looks like you typed in "tracer google.com", when actually the command is "tracert google.com".
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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  • Question
    What do I do if the request timed out on every hop?
    Community Answer
    Call your internet provider, or check the DNS of the address that you're running the traceroute to.
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    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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      Tips

      • If your traceroute results list several lines with three asterisks and "Request timed out," your data did not make it past the last IP address or hostname you see in the route. This could indicate a problem with that router, but it also could mean your data has reached a firewall that blocks ICMP traffic. [6]
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        Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
      • If you run several traceroutes to the same IP address or hostname, the path will often change. Routers and network engineers work hard to route traffic along the most efficient paths, which change often.
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      • If your traceroute never makes it past your computer, there could be a problem with your internet connection or the router configuration in your home.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/aix/7.2.0?topic=t-traceroute-command
      2. ↑ https://www.lumen.com/help/en-us/network/traceroute/understanding-the-traceroute-output.html
      3. ↑ https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/internet-core-protocols/1565925726/ch05s04s01.html
      4. ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-use-tracert-to-troubleshoot-tcp-ip-problems-in-windows-e643d72b-2f4f-cdd6-09a0-fd2989c7ca8e
      5. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202790
      6. ↑ https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/internet-core-protocols/1565925726/ch05s04s01.html

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Open the search bar.
      2. Type "command prompt".
      3. Click Command Prompt .
      4. Type "tracert wikihow.com .
      5. Press Enter .

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