An IPv6 is a preferred protocol over IPv4 in modern Windows and Linux systems.

In Windows, you can ping IPv6 addresses using a standard ping command.

If the ping command fails to ping the IPv6 address, it could be that the IPv6 protocol is disabled or it is not supported by your computer or the router it is connected to, or by your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

This short note shows how to ping the IPv6 addresses in Windows and how to check if the IPv6 protocol is enabled.

Cool Tip: How to open a Windows command prompt (CMD) or PowerShell withing the current folder from a File Explorer! Read more →

Ping IPv6 Address in Linux

Use one of these commands to ping the IPv6 addresses in Windows:

C:\> ping <ipv6-address-or-hostname>
C:\> ping -6 <ipv6-address-or-hostname>

For example, to ping the IPv6 address 2001:4860:4860::8888 (Google Public DNS), execute one of the commands below:

C:\> ping 2001:4860:4860::8888
C:\> ping -6 2001:4860:4860::8888
- sample output -
Pinging 2001:4860:4860::8888 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 2001:4860:4860::8888: time=9ms
...

You can also use these commands to ping a hostname that resolves to the IPv6 address (DNS has the AAAA record), for example:

C:\> ping google.com
C:\> ping -6 google.com
- sample output -
Pinging google.com [2a00:1450:4007:818::200e] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 2a00:1450:4007:818::200e: time=8ms
...

If you want to enforce the IPv4 hostname resolution, execute:

C:\> ping -4 google.com
- sample output -
Pinging google.com [172.217.20.174] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 172.217.20.174: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=117
...

Check if IPv6 Support is Enabled

If the ping command returns the error “PING: transmit failed. General failure.“, it means that the IPv6 protocol is disabled or is not supported by your computer or the router it is connected to or by your ISP:

C:\> ping -6 2001:4860:4860::8888
- sample output -
Pinging 2001:4860:4860::8888 with 32 bytes of data:
PING: transmit failed. General failure.

To check if the IPv6 protocol is enabled, execute the ipconfig command.

The output as follows indicates that the IPv6 is disabled:

C:\> ipconfig
- sample output -
Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.30
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

To enable the IPv6 protocol on Windows, press ⊞ Win + R to start the “Run” dialog, type in ncpa.cpl and click “OK” to open up the “Network Connections” window.

Right-click on a network adapter, select the “Properties”, ensure that the “Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) is enabled, click on its “Properties” and ensure that the “Obtain an IPv6 address automatically” option is also selected:

If the ipconfig command returns “Link-local IPv6 Address” only, this means that the IPv6 protocol is enabled on your computer but it is disabled or is not supported by the router it is connected to, or by your ISP:

C:\> ipconfig
- sample output -
Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::6c5e:9dd:5f66:c125%14
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.88.247
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.88.1

Go to your router’s settings and ensure that the IPv6 and DHCPv6 (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol version 6) are enabled.

Properly configured IPv6 network interface in Windows, looks like this one:

C:\> ipconfig
- sample output -
Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2a02:8428:67c:6e01:38b4:b290:4941:ad0b
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2a02:8428:67c:6e01:9faf:d3bc:ac1:e012
   Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2a02:8428:67c:6e01:cda2:3949:e6ef:64af
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::6c5e:9dd:5f66:c125%14
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.30
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : fe80::6235:c0ff:fe6d:b1b8%14
                                       192.168.1.1

If the IPv6 protocol is not supported by the target devices (or it is simply not reachable), the ping command will return the “Request timed out.”:

C:\> ping -6 2001:4860:4860::8881
- sample output -
Pinging 2001:4860:4860::8881 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.

Cool Tip: How to find out a router’s IP address! Read more →