What Is My IP?

Your public IP address

Your public IP address is what websites and services see when your connection makes a request. It identifies the point your traffic leaves through, rather than your computer specifically.

This page queries both address families in parallel and shows whichever your connection has: IPv4, IPv6 or both. If one of them does not appear, your connection is not offering it at that moment — that is information about the network, not a failure.

Knowing this address is useful for allowing access through firewalls, configuring VPNs, building allow lists, debugging connections and checking whether a VPN or proxy is actually active.

What an IP address is

IP stands for Internet Protocol. An IP address identifies a network interface and lets devices exchange data over networks that use the protocol.

On the internet, the public address is the point your connection appears as to outside services. It is how replies know the way back.

Public and private addresses are not the same thing

The public address is used to talk to the internet and is normally assigned by your provider. Private addresses are used inside local networks, at home or in an office, and are not routed on the public internet.

The private IPv4 ranges are set out in RFC 1918: 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12 and 192.168.0.0/16. That is why the address shown here is usually different from the one in your computer settings, which is typically something like 192.168.0.10.

The router translates between the two worlds, a technique called NAT. With IPv4 NAT, multiple devices on the same local network typically share one public IPv4 address. IPv6 works differently: there is enough address space for each device to hold its own globally routable address, so NAT is not needed.

Why your IP address changes

Many providers use dynamic addressing: the address can change after a reconnection, a reboot of the equipment or a decision by the provider. A fixed address is usually a separate service.

There is also CGNAT, short for Carrier-Grade NAT, common on mobile connections and on part of the broadband market. With CGNAT, your router may receive an address from the shared address space 100.64.0.0/10 instead of a globally routable public IPv4 address, while the provider shares one public address among several subscribers. Behind CGNAT you cannot receive inbound connections without an extra service, which tends to block remote access and some games.

VPNs and proxies also change the address sites see, because your traffic now leaves through their infrastructure.

IPv4 vs IPv6: what is the difference?

IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses, written like 203.0.113.10. That is a little under 4.3 billion combinations, a supply that ran out as the internet grew and which led to heavy use of NAT and CGNAT.

IPv6 uses 128 bits, written in hexadecimal and separated by colons, like 2001:0db8:85a3::8a2e:0370:7334. The space is large enough to make NAT unnecessary, and every device can hold its own routable address.

The two versions coexist today. Many modern networks use dual-stack, with IPv4 and IPv6 operating side by side, and each service you reach decides which to use. How widely IPv6 is deployed still varies a great deal by country, carrier and network.

Frequently asked questions