How to Find Your IP Address on Any Device

Your IP address is one of the most fundamental pieces of information about your internet connection — and yet most people have no idea where to find it. Whether you're troubleshooting a network issue, setting up remote access, or just curious, knowing how to locate your IP takes less than a minute once you know where to look.

The slightly tricky part: there are actually two types of IP addresses most people have, and they live in completely different places.

Public IP vs. Private IP — Why This Distinction Matters 🌐

Before you start clicking around, it helps to understand what you're actually looking for.

Your public IP address is the address your internet service provider (ISP) assigns to your connection. It's what the outside world sees — websites, apps, and servers use this to communicate with your network. Everyone in your household on the same Wi-Fi shares one public IP.

Your private (local) IP address is what your router assigns to each individual device on your home network. Your laptop has one, your phone has one, your smart TV has one — all different, all invisible to the outside internet.

Which one you need depends entirely on what you're trying to do. Remote desktop setup? You probably need your public IP. Configuring a printer on your home network? You need the local one.

How to Find Your Public IP Address

This is the easiest lookup you'll ever do.

Open any browser and search: "what is my IP" — Google, Bing, and most search engines will display it instantly at the top of the results. Alternatively, sites like whatismyipaddress.com or ipinfo.io will show it the moment you land on the page.

Your public IP will look something like 203.0.113.45 (IPv4) or a longer alphanumeric string if your ISP has assigned you an IPv6 address like 2001:0db8:85a3::8a2e:0370:7334.

One thing worth knowing: most residential internet connections use dynamic IP addressing, meaning your public IP can change periodically — sometimes after a router restart, sometimes on a schedule set by your ISP. If you need a stable, permanent public IP for hosting or remote access, that typically requires requesting a static IP from your provider.

How to Find Your Private (Local) IP Address

This varies by device and operating system.

Windows

1. Open the Start menu and search for Command Prompt
2. Type ipconfig and press Enter
3. Look for "IPv4 Address" under your active network adapter

You can also go to Settings → Network & Internet → Wi-Fi (or Ethernet) → Properties and scroll to find your IP listed there.

macOS

1. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older versions)
2. Go to Network
3. Select your active connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet)
4. Your IP address is displayed directly on that panel

Alternatively, open Terminal and type ifconfig | grep "inet " for a command-line view.

iPhone / iOS

1. Go to Settings → Wi-Fi
2. Tap the ⓘ icon next to your connected network
3. Your IP address appears under the IPv4 Address section

Android

The exact path varies slightly by manufacturer, but generally:

1. Go to Settings → Network & Internet → Wi-Fi
2. Tap your connected network
3. Look for Advanced or tap the network name to expand details
4. Your IP address will be listed there

Linux

Open a terminal and run ip addr show or the older ifconfig command. Look for the inet value under your active interface (usually eth0 for wired or wlan0 for wireless).

Finding Your Router's IP Address

Sometimes what you actually need is your router's IP — also called the default gateway. This is what you'd type into a browser to access your router's admin panel.

On Windows, it appears in the same ipconfig output — look for "Default Gateway."

On Mac, it's listed in the Network panel alongside your device IP.

On both iOS and Android, it typically appears in the same Wi-Fi detail screen as your private IP.

Router IPs are usually something like 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 for home networks.

What the Numbers Actually Tell You 🔍

IPv4 vs. IPv6 is another variable worth flagging. IPv4 addresses use four number groups (like 192.168.1.1). IPv6 uses a longer hexadecimal format. Many modern networks run both simultaneously — called dual-stack — and some tools or services may display one or the other depending on how they query the network.

Factors That Affect What You Find

Not every IP lookup looks the same, and a few things can make results confusing:

• VPNs replace your visible public IP with one from the VPN provider's server. If you're running a VPN, any web-based IP checker will show the VPN's IP, not your ISP's.
• Mobile data vs. Wi-Fi give you completely different IPs. Cellular connections assign their own IP through the carrier's network.
• Multiple network adapters — common on laptops — mean you may see several private IPs listed (one for Wi-Fi, one for Ethernet, possibly one for a virtual adapter).
• CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT) is used by some ISPs, particularly on mobile networks, where many customers share a single public IP. In this case, what looks like your public IP may actually be shared infrastructure.

The method that works and the result you get depend heavily on your device, your operating system version, your network setup, and whether you're on a home connection, mobile data, or a corporate network with its own routing rules.