tracert

Trace Route Path

What Does It Do?

The tracert command shows the path your data takes to reach a website or computer. Like tracking all the stops your mail makes before reaching its destination.

It displays every "hop" (router or server) your data passes through on its journey across the internet. Each hop shows the IP address and how long it took to get there. This is super useful for finding where slowdowns or connection problems are happening.

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When Should I Use It?

Find Network Bottlenecks

Identify which router is causing slow internet connection.

See Route to Server

Visualize the path your data takes across the internet.

Diagnose Connection Failures

See where packets are getting dropped or timing out.

Check Geographic Routing

See which cities/countries your data travels through.

Common Commands

tracert google.com

Trace the route to Google and see all hops along the way.

tracert 8.8.8.8

Trace route to Google's DNS server using its IP address.

tracert -h 20 google.com

Limit the trace to a maximum of 20 hops instead of default 30.

tracert -d google.com

Don't resolve IP addresses to hostnames (faster results).

tracert -w 5000 google.com

Wait up to 5000 milliseconds (5 seconds) for each reply.

Try It Yourself

Practice tracert commands in the interactive terminal below: