The ping command helps determine the TCP/IP network’s IP address and issues with the network and assists in resolving them. See the ping definition for a full description.

Availability

Ping is an external command available for the following Microsoft operating systems as ping.exe.

  • Availability

  • Ping syntax

  • Ping examples

  • Related questions

  • Windows 95

  • Windows 98

  • Windows ME

  • Windows NT

  • Windows 2000

  • Windows XP

  • Windows Vista

  • Windows 7

  • Windows 8

  • Windows 10

  • Windows 11

Ping syntax

Windows 10 and Windows 11 syntax

Usage: ping [-t] [-a] [-n count] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v TOS] [-r count] [-s count] [[-j host-list] | [-k host-list]] [-w timeout] [-R] [-S srcaddr] [-c compartment] [-p] [-4] [-6] target_name

Options:

  • Windows 10 and Windows 11 syntax.
  • Windows Vista, 7, and 8 syntax.
  • Windows XP and lower syntax.

Windows Vista, 7, and 8 syntax

Usage: ping [-t] [-a] [-n count] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v TOS] [-r count] [-s count] [[-j host-list] | [-k host-list]] [-w timeout] [-R] [-S srcaddr] [-4] [-6] target_name

Windows XP and lower syntax

ping [-t] [-a] [-n count] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v TOS] [-r count] [-s count] [[-j host-list] | [-k host-list]] [-w timeout] destination-list

Ping examples

ping localhost

Pings the localhost, which helps determine if the computer can send information out and receive the information back from itself.

ping computerhope.com

The command above does not send information over the network but can indicate if the card can respond.

Ping supports the ability to ping an Internet address. In the example above, we pinged “computerhope.com” and, as seen, received four responses. If we couldn’t reach the server or the server was blocking our request, we would have lost all four packets.

ping 216.58.216.164

Allows you to ping another computer where <216.58.216.164> can be the IP address of the computer you want to ping. If you do not get a reply or get lost packets, you have a problem with your network: cable issues, network card issues, drivers, router, switch, or other network problems.

Is there a continuous ping option?

ping

-t

Use the -t option to ping any address until you cancel it by pressing Ctrl+C.

When I ping the IP address doesn’t look right

With newer versions of the ping command and computers running on IPv6, you may get an IP address that looks something like [fe80::51c1:5214:a18e:8dec%12] instead of [192.168.1.7]. To get the IPv4 IP address, use the following command.

ping -4

The hostname can be any computer, and the -4 forces the address to be shown as an IPv4 address.

  • Why can I not ping microsoft.com, amazon.com, or another site?
  • How to determine the IP address of a website.
  • How to test if a website or web page is down.
  • See our ping definition for further information and related links on this term.