What Actually Happens When You Open a Website?

#What Actually Happens When You Open a Website?

You type a URL into your browser, press Enter, and a website appears in seconds. But what happens between those two moments?

A lot more than you might think.

#1. The browser reads the URL

When you enter a URL, the browser identifies the domain name, protocol, and requested resource.

For example:

https://example.com/about

The browser knows it needs to request the /about page from example.com over HTTPS.

#2. DNS finds the server

The browser needs an IP address for the domain. The Domain Name System (DNS) helps resolve the domain name to an IP address.

Think of DNS as the internet's address book.

#3. The browser connects to the server

The browser establishes a connection to the server. For HTTPS, this involves a secure TLS handshake.

#4. An HTTP request is sent

The browser sends an HTTP request asking for the page. The server or application processes that request and returns an HTTP response.

#5. The browser renders the page

The browser processes the returned HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build and display the page.

Depending on the website, it may also request images, fonts, and data from APIs.

#The complete flow

Browser → DNS → Server connection → HTTP request → Server response → Rendering

That's the basic journey behind opening a website.

Understanding this flow is a great first step toward understanding how frontend, backend, and databases work together.