How to Find Your IP Number on a Computer

Every device connected to a network has an IP address — a numerical label that identifies it on that network. Whether you're troubleshooting a connection, setting up remote access, configuring a router, or just satisfying your curiosity, knowing how to find your IP number is a fundamental networking skill. The process varies depending on your operating system, the type of IP address you're looking for, and how your network is set up.

What Is an IP Number, Exactly?

An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a string of numbers that serves two main purposes: identifying a device and indicating its location within a network. You'll encounter two types regularly:

• Private IP address — the address assigned to your computer within your local network (home, office, school). This is what your router sees.
• Public IP address — the address your entire network presents to the internet. All devices on your home network typically share one public IP, assigned by your ISP.

These are genuinely different numbers, and which one you need depends entirely on what you're trying to do.

Modern networks also use two IP version standards:

How to Find Your Private IP Address

On Windows

The fastest method is the Command Prompt:

1. Press Windows Key + R, type cmd, and hit Enter
2. In the Command Prompt window, type ipconfig and press Enter
3. Look for IPv4 Address under your active network adapter (usually labeled "Ethernet adapter" or "Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi")

The number next to IPv4 Address is your local IP. You may also see an IPv6 Address listed directly above it.

Alternatively, navigate to Settings → Network & Internet → Wi-Fi (or Ethernet) → click your connection → Properties and scroll to find the IP assignment details.

On macOS

1. Open System Settings (macOS Ventura and later) or System Preferences on older versions
2. Go to Network
3. Select your active connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) from the sidebar
4. Your IP address appears directly in the details panel

You can also use Terminal: open it and type ipconfig getifaddr en0 for Wi-Fi or ipconfig getifaddr en1 for Ethernet. The number returned is your local IP.

On Linux 🖥️

Open a terminal and run:

ip addr show 

Look for the inet entry under your active interface (commonly eth0 for wired or wlan0 for wireless). The number before the / is your IPv4 address.

The older command ifconfig still works on many distributions if ip isn't available.

On Chrome OS

1. Click the clock in the bottom-right corner
2. Select the Wi-Fi or network icon
3. Click the information (ℹ️) icon next to your connected network
4. Your IP address is listed in the network details panel

How to Find Your Public IP Address

Your public IP isn't something your operating system reports directly — it's assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and sits at the edge of your network, on your router or modem.

The simplest method: open any web browser and search "what is my IP" in Google, or visit a site like whatismyip.com or ipinfo.io. These services detect and display the public IP your connection is coming from.

Your router's admin panel (typically accessed at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 in a browser) also displays the public WAN IP in its status or dashboard section.

Why the Two Numbers Often Confuse People

If you run ipconfig on Windows and see something like 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x, that's always a private address. These address ranges are reserved exclusively for local networks and are never routable on the public internet. Your public IP will look completely different and is typically assigned dynamically by your ISP — meaning it can change over time unless you've paid for a static IP.

This distinction matters practically: if someone asks for your IP to connect to a game server or remote desktop session, they almost certainly need your public IP, not your local one. If you're configuring devices to talk to each other on the same Wi-Fi network, the private IP is what you'd use.

Variables That Affect What You See

Several factors shape the IP address situation on any given computer:

• Network type — home networks, corporate networks, VPNs, and mobile hotspots each assign addresses differently
• DHCP vs. static configuration — most home computers receive a dynamically assigned IP from the router via DHCP, which means it can change. Servers and some workstations use manually set static IPs
• VPN usage — if a VPN is active, your public IP will reflect the VPN server's address, not your ISP's
• IPv4 vs. IPv6 — some networks run both simultaneously (dual-stack), so you may see two different IP addresses for the same adapter
• Multiple adapters — a laptop with both Wi-Fi and a wired Ethernet connection active will have a separate IP for each interface

A computer on a corporate network behind a proxy, for example, may display a very different IP landscape than a home machine on a consumer router. What the commands return depends directly on how your specific network is structured and configured.