How to Find the IP Address of Your PC

Knowing your PC's IP address is one of those tasks that sounds technical but takes less than a minute once you know where to look. Whether you're troubleshooting a network issue, setting up remote access, or configuring a router, finding your IP address is a foundational skill. The slightly tricky part: your PC actually has more than one IP address — and knowing which one you need matters more than most guides let on.

What Is an IP Address, Exactly?

An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a numerical label assigned to every device connected to a network. It works like a mailing address — it tells other devices and servers where to send data so it reaches the right destination.

Your PC typically has two distinct IP addresses:

• Local (Private) IP address — assigned by your router, used within your home or office network. Looks like 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, or 172.16.x.x.
• Public (External) IP address — assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), used to identify your network on the wider internet.

These are not the same number, and confusing them is the most common source of frustration when people go looking.

How to Find Your Local IP Address on Windows 🖥️

There are several methods, and the right one often depends on how comfortable you are with your operating system.

Method 1: Using Settings (Easiest)

1. Open Settings → Network & Internet
2. Click your connection type (Wi-Fi or Ethernet)
3. Click on the network name or Hardware properties
4. Scroll down to find IPv4 address

Method 2: Using the Command Prompt

1. Press Windows + R, type cmd, press Enter
2. In the Command Prompt window, type: ipconfig
3. Press Enter
4. Look for IPv4 Address under your active adapter (Wi-Fi or Ethernet)

The ipconfig command also shows your subnet mask and default gateway — useful for more advanced network diagnostics.

Method 3: Using the Task Bar

Right-click the network icon in the system tray → Open Network & Internet settings → follow the same path as Method 1.

How to Find Your Local IP Address on macOS

1. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older versions)
2. Click Network
3. Select your active connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet)
4. Your IP address appears directly on that screen

Alternatively, open Terminal and type ifconfig | grep inet — this displays all active network interfaces and their assigned addresses.

How to Find Your Local IP Address on Linux

Open a terminal and run:

ip addr show 

or the older command:

ifconfig 

Look for the inet entry under your active interface (commonly eth0 for wired or wlan0 for wireless).

How to Find Your Public IP Address

Your public IP is not visible through system settings — it's assigned by your ISP and only visible from outside your local network.

The simplest method: open any web browser and search "what is my IP" in Google. The result appears at the top of the search page immediately. Alternatively, visiting sites like ipinfo.io or whatismyip.com displays your public IP along with additional network details.

IPv4 vs. IPv6 — Which One Do You Need?

Modern networks increasingly use both IPv4 and IPv6 simultaneously (a configuration called dual-stack).

• IPv4 addresses look like 192.168.1.45 — four sets of numbers separated by dots
• IPv6 addresses look like fe80::a1b2:c3d4:e5f6:g7h8 — longer, using colons and letters

For most everyday tasks — connecting to a local printer, accessing your router settings, setting up a local server — IPv4 is what you want. IPv6 becomes more relevant in enterprise environments or when your ISP has moved to IPv6-only provisioning.

Why Your IP Address Might Change

Unless your network is configured otherwise, most local IP addresses are dynamic — meaning your router assigns a new one each time your device reconnects. This is managed by DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol).

If you need a consistent local address (for a home server, network-attached storage, or port forwarding), you'd configure a static IP either in your PC's network settings or by setting up a DHCP reservation in your router.

Public IP addresses also change regularly for most residential internet connections. A static public IP is typically a paid add-on from your ISP, used mainly for hosting servers or remote access setups.

Variables That Affect Which Method Works Best for You 🔍

• Operating system version — Windows 10 vs. Windows 11 have slightly different Settings layouts; macOS Ventura reorganized the Network panel compared to earlier versions
• Connection type — wired Ethernet and Wi-Fi each have separate adapters with their own IP assignments
• VPN usage — if a VPN is active, your visible public IP belongs to the VPN provider, not your ISP
• Network type — corporate or institutional networks may use IP addressing schemes outside the typical home ranges
• IPv4 vs. IPv6 preference — some systems prioritize IPv6, which changes what appears as your "primary" address

The method that gets you the right IP in under 30 seconds depends heavily on which of those factors applies to your setup — and what you actually plan to do with the address once you have it.