When you type a URL into your browser and press Enter, a complex series of steps happens in just a few moments to display a website on your screen. Understanding this journey helps you see the invisible work that powers every web experience. The process can be broken down into these major steps:

1. The browser parses the URL to understand what you are requesting;
2. The browser checks if the website is already cached locally;
3. If not cached, the browser performs a DNS lookup to translate the domain name into an IP address;
4. The browser opens a connection to the server at that IP address, usually using the HTTP or HTTPS protocol;
5. The browser sends an HTTP request for the webpage;
6. The server receives the request and prepares a response;
7. The server sends back the requested HTML (and other resources) as an HTTP response;
8. The browser receives the response, parses the HTML, and begins rendering the page;
9. The browser may fetch additional resources (like images, CSS, or JavaScript) as needed to complete the page.

Each step in the flowchart is essential for transforming your typed URL into a fully loaded website. First, the browser parses the URL to figure out what you want—for example, which protocol (like http or https) and which domain name you are requesting.

Next, it checks if it already has a recent copy of the website stored locally, which can speed up loading.

If the site is not cached, the browser performs a DNS lookup, translating the human-readable domain name into the numerical IP address needed to find the server.

With the IP address, the browser opens a network connection to the server, usually using the HTTP or HTTPS protocol. It then sends an HTTP request for the specific page.

The server receives this request, processes it, and prepares a response, which typically includes the HTML for the webpage. The server sends this HTTP response back to the browser.

The browser then receives the response, parses the HTML, and begins rendering the page visually.

As it parses the HTML, the browser may discover references to additional resources like images, stylesheets, or scripts, which it then requests and loads to complete the page.