How to Find Your IP Address on a PC (Every Method Explained)

Your IP address is one of the most fundamental pieces of information about your network connection — and yet most people have no idea where to find it. Whether you're troubleshooting a connection issue, setting up remote access, or configuring a router, knowing how to locate your IP address quickly is a genuinely useful skill.

The tricky part? There isn't just one IP address to find. There are two distinct types, and depending on what you actually need it for, you'll be looking in completely different places.

The Difference Between Your Local IP and Your Public IP

Before diving into the steps, this distinction matters more than most guides let on.

Your local IP address (also called a private IP) is the address your router assigns to your PC within your home or office network. It typically looks like 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x. Only devices on the same network can see it.

Your public IP address is the address the wider internet sees — assigned by your ISP to your router. Every device on your network shares this single outward-facing address. It's what websites, games, and remote services interact with.

If you're troubleshooting a printer, sharing files across devices, or setting up a local server, you need your local IP. If you're configuring port forwarding, checking your VPN, or a service needs to connect to you from outside, you need your public IP.

Getting these confused is the most common reason people end up with the wrong number.

How to Find Your Local IP Address on Windows

Method 1: Settings App (Easiest for Most Users)

1. Open Settings → Network & Internet
2. Click Wi-Fi or Ethernet, depending on your connection
3. Click on your active network name
4. Scroll down to IPv4 address

That number is your local IP.

Method 2: Command Prompt (Fastest for Technical Users) 💻

1. Press Windows + R, type cmd, hit Enter
2. Type ipconfig and press Enter
3. Look for your active adapter (Wi-Fi or Ethernet)
4. Find the line labeled IPv4 Address

The ipconfig command also shows your subnet mask and default gateway — useful if you're doing any network configuration beyond just finding the address.

Method 3: Network and Sharing Center (Windows 10/11)

1. Right-click the network icon in the system tray
2. Select Open Network & Internet Settings
3. Click Change adapter options
4. Double-click your active connection → click Details
5. Find IPv4 Address

This route gives you a fuller picture of your network adapter's configuration.

How to Find Your Public IP Address

Your public IP isn't stored in Windows settings — it's assigned externally by your ISP, so you need to either ask an external service or check your router.

The simplest method: Open any browser and search what is my IP address. Google will display it directly at the top of the results. Dozens of dedicated sites like ifconfig.me or whatismyipaddress.com will show the same thing.

Through your router: Log into your router's admin panel (usually by typing 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 into a browser). Look for a section labeled WAN, Internet, or Status. Your public IP is listed there.

One important note: most residential internet connections use a dynamic public IP, meaning it changes periodically. If you need a stable public IP for hosting or remote access purposes, that's a separate arrangement with your ISP.

IPv4 vs. IPv6 — Which One Do You Need?

You'll likely see both listed when you run ipconfig or check your settings.

For most everyday tasks — printer setup, gaming, file sharing — IPv4 is what you want. IPv6 is more relevant in enterprise environments or when your ISP has fully transitioned its infrastructure.

Why Your IP Address Keeps Changing

If you've checked your local IP before and the number looks different now, that's normal. Home routers use DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to automatically assign IP addresses to devices. These leases expire and renew, which can change your local IP — especially after a router restart or a period of disconnection.

If you need your PC to always have the same local IP (for port forwarding rules, for example), you can assign a static IP either through Windows network settings or through your router's DHCP reservation feature. Both approaches work, but doing it at the router level is generally cleaner.

Factors That Affect Which Address You Find (and Why It Matters)

Several variables determine which IP you're actually seeing and what it means for your situation:

• Connection type — Wi-Fi and Ethernet adapters have separate IP addresses. If your PC uses both, ipconfig will show an address for each
• VPN usage — An active VPN replaces your apparent public IP with one from the VPN provider, and may also create a virtual network adapter with its own local IP
• Network type — Home, work, and mobile hotspot networks all assign addresses differently
• Windows version — The Settings path varies slightly between Windows 10 and Windows 11, though ipconfig works identically on both

🔍 If your PC shows multiple adapters in ipconfig output, identify the active one by looking for a valid IPv4 address alongside a populated Default Gateway — inactive or virtual adapters typically show 0.0.0.0 or no gateway at all.

Whether you need the local address for a network configuration task or the public address for something external, the right method depends entirely on what you're trying to accomplish — and sometimes on what's already running on your machine.