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Traceroute or Ping on Windows

  • Updated on Jul 7, 2026
  • Published on Jan 8, 2023
  • 3 minute(s) read
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Basic Network tests

Ping and Traceroute

The ping and traceroute (tracert in Windows) commands are essential network troubleshooting tools built into Windows. They help diagnose connectivity issues by checking whether a destination is reachable (ping) and showing the path data takes across the network (tracert). These tools are often the first step in identifying where connection problems may be occurring. 

Windows Firewall ICMP rules
Windows Firewall automatically blocks ICMP traffic by default, and will need to be allowed within the firewall. Please look at this article for how to open ports and protocols in Windows Advanced Firewall: How To: Open Ports in Windows Advanced Firewall

If you don't have RDP access to the Server that you are attempting to troubleshoot, we would recommend following:
How to access IPMI / Remote Console for Dedicated Servers
How to Access Remote Console for Cloud Servers for Cloud VPS'

As these methods will still function when the machine doesn't have an internet connection.

Opening command prompt 

You can do this by typing "cmd" in the start search box or by pressing the Windows key + "R", typing "cmd", and clicking "command prompt".

How to Ping

The basic syntax for a ping command is: 

CMD
ping [target ip or hostname]

Ping by hostname: 

CMD
ping google.com

Even though you ping as a hostname, it is looked up via DNS, and the command output shows the IP that was found. 

Pinging google.com [142.250.195.238] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 142.250.195.238: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=114
Reply from 142.250.195.238: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=114
Reply from 142.250.195.238: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=114
Reply from 142.250.195.238: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=114
Ping statistics for 142.250.195.238:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 14ms, Maximum = 40ms, Average = 20ms

Ping by IP:

CMD
ping 142.251.42.110

Pinging 142.250.207.14 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 142.250.207.14: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=114
Reply from 142.250.207.14: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=114
Reply from 142.250.207.14: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=114
Reply from 142.250.207.14: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=114
Ping statistics for 142.250.207.14:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 6ms, Maximum = 15ms, Average = 10ms

You can read more on the ping command within Microsoft's documentation here, which details all of the parameters there: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/ping

How to Traceroute/Tracert

A ping checks if a destination is reachable and measures overall latency, while tracert maps the exact path (hops) a packet takes to reach a destination, identifying specifically where delays or failures occur

Basic example

CMD
tracert [target ip or hostname]

Tracert by hostname:

tracert google.com
Tracing route to google.com [142.250.207.14]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     6 ms     5 ms     4 ms  27.50.69.33
  2    12 ms     6 ms     5 ms  27.50.69.1
  3     6 ms     5 ms     5 ms  corp-t1-uplink.corp-t0.nsx-t.sauintra.net [192.168.176.0]
  4    13 ms     8 ms     6 ms  vl3770.es-6-911-p2.sy3.as45671.net.au [100.64.14.21]
  5    12 ms     5 ms     6 ms  es-6-911-p2-ospf.cs-6.syd.as45671.net.au.105.64.100.in-addr.arpa [100.64.105.98]
  6     7 ms     6 ms     7 ms  eth-trunk100.cs-6-910-p1.syd.as45671.net.au [203.26.198.11]
  7     7 ms     6 ms     6 ms  118.127.58.134
  8    13 ms     5 ms     6 ms  eth49-1.edge03.sy3.as9280.net.au [118.127.58.140]
  9    13 ms     5 ms     5 ms  eth19-1.core01.sy3.as9280.net.au [118.127.58.68]
 10    15 ms     9 ms     8 ms  142.250.163.194
 11    14 ms     7 ms     7 ms  192.178.97.89
 12    15 ms     7 ms     8 ms  142.250.234.211
 13    13 ms     6 ms     5 ms  tzsyda-ah-in-f14.1e100.net [142.250.207.14]

Trace complete.

Tracert by IP:

tracert 142.250.207.14
Tracing route to tzsyda-ah-in-f14.1e100.net [142.250.207.14]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     5 ms     5 ms     5 ms  27.50.69.33
  2     6 ms     5 ms     5 ms  27.50.69.1
  3     6 ms     6 ms     5 ms  corp-t1-uplink.corp-t0.nsx-t.sauintra.net [192.168.176.0]
  4    13 ms     5 ms     6 ms  vl3770.es-6-911-p2.sy3.as45671.net.au [100.64.14.21]
  5     6 ms     8 ms    11 ms  es-6-911-p2-ospf.cs-6.syd.as45671.net.au.105.64.100.in-addr.arpa [100.64.105.98]
  6    12 ms     7 ms    34 ms  eth-trunk100.cs-6-910-p1.syd.as45671.net.au [203.26.198.11]
  7    14 ms     5 ms     6 ms  118.127.58.134
  8     6 ms     5 ms     5 ms  eth49-1.edge03.sy3.as9280.net.au [118.127.58.140]
  9     7 ms     5 ms     6 ms  eth19-1.core01.sy3.as9280.net.au [118.127.58.68]
 10    10 ms     5 ms     6 ms  142.250.163.194
 11     6 ms     6 ms     7 ms  192.178.97.89
 12    14 ms     6 ms     6 ms  142.250.234.211
 13    18 ms     6 ms     8 ms  tzsyda-ah-in-f14.1e100.net [142.250.207.14]

Trace complete.