the Tracert Command Syntax

The tracert command is used to visually see a network packet being sent and received and the amount of hops required for that packet to get to its destination.

Using the tracert command

If you are having connectivity problems, you can use the tracert command to check the path to the destination IP address that you want to reach and record the results. The tracert command displays the series of IP routers that are used in delivering packets from your computer to the destination and how long it took on each hop. If the packets are unable to be delivered to the destination, the tracert command displays the last router that successfully forwarded your packets.
For more information about the tracert command, you can type tracert -? at a command prompt.
The most common use of tracert is as follows:
tracert IP address [-d]


This returns a list of the routers that are crossed to get to IP address. By using the -d option, the router path is displayed faster because tracert does not try to resolve the names of the routers in the path.

Tracert Command Syntax

tracert [-d] [-h MaxHops] [-w TimeOut] [-4] [-6] target [/?]


Tip: See How To Read Command Syntax if you're having a hard time understanding the tracert syntax above.
-d = This option prevents tracert from resolving IP addresses to hostnames, often resulting in much faster results.
-h MaxHops = This tracert option specifies the maximum number of hops in the search for the target.