How To Locate An IP Address? | Simple Steps Guide

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To locate an IP address, open your device’s network info, command line, or a trusted IP checker site to see the current number.

If you are trying to figure out how to locate an ip address, you are likely dealing with a wi-fi problem, a game that needs port forwarding, or a security tweak at home or work.

Every device that talks on a network has at least one number attached to it, and once you can see that number, you can troubleshoot, share, or lock things down with much more confidence.

What An IP Address Actually Is

An Internet Protocol address is a numeric label assigned to a device on a network that uses IP to move data.

It tells other devices where to send packets and which interface should receive them, a bit like a mailing label for digital traffic.

Most people run into two broad kinds of addresses in daily life: private addresses that sit inside a home or office network, and public addresses that the rest of the internet can see through the router or modem.

On top of that, there are two main versions of IP in use today.

IPv4 uses four groups of numbers, such as 192.168.1.10, while IPv6 uses a longer format with hexadecimal characters, such as 2001:db8::1.

Modern systems often assign private addresses automatically with DHCP, while the router holds the public address used on the wider internet.

Quick Ways To Locate IP Addresses On Common Platforms

Before stepping through each system in detail, this quick reference table shows you where to tap or click when you want to find local or public addresses.

Situation Method Where To Look
Windows desktop or laptop Settings app Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi or Ethernet > Properties
Windows command line ipconfig tool Open Command Prompt, run ipconfig, read IPv4 Address line
Mac desktop or laptop System Settings Apple menu > System Settings > Network > active connection > Details > TCP/IP
Linux desktop Terminal command Run ip addr or ifconfig and read the inet value for your adapter
Android phone or tablet Wi-Fi network info Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > current network details
iPhone or iPad Wi-Fi details Settings > Wi-Fi > tap the info icon next to the active network
Router or modem Admin web page Type the gateway address into a browser, sign in, then open the Status page
Any device with a browser Public IP checker Visit a trusted site that shows your public IP at the top of the page

How To Locate An IP Address On Your Own Network

This section walks through the steps to see local addresses assigned to your computer by your router or access point.

Find Your IP Address On Windows

On a recent Windows release, the graphical method is usually the quickest.

  1. Open the Start menu and select the Settings gear icon.
  2. Choose Network & Internet.
  3. Select Wi-Fi if you are on wireless, or Ethernet if you use a cable.
  4. Click the name of your active connection.
  5. Scroll to the Properties section and look for the line labeled IPv4 address.

That number is your current local address on the network.

You can cross-check these steps in the official Windows network settings guide from Microsoft, which shows the same path through the Settings app.

If you prefer the command line, you can use this method instead:

  1. Press Windows+R, type cmd, and press Enter.
  2. In the Command Prompt window, type ipconfig and press Enter.
  3. Under the adapter that matches your active connection, look for the IPv4 Address field.

Find Your IP Address On Mac

On modern macOS versions, Apple moved most network details into one panel.

  1. Click the Apple logo in the top left corner and pick System Settings.
  2. In the sidebar, choose Network.
  3. Select your active interface, such as Wi-Fi or wired.
  4. Click Details.
  5. Open the TCP/IP tab and read the IPv4 address field.

Apple documents the same approach in its macOS network address help pages, which confirm that the IPv4 line in TCP/IP shows the local address assigned by DHCP.

See Local IP Addresses On Linux

Graphical desktop interfaces often show the address inside their own network panels, but command line tools are consistent across distributions.

  1. Open a terminal window.
  2. Run ip addr.
  3. Find the block that matches your main adapter, often named eth0, wlan0, or something similar.
  4. Within that block, look for the line that starts with inet; the number before the slash is your IPv4 address.

On older systems that still ship ifconfig, the process is similar: run the command and read the inet line for the right adapter.

Methods To Find Your Public IP Address

So far the focus has been on private addresses inside your local network.

Many tasks, such as hosting a game server or setting up remote access, rely on your public address, which sits on the router or modem and faces the internet.

Use A Public IP Checker Site

The easiest method is to visit a trusted public IP checker in your browser.

These pages simply read the address that your request uses to reach the site and display it in plain text at the top.

Well known services like this public IP checker do exactly that and often show IPv4 and IPv6 values on the same screen.

Read The Public Address In Your Router

If you have access to the router or modem, you can read the same value straight from the status page.

  1. Locate your router’s gateway address, often 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1, in your device’s network details.
  2. Type that address into a browser and sign in with the admin credentials.
  3. Open the Status, Internet, or WAN page, where the public IPv4 or IPv6 address is usually shown.

Some providers change this address regularly, while others keep it fixed for long periods, so the value you see today may not match what you see next week.

Locating An IP Address On Phones And Tablets

Phones and tablets also hold private addresses when they connect to a wireless network, and those numbers sit in the wireless details screens.

Check IP Settings On Android Devices

Menus vary a bit between makers, but the core idea is the same.

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Network & Internet or a similar menu.
  3. Choose Wi-Fi and then tap the name of the network you are using.
  4. Look for an Advanced or Details section, which lists the IPv4 address.

Network gear makers such as TP-Link outline this flow as well, showing that Android Wi-Fi network info screens list details like signal strength, MAC address, and IP address on the same panel.

Check IP Settings On iPhone Or iPad

On iOS and iPadOS, the address lives under the Wi-Fi details icon.

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Wi-Fi.
  3. Next to your active network, tap the small info icon.
  4. Scroll until you see the IPv4 Address and IPv6 Address lines.

The numbers next to those labels are the current local addresses assigned to the phone or tablet.

Reading IP Lookup Results Safely

Once you know how to locate an ip address, online tools can take that number and estimate the access provider and region tied to it.

These services use public databases from registries that hand out address ranges across the globe.

An IP geolocation site might show the access provider name, the city or region of the access point, and sometimes the type of connection, such as mobile or broadband.

Search engines also use your address in this coarse way; Google can base regional results on IP data when device location is turned off.

Even with these tools, a plain residential address rarely drops straight out of a simple lookup, and serious requests for subscriber identity usually run through the access provider and legal channels.

Even so, an exposed address can still feed into attacks such as denial of service floods, which is why many users pair basic hygiene with a virtual private network when they need extra privacy on public wi-fi.

Reference Table Of IP Types And Where To Find Them

This second reference table sums up different address labels you might see while you learn how to find an ip address across devices and services.

IP Type Short Description Where You Usually See It
Private IPv4 Number used only inside a local network, often starting with 10., 172.16–31., or 192.168. Device network settings, router DHCP client list
Public IPv4 Address reachable from the wider internet. Router status page, online IP checker tools
IPv6 global Longer hexadecimal address that can route across the internet. Modern device network panels, IP checker tools
Link-local Address used only on one physical link or segment. Shown in detailed adapter views, often starting with fe80: in IPv6
Loopback Special address that points back to the same device. 127.0.0.1 in IPv4, ::1 in IPv6, used in testing and local services
Static address IP assigned manually or reserved so that it does not change. Servers, some office gateways, devices with port forwarding rules
Dynamic address IP handed out automatically by DHCP with a lease time. Most home devices and public wi-fi clients

Final Tips For Locating IP Addresses

Once you learn the basic patterns, finding addresses turns into a quick habit instead of a puzzle.

  • Think about whether you need the local private address, the public address, or both before you start.
  • On phones and laptops, reach for the Wi-Fi or network panels first; most people never need the command line.
  • For game hosting or remote access, always double check the public address at the router or with a checker page.
  • If a site or app shows the wrong region, glance at the address shown in an IP checker and see whether a VPN, mobile data hop, or office gateway might explain it.
  • Avoid sharing your public address in public posts when you do not need to, since it can become one more data point for scanners.

With these habits in place, locating IP addresses on any device turns into a simple routine, and you stay in control of the numbers that describe your connection.

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