What Is an IP Address?
An IP address is a number that identifies a device or network on the internet, much like a mailing address helps a letter find its destination. When you ask "what is my IP," the answer is usually your public IP address: the address your internet service provider (ISP) assigns to your home or mobile connection, and the one the rest of the internet sees when you connect.
Every website you visit can see the public IP address your request came from, because it needs somewhere to send the page back. Many home networks share one public address between all connected devices, and some ISPs change it from time to time.
An IP address identifies a connection, not a person, and it does not reveal your exact home address.
IPv4 vs IPv6
IPv4 is the original addressing system, written as four numbers separated by dots. It allows roughly 4.3 billion unique addresses, which turned out not to be enough as phones, computers, and other devices came online. IPv6 was introduced to solve this. It uses much longer addresses, written in hexadecimal and separated by colons, which provides a vastly larger pool.
The two systems run side by side, so you may have an IPv4 address, an IPv6 address, or both. Which one a website sees can depend on your ISP, your router, and whether the site supports IPv6.
| Feature | IPv4 | IPv6 |
|---|---|---|
| Example format | 203.0.113.25 |
2001:db8::1a2b |
| Address size | 32-bit (about 4.3 billion addresses) | 128-bit (about 3.4 × 1038 addresses) |
| Availability | Supported almost everywhere, but addresses are scarce, so many networks share them | Supported by most modern devices and networks, though adoption varies by ISP and country |
What Can My IP Address Reveal?
An IP address can give websites and lookup tools a rough idea of where a connection comes from. An IP location lookup may show:
- Country
- Region or state
- City, often just the nearest large city
- ISP, the company providing the connection
- ASN or network, the identifier of the larger network the address belongs to
- Approximate timezone
IP geolocation is approximate. It is generally more reliable at country level than at city level, and it normally cannot reveal a user's exact home address. The location shown is often where your ISP's network equipment is, not where you are sitting. For more detail, see what your IP address can reveal about your location.
What Is My ISP?
An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is the company that connects you to the internet, such as a home broadband, fibre, or mobile carrier. An IP lookup shows the ISP or network that owns your public IP address. That is not always the company you pay for internet access:
- VPN: you will usually see the VPN provider's network, or its hosting company, instead of your own ISP.
- Proxy: the result shows the network of the proxy server rather than your own connection.
- Mobile network: carriers often route many customers through shared gateways, so the ISP or city can look different from your real position.
- Corporate network: at work or school you may appear under the organization's network or its upstream provider.
Does a VPN Change My IP Address?
A VPN normally replaces the public IP address that websites see with the IP address of the VPN server. As a result, your apparent location and network can change to match that server, for example a different city or country, and the ISP shown may be the VPN provider or its hosting company.
A VPN does not make you anonymous by itself. Tools that check for a VPN or proxy, including the check on this page, rely on IP and network signals, so detection is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Some VPNs may go undetected, and some ordinary connections may be flagged by mistake.
Public IP vs Private IP
A public IP address is reachable on the internet and is the one websites see. Your ISP assigns it to your connection. A private IP address is used only inside a local network, such as your home Wi-Fi, and websites cannot see it. Common private ranges include 192.168.x.x and 10.x.x.x. Many households use the same private addresses, and the router shares one public address between all of them.
This website displays your public internet IP address, not the private LAN address of your device. Your device's private address can be found in its network settings.
More Free Tools
DNS Lookup – check a domain's A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, CNAME, SOA and CAA records.
User Agent Checker – see your browser's User-Agent string and check what any User-Agent string suggests about the browser, operating system and device type.
IP Address Lookup – look up the approximate location, ISP and ASN of any public IPv4 or IPv6 address.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is my IP address?
Your public IP address is shown at the top of this page. It is the address websites see when your device connects, and it may be an IPv4 address, an IPv6 address, or both.
Can someone find my exact location from my IP address?
Not normally. An IP address usually points to an approximate area, often at city or region level and sometimes only the country. It does not show your street address. Your ISP can link an address to a customer account, but it does not share that with the general public.
Does my IP address change?
It can. Many ISPs assign dynamic addresses that change when your router restarts or after some time, while others offer static addresses that stay the same. Your IP address also changes when you switch networks, such as moving to mobile data or public Wi-Fi, or when you connect to a VPN. To learn more about how static and dynamic addresses differ, see our guide to dynamic vs static IP addresses.
Why is my IPv6 not detected?
Your ISP, router, or network may not support IPv6, or it may be turned off. Some VPNs, firewalls, browser extensions, or network filters also block IPv6 requests. Having no IPv6 is common and usually does not stop websites from working over IPv4.
Can a VPN hide my IP address?
A VPN usually replaces your public IP address with the VPN server's address, so websites see that instead. It does not hide everything: the VPN provider can still see your connection, and VPNs vary in quality and settings, so leaks are possible. Checking your IP address with and without the VPN shows whether the visible address changed.
Is checking my IP address safe?
Looking up your own IP address is generally low risk, since every website you visit already sees it. This page uses third-party lookup services to find the details. The site itself does not intentionally save lookup results in its own database, but those services and the hosting infrastructure may process technical information such as your IP address. As with any personal information, avoid posting your IP address publicly, because it can reveal your approximate location and ISP.