HOSTS File Locations. In Windows, the HOSTS file is in the \windows\system32\drivers\etc folder. In the Mac, it is in /private/etc. The first line of a HOSTS file contains the following. See The hosts file is an elementary tool of a network protocol and converts host names into numeric IP addresses. The network can only work with these addresses. The hosts file is created in all common operating systems for PC, Mac, and mobile devices, and can be changed by system administrators. The hosts file was used to resolve host names for decades before the DNS system was implemented, since way back in the ARPANET days. Since they were used to aide in network name resolution, hosts files grew to become massive documents. .

what is a host file