How to find your public IP address in seconds and your local IP on Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android, plus your router IP and why the public one matters.
The quickest way to find your IP address is to open a browser and search for what is my IP. The number at the top of the results is your public IP address, the one websites and apps see when you connect. It takes about two seconds and works on any device.
You actually have two IP addresses, though, and they do different jobs. Knowing which one you need saves a lot of confusion, so here is how to find both.
public and local IP addresses, in plain words
Your public IP is the address your internet provider gives your whole home. Every device shares it, and it is what the outside world sees. Your local IP is a private address your router hands to each device on your network, such as your laptop or your phone, so they can talk to each other. Local IPs usually start with 192.168 or 10. You need the public one for privacy questions and the local one for things like printers and file sharing at home.
finding your public IP address
Search what is my IP in any browser and read the number off the results page. It works the same on a phone, a tablet, or a computer, since the public IP belongs to your connection rather than the device. If you see a long address full of colons, that is an IPv6 address, which is just a newer format. A shorter one with dots, like 203.0.113.5, is the older IPv4 style.
finding your local IP on a computer
On Windows, open Settings, go to Network and Internet, choose your Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection, and look for the IPv4 address. You can also open Command Prompt, type ipconfig, and press Enter. On a Mac, open System Settings, click Network, select your connection, and the IP address shows in the details. Both give you that 192.168 style number.
finding your local IP on a phone
On an iPhone, open Settings, tap Wi-Fi, then tap the small i next to your network to see the IP Address field. On Android, open Settings, tap Network and Internet or Connections, tap your Wi-Fi network, and look under the details. To find your router IP, the address you type in to change router settings, look on the same screen for Gateway or Router.
why your public IP matters for privacy
Your public IP can reveal your rough location and lets sites and advertisers recognize your connection over time. That is why people change it. A VPN swaps the public IP that sites see for one belonging to the VPN server, so your real address stays hidden. We explain the process in how to change your IP address, and if you are wondering why your number sometimes changes on its own, static and dynamic IP addresses covers that. AI VPN gives your connection a different public IP in a couple of clicks.
