What Is My IP Address? You Actually Have Two
Type "what is my IP" into a search engine and you'll get an answer, but it may not match the address your laptop shows in its network settings. That is not a bug. Most devices have a private IP for the local network and share a public IP for the wider internet.
This guide explains the difference, how to find each one, and what an IP address does and doesn't reveal about you.
Public IP Address
Your public IP is the address the rest of the internet sees. Your internet provider assigns it to your router (or, with some providers, to a shared gateway). Every website, game server, and email server you reach logs this address as the source of your connection.
Key points:
- It is globally unique and routable on the internet.
- It is often dynamic: your provider can change it over time. A static IP stays fixed, and is usually a paid option.
- All devices behind your router normally share it.
Private IP Address
Your private IP identifies a device inside your local network, such as your phone, laptop, or printer. Your router hands these out, typically through DHCP. They only work locally and are not routable on the public internet.
The reserved private ranges (RFC 1918) are:
Other special ranges you may see: 127.0.0.1 (loopback, your own machine), 169.254.x.x (link-local, assigned when DHCP fails), and 100.64.0.0/10 (carrier-grade NAT, used by some providers). Home users are often surprised by this last one: if your router's WAN address starts with 100.64 to 100.127, your provider is putting you behind its own NAT.
How Public and Private IPs Work Together (NAT)
Your router performs network address translation. When your laptop (192.168.1.23) requests a web page, the router rewrites the source address to its public IP and remembers the connection. When the reply comes back, it forwards it to the right device. This is why ten devices can share one public address, and why outside hosts can't normally reach your devices directly unless you configure port forwarding.
How to Find Your Public IP
Open FileCrank's My IP Address tool. Your IP is detected automatically on page load, with no input needed, and the page shows whether it is IPv4 or IPv6 and its class. It works from any device and needs no signup.
Check My IP Address →If you see an IPv6 address (long, with colons), your connection supports IPv6. Some networks give you both.
How to Find Your Private IP
- Windows: open Command Prompt and run
ipconfig. Look for IPv4 Address under your active adapter. - macOS: System Settings > Network, select your connection and view the details. Or run
ipconfig getifaddr en0in Terminal for Wi-Fi. - Linux: run
ip addrorhostname -I. - iPhone or Android: open the Wi-Fi network's details in Settings.
Is This Address Public or Private?
Not sure about an address you found in a log or a config? Paste it into the Private IP Checker. It tells you whether an IPv4 or IPv6 address falls in a private, public, or reserved range. For a refresher on how address ranges are written, see our CIDR cheat sheet.
What Your IP Address Reveals
Your public IP can show, to the sites you visit:
- Your provider and its network (the ASN).
- An approximate location, typically city or region level, and often inaccurate.
- Nothing about your name, street address, or browsing history.
Try it yourself with the IP Geolocation Lookup and you will see how coarse the data is. Only your internet provider can connect an address to a customer account, usually in response to a legal process.
Should You Hide Your IP?
For most people, no. But a VPN or proxy replaces your public IP with the provider's, which can be useful on public Wi-Fi or to avoid exposing your address in games and chat. It does not make you anonymous, since the VPN company can still see your traffic's source.
Check Yours Now
Use the free My IP Address tool to see your public IP in a second. No signup needed.