How to execute a Ping test with timestamp logging August 11, 2025

In this article, we have explained how to execute a Ping test with timestamp logging.

A ping test is useful in checking network connectivity between your system and a remote host. Adding timestamps to the ping output makes it easier to track when packets were sent and received, which is useful for fixing irregular network issues.

Follow the guide:

For Linux/macOS

1. Using the Built-in ‘-D’ Option:
   The ‘-D’ flag adds a timestamp (in UNIX epoch format) to each line of ping output.

   ping -D google.com

   Sample output:

   [1691758201.123456] 64 bytes from 142.250.183.78: icmp_seq=1 ttl=117 time=21.3 ms
   [1691758202.123789] 64 bytes from 142.250.183.78: icmp_seq=2 ttl=117 time=20.9 ms

2. To save the ping results with timestamps to a log file:

   ping -D google.com | tee ping_log.txt

   This will display the results in the terminal and store them in ‘ping_log.txt’.

3. If you prefer human-readable timestamps, use the  ‘date’ command:

   ping google.com | while read line; do echo “$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - $line”; done | tee ping_log.txt

   Example log entry:

   2025-08-11 14:23:45 - 64 bytes from 142.250.183.78: icmp_seq=1 ttl=117 time=21.3 ms

For Windows

1. Run the following command using Command Prompt:

   ping google.com -t

   This runs a continuous ping.

2. To add timestamps, execute the following:

   for /f “tokens=*” %a in (‘ping google.com -t’) do @echo %date% %time% %a

3. To save it to a file:

   for /f “tokens=*” %a in (‘ping google.com -t’) do @echo %date% %time% %a >> ping_log.txt

Note: You can stop the test anytime by pressing ‘Ctrl + C’ on both Linux/macOS and Windows systems.

This way, using ‘ping’ with timestamp logging is a simple way to track network connectivity issues over time. On Linux/macOS, you can use the ‘-D’ flag or the ‘date’ command for readable timestamps, whereas on Windows, you can loop the ping command with date and time output.

Want more control over your tests? Learn How to start and stop ping in Linux