How To Preview Website Without Changing Nameservers (2 Methods)

Wonder how to preview your website without changing the nameservers? Tried several ways and wasted hours doing this? Or did you fall into trouble using the preview URL given by the web hosting companies?

These are the problems people often face when trying to test their hosting servers. Why do this? I will tell you exactly why and easy ways to do this.

I have stated the need for nameservers, what it means and related content. So, letā€™s get on with these effortless ways to preview your website without a domain or before switching the DNS entries

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What is a Nameserver?

Nameservers provide an easy way to connect domain names to hosting provider. Nameservers usually point to our web hosting provider.

Example – I have a domain name on popular domain registrar Namecheap.com and shared hosting on Hostinger.
To connect my domain ā€œkptesthosting9.comā€ to a hosting provider Iā€™ll change my nameservers to the nameservers given by Hostinger.

In this case, the nameservers provided to me are — ns1.dns-parking.com

                                                                                              ns2.dns-parking.com

nameservers of the server

Why do you need to change nameservers?

There are 2 main reasons to change nameservers 

  1. When we start our website and want to connect our domain name to our web hosting provider. 
  1. When we change our web hosting provider and want to point our domain to new hosting.

Why should you preview your website before changing nameservers?

You would want to preview your website before changing the nameservers for one of the following reasons.

If you are transferring to a new hosting provider, testing your website on the server is the most crucial job to do, before you point your domain. You can verify the server works as you expected with no problems. 

But this may not be possible as you donā€™t own a domain or itā€™s used to host your other website. You would like to test your site on the server before migrating.

Or, you want to test your new website before its launch? Yes, people want to check the design and test the functionality of their website before launching it. 

Continue reading the article to know the convenient ways on how you can do this.

What is a preview URL?

You would like to check how your website will look to visitors, then the preview URL is what you need. Preview URL is used to preview the website prior to launching it. We do this to inspect the website for errors in design and check the functionality.  

Preview/temporary URL helps to get an idea of how the site looks once it has been published. 

This is my demo website using a preview URL.

Website

Also, a preview URL is used to check the capabilities of the server before hosting a website on it. You can check if the server of your new hosting provider works just fine as they promised. 

You could ask your web host provider for a temporary URL, which they provide an option in the dashboard sometimes. Or you could follow the ways to get the preview URL of your site. 

Method 1 – Using hosts.cx 

Hosts.cx website

How to get a preview website without domain? This is the best method for this. Hosts.cx is a free, public website used to get a preview URL for your website. This method is easy and all you need is your serverā€™s IP address and your website.

Step 1

Your serverā€™s IP address can be obtained from the dashboard or the control panel of your web hosting account. I hosted my website on Hostinger, and the serverā€™s IP address is in the hPanel. 

(hosts.cx) Step 1 - serverā€™s IP address

Step 2

After you visit the hosts.cx website, you need to enter two things.

The serverā€™s IP address and your website. Now, specify the IP address in the server address field and your domain name in the website name field.

Tick the ā€˜Iā€™m not a robotā€™ prompt and click on Get my testing URL.

(hosts.cx)Step 2 - filling the fields

Step 3

Voila! You get a temporary URL for your website with a QR code. You can access the URL through your browser.

(hosts.cx) Step 3 - Preview URL and QR code

Another way is using the QR code, scan it from any device (even a mobile device) to access your website.

Method 2 – Editing local hosts file

This method needs you to edit the local hosts file on your computer so that you can preview your website before DNS propagation has been completed. It sometimes can be tedious, you would need to edit the system files and nobody else can view the results. 

The above method works only for your system.

Follow method 1 if you are uncomfortable with editing configuration files.

Windows

Below is the procedure for the windows operating system, where we edit hosts file in the system.

Step 1

In the Windows menu, type Notepad. Right-click on the icon and select the Run as administrator option. 

(windows) Step 1 - run notepad as administrator

Step 2

Open the hosts file from the file menu in the notepad (CTRL+O). 

The location of the file is:- 

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.

If you couldnā€™t locate the file, then change ā€˜Text Documentsā€™ to ā€˜All Filesā€™ in the notepad. Now, you can access all the files, including the hosts file.

(windows) Step 2 - open the hosts file

Step 3

Next, you need to add the following text in the same format at the end of the file.

185.229.165.196 kptesthosting9.com
185.229.165.196 www.kptesthosting9.com

This is an example. Replace the IP address with your serverā€™s IP address. Your primary domain should be added in place of the website name.

(windows) Step 3 - adding the required text

Step 4

Save the file (CTRL+S). (Donā€™t use the save as option, use save option only)

(windows) Step 4 - saving the file

Step 5

Close any browser tab if open and restart the browser. Type your website name and this will load your website from the server.

(windows) Step 5 - website

Mac Operating System

We will now check the procedure for Mac operating system.

Step 1

Open the Terminal app. You can open this through Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

Step 2

Next, we use the nano editor to access the hosts file. Use the following command to run the file.

sudo nano /private/etc/hosts

Enter the administrator password of your macOS account as you are executing the command as a superuser.

Step 3

Add the following lines (as explained for Windows OS) at the end of the file.

185.229.165.196 kptesthosting9.com
185.229.165.196 www.kptesthosting9.com

Step 4

Once you finish editing the file, save it using CTRL+X (CMD+X) and then press Y. Click Enter after you are done.

Step 5

Next, you need to flush the DNS cache. Following are the commands for different versions of the macOS.

El Capitan (10.11), Sierra (10.12), High Sierra (10.13), Mojave (10.14), and Catalina (10.15) -> sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Yosemite (10.10)  -> sudo discoveryutil udnsflushcaches

Snow Leopard (10.6)  -> dscacheutil -flushcache

Lion (10.7), Mountain Lion (10.8), and Mavericks (10.9) -> sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Step 6

Open a new browser tab and type your website. This will load the website on your screen. 


Linux Operating System

The process for Linux users is similar with few changes.

Step 1

We will use the same nano editor for Linux as well, in the Terminal.

Use the following command to edit the file:

$ sudo nano /etc/hosts

Or you can use the gedit text editor as well. The command for that is:

$ sudo gedit /etc/hosts

(Linux) Step 1 - open the hosts file

Step 2

Add the following lines at the end of the file (as mentioned for other OS)

185.229.165.196 kptesthosting9.com  =  [IP address (space) website name (without www)]

185.229.165.196 www.kptesthosting9.com  =   [IP address (space) website name]

(Linux) Step 2 - adding the required text

Step 3

Save the file using CTRL+X, then press y.

Note: If you want to revert the changes, just remove the two lines from the hosts file. This applies to all three operating systems. 

Conclusion

We now have come to the end. Hope you could follow the steps and get your preview URL. Both the ways are easy to follow and complete. 

Let me know if you faced any difficulties while following the steps. Leave a reply in the comment section and I will clarify your doubts. 

Also, let me know if you completed the process and got your preview URL. 

Anyway, if you enjoy reading my content, you can subscribe to my Newsletter to receive all the latest updates! This is Kripesh signing off. Cheers and happy learning! šŸ™‚ 

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Kripesh Adwani

Kripesh Adwani is a digital tool expert who buys, tests, and reviews SAAS tools for small businesses. Based on 10+ years of experience in tech he provides insightful reviews. His content is widely consumed, serving millions of users each month. Kripesh has also been featured in more than 50 publications, including The Economic Times, The Free Press Journal & Cloudways.

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