What is my IP?

What's my IP address?

If you have ever typed "what is my IP" into a search box, this is the answer. An IP address is the string of digits that marks where your traffic comes from, much the way a phone number marks where a call starts.

You never have to think about it, yet it is in play every time you open a site, send a message, or stream a show. The number comes from whichever provider you happen to be on, so it shifts as you move between home, the office, mobile data, or a café's Wi-Fi. The current one for this connection is printed at the top of this page.

What is a public IP address?

A public IP is the address the rest of the Internet actually sees. It is what lets far away servers know where to send the pages, files, and replies you ask for.

Picture it as the outward-facing label on your connection. Your provider hands it out, and unlike the private addresses inside your own home network, this one is reachable from anywhere online, which is exactly what makes two-way communication possible.

How does my public IP address affect me?

More of your day online leans on this number than you might expect. It shows up in:

• Everyday browsing: requests you make carry it, so answers come back to the right place instead of getting lost.
• Your privacy footprint: anyone you connect to can read it, and it roughly points to your area and your provider, so it is worth being aware of.
• Games and remote logins: connecting back to a home machine, joining a match, or placing a call all rely on a reachable address.
• Running your own service: host a site or a game server and this is the address visitors ultimately dial in to.

So it is genuinely useful, but that same visibility is why some people would rather keep it out of sight. A VPN or proxy stands in front of it and shows a different address instead.

How do I show my IP address?

You do not need any special tools. "IP" is short for Internet Protocol, and the address is simply the tag that separates your connection from everyone else's.

The easiest check is the one you are already doing: load this page and the number appears up top on any device, phone or laptop alike. Just keep in mind that it gives away a rough location and your provider, so reach for a VPN or proxy if you would rather not share that.

How to change my IP address?

The usual route is a VPN or proxy: connect to one and your traffic goes out under its address instead of yours. Restarting your router or asking your provider can also hand you a new one. People bother for a few reasons:

• Quieter browsing: a new address makes it harder for sites, trackers, and even your provider to tie activity back to you.
• A dedicated address: pay for one of your own and you tend to hit fewer CAPTCHAs and get steadier access to bank logins and work systems.
• Extra defenses: most VPNs that change your address also strip ads and trackers and add a layer against online threats.
• Masking your spot: routing through a distant server makes you look like you are somewhere else, hiding where you really sit.
• Safer on shared Wi-Fi: on an open network, that encrypted path keeps logins and payments from being read by strangers nearby.

How can you detect my real IP?

Browsers ship with WebRTC, the technology behind in-browser voice and video calls. To set up a call it asks a STUN server what your address looks like from the outside, and that answer can slip past a VPN or proxy. This page runs the same check after it loads: if WebRTC turns up an address different from the one at the top, it appears under "Your real IP is:". If nothing extra shows up, your connection did not leak.

You can switch WebRTC off if you would rather not have it:

• WebRTC in Firefox: type about:config in the address bar and press Enter. In the search bar, type media.peerconnection.enabled and double-click the preference to set its value to false.
• WebRTC in Chrome: the recommended solution to limit the risk of IP leakage via WebRTC is to use the official Google extension called WebRTC Network Limiter, which provides a range of options with varying levels of protection.