Ping command guide: Windows, Linux & Mac

Ping command basics

The ping command is one of the most fundamental network troubleshooting tools available on every operating system. It sends small packets to a target and measures how long it takes to get a response, helping you diagnose connectivity issues, measure latency, and verify network paths.

Quick start for the impatient:

• Windows: ping google.com
• Linux: ping -c 4 google.com
• Mac: ping -c 4 google.com

Windows ping command

Basic syntax:

ping [options] hostname_or_ip

Essential Windows ping options

Windows ping examples

1. Basic ping (4 packets by default):

C:\> ping google.com

Pinging google.com [142.250.191.78] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 142.250.191.78: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=117
Reply from 142.250.191.78: bytes=32 time=24ms TTL=117
Reply from 142.250.191.78: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=117
Reply from 142.250.191.78: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=117

Ping statistics for 142.250.191.78:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 22ms, Maximum = 25ms, Average = 23ms

2. Continuous ping:

ping -t google.com    # Pings continuously until Ctrl+C

3. Large packet size test:

ping -l 1472 google.com    # Tests with larger packets to check MTU

4. Multiple pings with custom count:

ping -n 20 google.com    # Sends exactly 20 ping packets

Linux ping command

Basic syntax:

ping [options] hostname_or_ip

Essential Linux ping options

Linux ping examples

1. Basic ping with count:

$ ping -c 4 google.com

PING google.com (142.250.191.78) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from lga25s62-in-f14.1e100.net (142.250.191.78): icmp_seq=1 time=23.2 ms
64 bytes from lga25s62-in-f14.1e100.net (142.250.191.78): icmp_seq=2 time=24.1 ms
64 bytes from lga25s62-in-f14.1e100.net (142.250.191.78): icmp_seq=3 time=22.8 ms
64 bytes from lga25s62-in-f14.1e100.net (142.250.191.78): icmp_seq=4 time=23.5 ms

--- google.com ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3004ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 22.815/23.400/24.134/0.504 ms

2. Quiet mode with statistics only:

ping -q -c 10 google.com

3. Custom packet size and interval:

ping -c 5 -s 1000 -i 2 google.com    # 5 packets, 1000 bytes, 2s intervals

4. IPv6 ping:

ping6 google.com         # or: ping -6 google.com

Mac ping command

Mac ping is based on BSD Unix and is very similar to Linux, with a few differences in options and behaviour.

Mac-specific ping options

Mac ping examples

$ ping -c 4 google.com

PING google.com (142.250.191.78): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 142.250.191.78: icmp_seq=0 time=23.234 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.191.78: icmp_seq=1 time=24.123 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.191.78: icmp_seq=2 time=22.891 ms
64 bytes from 142.250.191.78: icmp_seq=3 time=23.567 ms

--- google.com ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 22.891/23.454/24.123/0.456 ms

Single ping (exit after first reply):

ping -o google.com

Ping with timestamps:

ping -D -c 3 google.com

Mac GUI alternative: you can also use Network Utility (Applications > Utilities > Network Utility) for a graphical ping interface.

Cross-platform comparison

Advanced ping techniques

Universal ping commands that work everywhere

# Basic connectivity test (adjust count option per platform)
Windows:   ping google.com
Linux/Mac: ping -c 4 google.com

# Test specific IP (no DNS lookup needed)
ping 8.8.8.8

# Test with larger packets (MTU discovery)
Windows:   ping -l 1472 google.com
Linux/Mac: ping -s 1472 -c 4 google.com

Network discovery with ping sweeps

Windows (PowerShell):

1..254 | ForEach-Object {
  ping -n 1 192.168.1.$_ | Select-String "Reply"
}

Linux/Mac (Bash):

for i in {1..254}; do
  ping -c1 192.168.1.$i | grep "64 bytes"
done

Monitoring network quality

# Windows — log ping results
ping -t google.com > ping_log.txt

# Linux — statistical summary
ping -c 100 google.com | awk '/transmitted/ {print $0}'

# Mac — timestamped continuous monitoring
ping -D google.com | tee ping_results.log

MTU path discovery

# Find maximum MTU size (start high and work down)
Windows: ping -f -l 1472 google.com
Linux:   ping -M do -s 1472 -c 1 google.com
Mac:     ping -D -s 1472 -c 1 google.com

# If this fails, try smaller sizes: 1200, 1000, 800, etc.

Testing different protocols and servers

# Test IPv4 vs IPv6 performance
ping google.com        # Usually IPv4
ping6 google.com       # Force IPv6 (Linux/Mac)
ping -6 google.com     # Force IPv6 (Windows)

# Test multiple DNS servers
ping 8.8.8.8           # Google DNS
ping 1.1.1.1           # Cloudflare DNS
ping 208.67.222.222    # OpenDNS

Interpreting ping results

Good ping results:

• Low latency — under 50ms for most activities.
• Consistent times — little variation between pings.
• No packet loss — 0% loss indicates stable connection.
• Reasonable TTL — shows reasonable hop count.

Problematic results:

• High latency — over 100ms for local services.
• Variable times — large differences between pings.
• Packet loss — any percentage indicates problems.
• "Request timed out" — network or firewall issues.

Common error messages

Ping troubleshooting workflow

Systematic troubleshooting steps:

1. Test localhost: ping 127.0.0.1 (tests TCP/IP stack).
2. Test default gateway: ping [gateway IP] (tests local network).
3. Test external IP: ping 8.8.8.8 (tests internet connectivity).
4. Test external hostname: ping google.com (tests DNS resolution).
5. Test target specifically: ping [your target].

If any of these fail, you know exactly where the problem is. Compare against our web-based ping tool running from a different network — if our tool can reach your target but you can't, the issue is on your side.

Related reading: What is ping? · Complete ping testing guide · Network diagnostics — professional troubleshooting