How to Save the Windows Hosts File When Admin Access Is Denied

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If you see “Access Denied” when editing the hosts file as admin, first make sure the text editor itself is running with administrator permissions. Then open the existing file from inside that elevated editor and save your change. Being signed in to an administrator account does not automatically elevate every app.

Why Windows denies the save

The hosts file is a plain-text system file Windows uses to map hostnames to IP addresses. Its usual location is %WinDir%System32DriversEtc, commonly C:WindowsSystem32driversetc. Because it is in a protected system folder, an ordinary editor session may be able to view the file but not save changes.

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Microsoft’s access-denied guidance recommends starting Notepad as administrator. That article covers specified Windows Server editions; it supports the elevated-editor step, but it does not identify the cause of every save failure on Windows 10 or Windows 11.

Open and edit the existing hosts file in elevated Notepad

1. Open Start, search for Notepad, right-click it, and select Run as administrator. Approve the Windows elevation prompt if one appears.

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2. In the elevated Notepad window, select File > Open. Navigate to %WinDir%System32DriversEtc. If the file list does not show the file, change the file-type filter to All files (*.*).

3. Open the file named hosts, not hosts.txt. The hosts file must have no file extension.

4. Make only the intended change. Each entry puts an IP address first, followed by one or more hostnames separated by spaces or tabs. Lines beginning with # are comments.

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5. Select File > Save in the same elevated Notepad window.

If saving is still denied

• Confirm the editor is elevated. Close the editor and launch it again with Run as administrator; opening the file in a non-elevated window can still leave you unable to save.

• Check which file you opened. Verify the location is the system driversetc folder and the filename is hosts with no extension. A newly created hosts.txt is not the existing hosts file.

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• Consider device-specific restrictions. If the correct file is open in elevated Notepad and saving still fails, the error alone does not establish the cause. Permissions may have been changed, or a work or school device may be governed by policy. Contact the device administrator rather than changing ownership or broadly weakening file permissions.

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Alternative: use Microsoft PowerToys Hosts File Editor

PowerToys includes a Hosts File Editor. Microsoft documents that it can be read-only when disabled and may display “Failed to save hosts file” when a change is made without administrator permissions. It is another interface, not a way around the permission requirement.

Restore the Windows default hosts file instead of editing it

Use Microsoft’s Windows 10 and Windows 11 reset procedure only if you want the default contents, not merely to resolve a save error. Keep a backup of the current file so you can recover any custom entries.

1. Prepare a replacement hosts file with the desired default contents and save it as hosts with no extension. If creating it in Notepad, choose All files (*.*) in the Save as type field.

2. In the driversetc folder, rename the existing file Hosts.old.

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3. Copy or move the replacement file into driversetc. Accept the administrator prompt if Windows displays one.

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