How to Find Your IP Address on Any Device

There are two IP addresses you need to know about. Your public IP — the one the internet sees, assigned by your ISP — and your private IP — the one your router assigns to your device on the local network. They're different. They serve different purposes. And finding each one requires a different method.

Your Public IP Address

The fastest way to find your public IP is to visit any IP lookup site — including this one. Your public IP is what identifies your network to the outside world. It's assigned by your ISP, it's visible to every server you connect to, and it's the address that appears in server logs, WHOIS abuse records, and geolocation databases.

If you're behind a shared router (which you almost certainly are), every device on your network shares the same public IP. Your laptop, your phone, your smart TV — all appearing as the same address to the outside world.

Your Private IP Address on Windows

Open Command Prompt (Windows key, type cmd, press Enter) and run ipconfig. Look for the IPv4 Address under your active network adapter — Wi-Fi or Ethernet. It'll typically be something like 192.168.1.x or 10.0.0.x. That's your local network address, assigned by your router.

On macOS and Linux

Open Terminal and run ifconfig (macOS) or ip addr (Linux). On macOS, look for the en0 interface for Wi-Fi — the inet line shows your IPv4 address. On Linux, look for wlan0 or eth0 depending on whether you're on Wi-Fi or Ethernet. The inet address is your private IP.

Or, better yet — on newer macOS versions, networksetup -getinfo Wi-Fi is cleaner and easier to read. Returns just the IP, subnet mask, and router address without all the interface noise.

On iPhone and Android

On iPhone: Settings > Wi-Fi > tap the network name > look for the IP Address field. On Android: Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > tap the network name > Advanced. The private IP is there. For public IP on mobile, just visit an IP lookup site — your mobile carrier's network translates your mobile IP differently, and checking from the browser gives you the actual public-facing address.

When Your IP Changes and Why It Matters

If you're trying to connect to a remote machine using an IP address and it stops working, the IP may have changed — especially on mobile data connections, which often reassign IPs aggressively. Fixed IP setups for remote access (home server, NAS, camera system) need either a static IP from your ISP or a dynamic DNS (DDNS) service that automatically updates a domain name when your IP changes. Providers like No-IP, DuckDNS, or Cloudflare's free DDNS update your domain record within minutes of an IP change.

The command line is also useful for diagnosing which IP a remote server sees when you connect. Run 'curl https://ipdekho.com/api/ip' (or any IP-checking API) from a terminal and you'll get exactly what a remote server sees — useful when you're behind a VPN or corporate network and aren't sure which IP is being used for outbound connections.