# Port Scanner Scan open ports on a target host or IP address > Canonical page: https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/port-scanner - **Category:** Network - **Keywords:** port, scanner, network, security, tcp, open, closed, host ## Overview The Port Scanner is a network utility designed to identify open TCP ports on a specific host or IP address, helping you verify service availability and assess network exposure. ## Inputs - **Host/IP Address** (text): Enter hostname or IP address... - **Ports** (select) - **Timeout (ms)** (number): Lower timeout = faster scan, but may miss slow ports. Recommended: 2000ms for public IPs, 1000ms for LAN ## When to use - Verifying that a specific service like a web server or database is reachable on a remote host. - Troubleshooting connectivity issues by checking if required ports are blocked by a firewall. - Performing a quick security audit to identify potentially exposed services on your network. ## How it works - Enter the target hostname or IP address in the host field. - Select a predefined port range or specific service group from the dropdown menu. - Adjust the timeout setting if you are scanning over a slow network or need faster results. - Click scan to initiate a TCP connection attempt and view the status of each port. ## Use cases - System administrators verifying that a new web server is correctly configured to accept traffic on ports 80 and 443. - Developers checking if a local database instance is accessible to their application. - Security enthusiasts identifying which services are exposed on a public-facing server. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does an 'open' port mean? An open port indicates that the target host is actively accepting connections on that specific port, meaning a service is likely running and listening. ### Why would a port show as closed? A closed port means the host is reachable, but no application is currently listening for connections on that port. ### How does the timeout setting affect the scan? The timeout determines how long the scanner waits for a response. A lower value speeds up the scan but may cause you to miss ports on high-latency networks. ### Can this tool scan all 65,535 ports? This tool is optimized for common and well-known port ranges to ensure quick and reliable results for standard troubleshooting tasks. ### Is this tool safe to use on any IP? You should only scan hosts or networks that you own or have explicit permission to test, as port scanning can be interpreted as unauthorized reconnaissance. ## Related tools - [IP Geolocation](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/ip-geolocation): Visualize the geographic location, network (ASN/ISP), timezone, and security posture of any IP address as a rich card report - [HTTP/3 QUIC Handshake Anatomy](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/http-3-quic-handshake-anatomy): Dissect the HTTP/3 over QUIC handshake byte-by-byte. Visualise the 1-RTT fresh handshake, session-ticket resumption, and 0-RTT early-data scenarios, with sequence diagrams, per-packet field layouts, the Retry packet, and a side-by-side comparison against TCP + TLS 1.3. 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