𝘼 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙯𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙨 — 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙖 𝙐𝙍𝙇

Source: Dev.to

What happens when you press Enter after typing a URL?

It looks simple, but a lot happens behind the scenes — all in seconds.

1️⃣ Finding the website (DNS lookup)

Your browser doesn’t understand human‑readable names like google.com.
It asks the DNS (the internet’s phone book) to translate the name into a numeric address (IP address).

Name → Number

2️⃣ Saying hello (Server connection)

With the IP address, the browser opens a connection to the website’s server, similar to dialing a phone number and checking if the other side is ready to talk.

3️⃣ Making it secure (HTTPS lock)

Before any data is exchanged, the browser and server establish an encrypted channel.
Think of it as putting your message inside a locked envelope so no one else can read it.

4️⃣ Asking for the page (Request → Response)

The browser sends a request:

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com

The server replies with the page’s resources:

• HTML (text)
• Images
• CSS, JavaScript, etc.

It’s like ordering food and receiving the meal.

5️⃣ Showing the page (Rendering)

The browser:

1. Builds the page structure from the HTML.
2. Applies styles and colors from CSS.
3. Executes JavaScript.
4. Paints the final result on the screen.

Imagine constructing and painting a house from a blueprint.

All of this happens in milliseconds, every time you press Enter.